Yosemite | Part II - Sunday

We got up relatively early on Sunday morning and enjoyed bagels for breakfast. Well, to be honest, they were the ones that Kyle picked out, so they kind of tasted like paper, but I knew that I'd need the energy so I ate the whole thing. I made our sandwiches for later in the day, we packed up our backpacks with lots of water, put everything else in the truck and we were on our way.

The challenge for the day was Mist Trail. 3.5 miles up and 3.5 miles back down. A 2000 foot elevation change both ways, and 2 waterfalls to get to the top of before the day was done.

The first jaunt of the hike was horrific. It wasn't the terrain that was so terrible, but the slight inclines, that were so deceiving, that almost made me turn back after only 15 minutes into the trek. It was still pavement at this point, but oh my goodness, my heart was beating so hard, and my legs were already in so much pain.....and that was all before we even really got to the heart of the trail.


We made it to the bottom of the first waterfall, Vernal Falls. Right after we took these pictures, I looked back over my shoulder and saw the people climbing in the area where the mist was going, and asked "Um, is THAT where we are going?". The boys chuckled, "Yes", and we were on our way.


We were soaked all the way up the side of Vernal Falls (317 ft tall).


When we made it to the top, I was so pooped that I decided to take a little break and sit down. The boys went over to the side to see the fall up close and personal. We had an apple, a granola bar, and we were on our way again. I told them a few times that I was OK to stay there while they went up to the next fall, but I decided to go on.


We had to stop and take a water break about half way up to the Nevada Fall (594 ft tall). I think that this picture is my favorite out of all the ones we took. Kyle was such a strong stud, and so patient too, the entire time. Brett was behind me, pushing me the whole way. I am confident if he hadn't kept telling me how impressed and proud he was of me, that I would have given up.


But....it's crazy what love can do...make you want to make the other person proud of you....and I made it all the way to the top!!!


We ate our sandwiches, rested for a bit, and I fed some more squirrels. You're not supposed to feed them, but I was a total sucker for their cuteness. But, I did learn a valuable lesson. You feed the squirrels....and they do NOT go away. And oh boy, are they resilient little buggers!!!


We started back down, and it turns out that the coming down part was even harder than going up. Every step that I took made my leg shake.....I mean, involuntary, out of control, shaking. It made my steps that much harder to place, but the funny part about it made it a little less unbearable.

We made it to the bottom. The round trip was about 5 hours. This was definitely the hardest thing that I have ever had to go through. It was a great sense of accomplishment, and was even better that I got to do it with Brett. Kyle was awesome too....even though he had way more breaks that either of us did, from the times that he had to sit and wait for us to catch up, he was a blast to be on this adventure with.