After months of planning, my friends and I were finally able to visit the Yosemite National Park in California this summer. The park is so huge that it spans three counties in the State. Like other visitors, we only got to see the U-shaped Yosemite Valley which is only about one percent of the park, but that on its own was spectacular.
We only had six hours to spend at the park due to our travel schedule and so we planned our itinerary of the visit beforehand. We arrived at the park at 10am in the morning and were amazed by the beauty and size of the park. We made straight for the El Capitan cliff which is a very popular climbing spot. This cliff has several routes for climbing, and we choose a meandering but low-level route to climb. Our goal was not to climb to the very top of the cliff; we just wanted to add climbing to our repertoire of experiences at the park.
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The next several hours after our rock climbing stint were spent hiking on the Pacific trail. This hiking trail meandered through the exotic vegetation and followed the course of several streams. In places, the trail went across little brooks with smooth rounded rocks as stepping stones. We stopped to hop around on the stones, throw pebbles into the brooks and just listen to the sound of the brooks. Walking along the trail, one would sometimes come out on vintage spots where you can see the valley spread out in all its beauty. There were so many colors across the landscape that it looked like a painting. There were also other natural domes in the valley. These huge domes were made of granite, and it was awe inspiring looking up at them. All four of us had our cameras with us and took numerous pictures of the scenery. We found a beautiful meadow just a few yards from the trail and had lunch there. Tuna sandwiches, strawberries and lemonade had never tasted better!
Finally, we went to see one of the Giant Sequoia groves. It was awe-inspiring to see the tall ancient trees. My friend Janet was a biologist and served as our informal guide as far as biology goes. She also told us that over 20% of the plant species in California were found in the park. She told us that there were numerous rare plants in the park and tried to point some of them out to us. However, Jane was not too sure about which plants were rare. The whole place was blazing with diversity it seemed, and all she had was some pictures she had printed out prior to the trip to help us identify some plants.
The visit to the park was meant to be a tourist trip for my friends and I. However, we found ourselves being overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of nature and how huge the park was. Although we had fun attempting to climb the cliff, a hearty lunch and picnic out in the beautiful meadow in the park, the beautiful landscape and natural structures, the visit turned out to be more of a learning experience for us. As we reflected on the visit, we all realized how we were impressed by the need to protect places of natural beauty such as the park. We found ourselves engaging in a discussion on how industrialization efforts should not be allowed to destroy natural preserves, and asking ourselves if anyone knew of ways to engage in environmental protection activities.
