Day 1 & 2: Arriving in Yosemite

Day 1 & 2 

Arriving in Yosemite 

by Kaylee Smith
kas294@txstate.edu

Best Snack: Taco Deli breakfast taco
Miles Walked: Not enough (thanks to traveling)

Growing up, there are two national parks that everyone knows, Yosemite and Yellowstone. We are told of their beauty and extravagance through history, photographs and the media. In the 21 years of information I was given prior to my arrival in Yosemite National Park, it is easy to say that no photograph, history lesson or documentary id equivalent to the experience of seeing the park for the first time with your own eyes.

After roughly 12 hours of travel,

View of Yosemite Falls out the car window on our drive in.

we finally arrived in the Disney World of national parks. Although I was fully aware of Yosemite Valley's fame, I had not anticipated the sheer volume of tourists that would be joining us in the park.

We stepped out of the van to join the other hundreds of wide-eyed and amazed park visitors. In conjunction with everyone's pure awe, quickly followed an overwhelming feeling. Once we realized the park's size, my classmate Mike Garcia said it best, "this makes you realize how small we are." It became official, SJMC Parks had arrived in Yosemite National Park.

We all quickly set off to get our barrings on our classroom for the week. We discovered the location of the bathrooms, food and even how the free shuttle system worked. Having no idea what we were doing, we got on the first bus stop we saw. 20 minutes later we quickly realized we had messed up somewhere. In the extra time we had on the bus we decided to make the most of it and strike up a conversation with other shuttle riders.

The woman we began talking to on the bus ended up being from Houston, TX and was beginning her backpacking adventure along John Muir trail in the upcoming week. She provided us with information that we would be able to use for the days to come.

It is already evident, whether indigenous or visiting, the people of Yosemite Valley have a story tell and we cannot wait to share that story with the rest of the world.