Posted on Aug. 17, 2024

A couple weeks before starting my new job in June, I took a solo trip to California to explore Yosemite National Park.

My four-day getaway included a ride on the Sugar Pine Railroad, a tour-guided 6-mile hike to Sentinel Dome via Taft Point, a stroll through the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, and a trek along Mono Trail to overlook Bass Lake. I also made a few just-for-fun stops at local places such as Wonderful Treasures Thrift Shop, Clouds Coffee Shop, and Bee Café Bakery.

After landing at Fresno Yosemite International Airport, I picked up the keys to a rental car and drove to my hotel in Oakhurst. The sun had already set, and I was nervous about driving with tired eyes on new-to-me routes. It was not until the next day in the morning’s light that I could see the beauty of the mountains all around me. I could also see the steep drops from the winding roads I’d driven on the night before.

The highlight of the trip was the 6-mile hike, which began at Bridalveil Fall shortly before 8:30 a.m. Bryant, the co-owner of Echo Adventures, was the tour guide. He said his wife is from Oklahoma, and they actually met in California and started the business together.

The other hikers included a family of three from Philadelphia, along with a man and woman from the Netherlands who spoke English and Dutch.

Over the course of 8 hours, we trekked over rocks and streams in the forest. We paused countless times not because we were winded but because the views themselves were breathtaking.

As I stood at the top of Taft Point, I looked in awe at Yosemite Falls, North America’s tallest waterfall at 2,425 feet. I grabbed the rail as I peered below the edge of Taft Point to see the green valleys and life below. I felt alive. With a rush of adrenaline, I could feel every nerve in my legs.

Toward the end of the hike, we stopped for ice cream at Glacier Point and took a group photo before heading back and parting ways.

The next morning, I set out to see the giant sequoias, which are the largest trees in the world by volume. I journeyed along a dirt path and gazed up at trees that were unlike anything in nature I’d ever seen. I understand mountaineer John Muir’s fascination with the big trees. He described them as nature’s “forest masterpiece” and “the greatest of living things.”

In the essay “The Nature Mysticism of John Muir,” author Larry Gates comments on the relationship between Muir and nature. Gates writes that Muir knew he had “complete freedom” in the mountains where the experiences seemed “timeless and spaceless.”

“Occasionally, he felt his body had no weight,” Gates writes. “‘Life seems neither long nor short,’ he [Muir] once wrote, ‘and we take no more heed to save time or make haste than do the trees and stars.’

“He experienced what he believed was God's time, an immense perspective which made the quick transformations of the cloud-mountains and the slow transformations of the granite mountain roughly equivalent,” Gates adds.

What storybooks might deem magical was spiritual and real to me. I could have easily gotten lost in the endless rows of towering evergreen trees and enjoyed being tucked away for a while.

My experience in California was, in a word, refreshing.

Being among the hundreds of tourists in bumper-to-bumper traffic to the entrance of the park was a reminder of how diverse our country alone is.

In America, we have the freedom to take a 2-hour flight and land someplace entirely new to us. The adventures are endless.