Going with the flow

Some recent events made John and I realize that we needed to sit and really talk about some things. I needed some reassurance that we were on the same page, or at least could compromise about certain things. The resulting conversation was amazing. It wasn't hard or awkward like it might have been a year ago. No you don't get details. There's still a lot to figure out but this was a good first step. Yay!

Of course, since Sunday I've been completely overwhelmed. The conversation made me think way too much about life. I've been trying not to over-think things so much. I need to let go and just let life happen. I need to trust that things will fall into place. After all, it's worked out pretty well so far.

I feel like I'm trying too hard to plan my life and I don't know why. What happened to the freedom of just going with the flow and letting life happen? When did I change? There has to be a balance between planning and letting fate take control. It's great to have goals for your life, but you can't schedule them in. ("in 5 years we'll a kid and another 3 years later"...doesn't always work that way!) Of course you have to plan sometimes. You need to save money for a long vacation and reserve a place to stay. But other things need to just fall into place. I'm doing better with this today but for some reason it's been a struggle lately.

Still Not Engaged, Right?

Grandma: This is your grandma being very very nosy in asking if there are any plans (wedding) in the future.

2 hours later...

J: So...I'm your spouse, right?

M: Uhh...sure? I mean...what?

J: I need your USAA mortgage rates. So I'm going to need to be your spouse.

M: Worst! Proposal! Ever!

Coworker: Proposal?!

To clarify, no, I'm not engaged.

Yosemite Part 9 - The Mist Trail (Nevada Falls)

This continues our journey on the mist trail. When I last left you, I was on top of Vernal Falls. It had been a cold, wet journey but I was now warm and had a full belly. Hike on soldier!

The trail from Vernal Falls to Nevada Falls is hard. There were many spots where you have to hike rock stairs and the constant stair stepping is rough on my legs. You would think that after hiking a lot my muscles would get more used to stairs, but they never do. I need stair training! And on this trail there's so much that's out in the hot sun. The heat just pounds down on the open rock surface. It's only 1.3 miles (or somewhere around there) but it felt longer. Of course I do love pushing myself like this.

Only this time I had to try not to feel weak. John never makes me feel bad for not being as strong or fast as him. I hike at my own pace because, while I enjoy the workout, I do want to enjoy my hiking. John tends to appreciate going at my pace so he can actually enjoy it too. He's said he may rush through certain parts if it weren't for me, and miss out. Well John's friend Kevin was with us and this guy has his own agenda. He was far ahead of us many times. And I felt like crap for not being able to keep up. Which is completely stupid. I'm not in terrible shape. I'm just not him. Not everyone has the same pace. But it's just one of those things. Hiking with someone who doesn't know you or doesn't really care is so much different.

Anyway...there's not much else to say about the hike to Nevada Falls. There's a spot on the way where you can see the falls and we got a little misted. But nothing near the power of Vernal Falls. From there, hot rock steps. And then...awesomeness!

Hiking the AT

John decided that he was going to hike the Appalachian Trail from the starting point in Georgia all the way through GA, NC, and VA. In two weeks.

Then I gave him numbers and we realized that his plan involved more than 600 miles.

He's not going to manage 40+ miles a day...

Now I'm trying to help him plan a reasonable trip whilst not deflating his man-ego by sayings things like "no way can you make it to XX in XX days".

It's hard.

And I don't get to go so it's kind of depressing.

And we both should really be spending more time thinking out our future as we have some decisions to make.

But this is more fun.

Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks

Enjoy.

Yosemite Part 8 - The Mist Trail (Vernal Falls)

The Mist Trail was the most difficult/longest trail I did out in Yosemite. It's 7 miles round trip, but we added 2 miles because of the walk to/from the car. 9 miles is not outside of my range and certainly not the crazy 16+ miles the boys did once I left. Still, it had its challenges. All worth it of course!

The trail starts at Happy Isles and at the beginning is paved. This means there are a ton of people. That's one thing about Yosemite. You can't NOT check out certain things because they are that amazing. But everyone else in the world has the same idea. The positive thing about this is that I've now seen the Valley and done some of the popular trails so next time I go out there I can stick to some of the more remote areas - which still have great sites, but less people.

Anyway, going up the paved trail is a good way to start and really weeds out people. It's steep but people still push through with strollers and canes and whatever else you can think of. But by the time they get to the first overlook (At the bottom of Vernal Falls. Where there are toilets!) many turn around and head back. Although I was not a huge fan of the steep inclines at first they're totally worth it to see the ridiculous amount of water that we did. Also, I would soon learn that steep inclines are easier than stairs (and by learn I mean remember because I have this thought on every hike that involves stairs).

And then comes the climb to Vernal Falls. They don't call this the Mist Trail for nothing. I imagine at normal times you might only get misted. And it's cool and pleasant on a nice summer's day. Normal times were not had. Again, I mention the insane amount of snow Yosemite had this year. 10 times the normal amount? Something like that. So the falls? All amazing beyond words. Before I say what I have to say about this so-called "mist" I want to be clear that I am so, so glad I experienced the Yosemite that I did. The falls this year have been called "once in a lifetime" and other such cliche phrases. And seeing pictures of the area from years past, I know it's true. There was a never ending supply of water and thus beautiful sites. My camera is happy. But...

Vernal Falls is evil!

Beautiful. But evil. (And yes, worth every minute of pain.)

The trail runs right along the flow of the falls and, once you get to the top, right next to the falls. This allows fantastic views. Though due to the "mist" you don't always want to break out the camera for fear of ruining it. It also means a lot of semi-frightening moments hugging rocks so that no one falls off the trail and to their death.

Seriously, I consider myself fairly well-educated and safe. I cannot say the same for some of the people hiking at the same time I was. Sorry to say, if you hug the rocks on the way up, you have to take the outside on the way down. No matter how scared you are of falling. If you're that scared don't hike this trail! Also, you can only hold on to one kid at a time so if you have 5, you better just pray that they don't fall in.

Anyway...

You basically have to climb op stairs that are carved into the mountain's natural rocks (mostly) all the way up to the top of Vernal Falls. And did I mention the "mist" aka torrential downpour of waterfall? Yes. So the rocks are wet. And in some places there are puddles. The water is ICE cold. I swear, at one point I was actually being pelted with icicles. Real, frozen, icicles. Water cannot be that cold or hard without it being frozen.

And yet, it was just the waterfall, pouring down off the side of the mountain like waterfalls tend to do, drenching (and POUNDING) me with it's icyness.

Lesson learned: waterfalls HURT.

I stopped in a little cave (a moment's reprieve from the icicle arrows the enemy had rained down on me) to put on my rain jacket. By the time I reached the top I was shivering and not a thing on my was dry.

And as soon as I took a minute to breath in sunshine I realized the view and the adrenaline rush made it all worthwhile.

We stopped for a picnic then. And laid out our clothes (and ourselves) to dry/warm up in the sun. Ya can't beat a picnic with these views. Or a picnic where you get to watch little lizards humping rocks.

Yosemite Part 7 - More Climbing

Day Whatever. Wednesday? I wanted to let the boys climb for 2 hours, hike, and grill some awesome steaks. Things did not work out as planned. But I now have an amazing ass shot under my pillow.

Ok, keeping it under my pillow is creepy. I don't actually do that. But that's what the fingers typed. And sometimes they win.

Yosemite Part 6 - El Capitan

After our hike at Hetch Hetchy (though easy) we were not ready to head home but didn't want to do anything strenuous. It was a really hot day after all. So we decided to drive into the park and just hang out at El Cap Meadow and see if we could spot any climbers on El Capitan. I could see us lounging in the soft grass, speculating on whether we were looking at climbers, abandoned gear left hanging off a rock, or just a spot that was a different color than the rest. We'd munch on dried fruit and hope a bear didn't happen past. They do like to hang out in the meadows too.

But instead we spent most of the night walking. On a road.

We parked at Bridalveil Falls knowing that El Cap was right across the river. Of course we had to hike a bit because we had to find a bridge to cross the river. John and I were in flip flops because we are idiots. Always be prepared. Even if you put on your flip flops for a short stroll across the river, bring the glorious feet-keepers that are hiking boots. You will need them when 1 mile turns into 5.

Turns out the trail was much longer that we thought. We had to go past El Cap, all the way around the backside. And then once we crossed the river we should have followed the road to the meadow. But we went into the woods some. Still, we had some great views of El Cap (including the heart on the surface and a waterfall right next to the rock) and DID make it to the meadow eventually.

Once at the meadow we were simply amazed at how tall El Cap really is. And how small the climbers look from the bottom. Seriously...ANTS! The boys were good at spotting people on the rock and we used our cameras to zoom in and confirm. Mostly the looked like ants, or just black spots on the rock. Binoculars would have been nice.

We also watched this little guy push pile after pile of dirt out of his hole.

Then we had to find the car again. We decided the way we took was too long so we'd go down the road to the other bridge. Big mistake. Took forever. But I managed to get some nice shots of Bridalveil Falls from the long road trip. Then once we crossed the bridge we weren't too far from the car. But John and I were tired of walking on the road so we took a little trail than ran alongside the road. Full. Of. Mud. And we had to take a short meadow stroll back to the road to get to the car. Swamp! My legs were a little dirty. So while we ended up with waaay more miles than we wanted it was a grand adventure. And I'm glad it happened.

Oh, we also passed this cool spot:

Sweet Caroline

I love how something as simple as a few hours with a baby can make life good again. I've been wanting to post about a few things that have been bugging me but have not been able to find the right words. And really, life is great right now, so I don't want to complain. I'd rather fill the blog with my happiness and not focus on the negative. So even though those things are still on my mind, yesterday I didn't think of any of it.

John came down Sat night after I'd been home in bed all Friday night and Saturday morning fighting a cold (seriously...airplanes are evil germ chambers). As long as I took massive amounts of day-quil you could barely tell I was sick so we stuck with the plan of going to his parents' for the day.

Of course John's parents were happy to see me again. His mom was very grateful that I brought vacation pictures. But as much as I love them all, seeing Caroline made the day that much more amazing.

When we arrived she went straight to John and begged to be thrown in the air.

When she decided I was safe she pointed out all the "pink and yellow" jewels on my shirt (which were pink and gold but those are also just really the main colors she calls everything) and then shouted "cute!" The 2 year old thinks I have good style.

I thought she was really smart when she gave me a play-doh stamp of the number 8 and said "Eight!" But apparently she thinks all numbers are "eight" right now.

We made play-doh snakes that she insisted have eyes (which kept falling off) and would then attack each other with them.

John kept pretending to eat the play-doh pancakes so every time he picked up a piece she would say "eww, yuck" and give him a "you crazy fool" look.

Her favorite TV show is Scooby Doo and she says all the characters' names in one long breath "ScoobyShaggyThemaFredDaphneScooby...."

When I handed her back to "Nana" when John and I were trying to leave she started crying and reached back for me and then for John, then back to me, and finally back to Nana. Poor girl did not want to say goodbye.

Yosemite Part 5 - Hetch Hetchy

The Hetch Hetchy Valley was described by John Muir as "one of nature’s rarest and most precious mountain temples." We had an amazing day hiking the trail at Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. Although the trail is a total of 13 miles out and back we stopped at the 2nd waterfall and went back for a total of about 5 miles. The rest of the trail is popular with backpackers and is full of bears. I would have liked to do a bit more but 13 was too much. And we made up for the lack of miles later in the day (see next post).

Hetch Hetchy Reservoir used to be a beautiful valley, which many compared to Yosemite Valley. I'm sure it was beautiful but I just don't see how it can compare to Yosemite Valley. It's just not the same. But that is beside the point. I almost didn't visit the area because I was kind of upset that they ruined such a beautiful place by putting in a dam. Yes, the construction of the dam created a water source for places such as San Fransisco, but it seems to me there are plenty of other options. Yosemite is such a spectacular place and having a big slab of concrete in the middle of it takes away from the appeal of the wilderness. Some people are trying to get the area restored back to a valley. See Restore Hetch Hetchy. Of course many of the great things about this hike was because of the beautiful water in the reservoir and the pretty great rainbows from the water rushing out of the dam. I don't know what the answer is in this controversial reservoir but I tend to go for the more natural.

Anyway, our hike started at O'Shaughnessy Dam where we got to see rainbows as water rushed out of the dam into the Tuolumne River.

Right after crossing the dam you have to go through a dark tunnel. After being in intense sunshine it's really hard to get your eyes to adjust. It's not a super long tunnel so you do get some help from the sun at each end, but in the middle I couldn't see a thing. And with all the snow melting there were puddles everywhere. I had a split second where I thought of the crazy water monster that pops up in Lord of the Rings. But everyone made it out safe and dry. Really, it wasn't that long, I'm just paranoid.

The day was absolutely beautiful, as was the entire trip. But it was also very hot! If you weren't in front of a waterfall the sun was scorching. Of course there was no humidity so we loved it. I hiked in my bikini top a lot of the way and getting wet was fun instead of horrible.

We stopped for a picnic and cool down time by a little pool. Kevin took advantage of the natural water slide. The water was freezing so I only stayed in long enough to cool off. I thought my peanut butter and banana sandwich was the most delicious thing I'd ever eaten.

The trail is very rocky and with all the sun I was certain there'd be a rattle snake sunny itself somewhere along the way. But we only saw one little lizard.

The first waterfall was Tueeulala Fall.

The trail right after Tueeulala to Wapama Falls was very wet. With all the snowmelt there were many places where little waterfalls had formed and washed out the trail. So we hiked through the pools. Don't worry, the water was not rushing enough for it to be dangerous.

Then we got to Wapama Falls. This was one crazy waterfall. There's a bridge that crosses the falls, well actually it's more like 3 bridges. We weren't going to continue on the trail after this point but we did want to get sprayed by the falls so we walked across the bridge and then turned around and walked back. Right before the bridge you can feel the mist and it's so fucking cold I unknowingly held by breath so a second. John and I decided to strip...back to the bikini top/base chest and shorts and took off our hiking boots to keep as much stuff dry as possible. I imagine if there was a hurricane of ice cold water it would be like crossing that bridge. The falls were insanely powerful and you were hit from the top like a ridiculous pressurized shower and some water crashed against the bridge and rushed over your feet. John held my hand the entire way so it was pretty sweet. Though maybe he was just trying to keep me from blowing away. Overall a pretty thrilling experience - one of my favorite moments from the trip.

Sadly 2 hikers got swept off this bridge and died just 2 weeks after we were here. It rained and was so hot starting the week we were there that there was more melting snow. And the rapids were flooding the bridge. We would not have crossed if it were worse than it was. We weren't continuing on the hike so we actually had the option of deciding if it was safe. These hikers were returning from a backcountry trip and had to take the bridge to get home. And one of the guys had proposed to his wife at the bridge years before. It really hurt me to read about this because it was such an awesome hike. I'm glad it wasn't too dangerous when I was there but have a big "too close for comfort" feeling about the whole thing.

We stopped at the waterslide/pool on the way back to cool off again. It took us a long time to do 5 easy miles but sometimes it's not about covering a lot of miles but what you see along the way. And lounging my a natural mountain pool is a pretty great way to pass the time.

On the way back we were told there was a mama bear and cubs down the trail. So Kevin starting singing Day-O "Come, Mister tally man, tally me banana...." and John grabbed a stick...but we never saw any bear.

Also, it was on this hike that John and I drank from a small waterfall and did not get sick! You really should purify any water and we didn't. I was certain that with my luck I would spend the rest of the night puking. But all bowels stayed healthy. Take that Giardia!