the great outdoors

Last weekend we went backpacking in Yosemite with our friends Matt and Kay. It felt great to be camping, even though my sore muscles told me otherwise...

On the way we stopped by the Manzanar Internment camp, where hundreds of Japanese-Americans were held during WWII.

We started in Tuolumne Meadow and hiked 6 miles to Glen Aulin. The downhill trail was brutal on our knees, but now my calves are rock hard :)Jason and Matt kept us on the right trail with their GPS units and TOPO! maps.We spent two nights at Glen Aulin, stargazing and playing in Tuolumne Falls.The water was C-O-L-D!Jason found a log to ride through the waterfallthe amazing view while soaking my feetJason and I went on a 3 mile day hike to California Falls.the trail was beautiful and breezyour view down the canyon where we had lunchJason made parmesean bread for dinner, and yes, it did live up to all its hype...Monday we hiked 8 miles to May Lake. There were two crazy uphill sections of the trail that left me gasping for breath, but the scenery was incredible! I felt so small compared to the vast landscape we were in. It was a relief to finally make it to May Lake, which was bright blue reflecting the sky, and the water was crystal clear!That little speck in the middle of the lake is Jasonthe shores of May Lake at duskHere are some amazing trees I had fun photographing Here's the view from the ridge at May Lake. That's Half Dome behind us on the right. That's how in the middle of nowhere we were!Tuesday we hiked 3 miles out to Tioga Road by Tenaya Lake where we had parked the car.Here's Half Dome from Yosemite Valley, where we showered in Curry Village and had pizza and milkshakes for lunch before heading home!

Total mileage: 20 Total blisters: 2 Total bears encountered: 0 (darn!)

Tuolumne Falls from Heidi and Vimeo.