Yosemite National Park

The greatest adventurers traverse the backcountry and scale the mighty rock faces of El Cap and Half Dome. The wannabe’s attempt to be like said adventurers, while more obviously pushing their limitations. The rest of the world just drives slowly through the valley in back-to-back traffic.

No matter what category you fall into, this is the place to go if:

1)    You love nature

2)    You want to love nature more

3)    You feel the need to realize that places like this do still exist; despite the traffic and chaos that seems to plague the streets and cities of California

After living in SoCal for nearly two and a half years, I can finally say I made it to Yosemite National Park.

Yosemite was the third national park to be established, following Yellowstone and Sequoia, and I can wholeheartedly agree that this place was well worth saving. With epic landscapes of green valleys, cascading waterfalls and shear rock faces, it's no wonder Ansel Adams spent so much time photographing this place. It is gorgeous.

Our first day on the trail was a great one. In the midst of acclimatizing to the elevation gain, I could be found muffling my uncontrollable excitement at the cute little cinnamon black bear that ran past me, and protecting my camera from torrential downpours as we hiked the 14 miles up 4-mile trail to Glacier Point and then down Panorama view and the John Muir trail back to our happy little tent.

I'm that person that doesn't appreciate Southern California's lack of precipitation, greenery and wildlife, so at the end of the day I was hooked and perfectly content to spend the rest of my Yosemite time immersing myself on the trails.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to visit yet, I highly recommend you create the opportunity. Push yourself beyond your limits. Climb the trails that will lead you to vast overlooks of the valley. Once here you can watch the waterfalls pouring into rivers below as you and your chipmunk, marmot, squirrel and bear friends enjoy a snack perched on the edge of one of the most beautiful views in California.