Day Seventeen - Traveling to Yosemite

Having plowed through Tennyson's Idylls of the King and most of The Jesuit's Guide to (Almost) Everything,  I needed something to read for my early mornings and flight home, so I drove to Bookshop Santa Cruz - spent WAY too much time there - and grabbed The Origin Myth of the Acoma Pueblo. Cassandra and I spent a lot of time discussing folk tales and myths, so, given my Native connections throughout the trip - I was immediately drawn to this text.

Through beautiful Central California we travelled again: agricultural and suburban for some time, slowly slowing climbing, then transforming into a fascinating, old-time mountain town called Groveland, until we were, once again, guided safely to our destination by our gracious [now former] hosts to our final camping abode: Yosemite National Park.

Similar to Sequoia, Yosemite is sprawling and remarkable. Our first drive through the park - and every drive from our campsite to Yosemite Valley was breathtaking with our car hugging the center line to avoid the steep edge of the mountain.

After promptly setting up camp, we drove into the Valley to get a quick evening hike in. We started at Cathedral Beach - one of several beaches along the Merced River, the heart of Yosemite Valley - and just aimlessly wandered around for a bit

 I could have walked in circles and would have been contented: I felt peace, happy to have finally reached the destination I had been eagerly pursuing the past two weeks - including planning, more like four months; I felt free and open to wherever my legs/car/companions/self directed me; I felt naked and genuine, anxieties/stress/pressure melted off my body and absorbed in the dirt.

We stumbled upon this tipi, and Evelyn felt right at home...

Evelyn blazed a rapid pace...

...and led us to El Capitan.

There is not a more fitting name. El Cap is monstrous. A behemoth. The glorious craft of nature and time. It is hard to accept the reality of this mountain standing so tall, so sheer, so confident, so intimidating. It is also hard accept the reality of what the three people getting out the car with British Columbia tags - dressed with ropes, belays, and chalk - were planning on doing. We hiked to the base of El Cap and watched Evelyn climb for a bit. This first adventure was stunning and inspiring - so much so we got ourselves all kinds of lost and confused on our way back to the car. It all didn't matter. We felt ourselves amongst a grand company of royal mountainry. I was cheesed with excitement and eager for an entire day with this place.