Friday evening was spent in frantic packing mode. I was having a major dilemma trying to figure out what to bring. The 3 different weather reports I looked at weren't helping matters... they each had 3 different forecasts for Yosemite. One said it would be in the 60's (sweatshirt and jeans weather), one said the 70's (possibly shorts, especially if hiking, but still some warmer clothes) and one even said it would be in the low 80's (no sweatshirt needed). Just to be safe, I packed a little of everything!
Saturday I got up bright and early. Thankfully, the car was packed already with my tent, sleeping bag, air mattress, camping chair, and the stove/pots/pans/propane borrowed from Claudia and Rocky. All I had to do was finish packing my toiletries and then bring down my bag, pillow and blanket. We were all meeting at Lael's at 7:00 and I got there a few minutes early. (Our group ended up being me, my friend Lael, his girlfriend Anthea, his friend from TNT Chiel,and his friends Kelvin and Eranie with their girlfriends Amie and Kat.) Everything was laid out on his driveway and my first thought was, "Uh Oh, how are we going to get all that stuff in Anthea's SUV?!!" I had serious doubts but we did it. We had to cram some stuff in the other vehicle and in the back seat but we got most all of it in Anthea's and still had room for the 4 of us too :D After a detour to get gas, and to McDonald's for breakfast, we were finally on the road a little after 9:00am.
Yes, that is our camping stuff all piled up next to me :(
The drive went well and we made good time. I even got in a little nap on the way. :D We arrived at the little ranger kiosk at the edge of Yosemite National Park and there was a line to get in. We just had to wait a few minutes to get through and then we wound down to the valley floor.
We found our tent site in the Lower Pines campsite and started to set everything up. We had a double site since we were a larger group and it was nice and large. There was a little flat parking area where our bear bins, campfire, and picnic table were, and we set up all our tents outside that area near the trees. My tent is that pretty blue and white one on the left in the picture :D
Of course AFTER everything was all set up a ranger came by and very nicely told us that our tents were supposed to be set up INSIDE the "parking" area where we currently had our cars. They were trying to keep tents and people out of the outside area to promote vegetation growth, which would help screen the individual group sites from each other and also help cut down on noise. Great. Now we had to move the cars and then all of our tents (with every thing inside) to the inner area near the picnic tables. Once we did that, we spent the rest of the day relaxing, reading and snacking :D The weather ended up being just perfect. Under the trees it was nice and cool, and out in the sun it was pretty warm. :D
That night we cooked up some yummy chicken on the grill, and had that with some salad and veggies. We kept getting in trouble with the rangers though because we had food out, instead of shut in our bear bins. There is a big problem in Yosemite with bears, and every individual campsite had a steel bear bin where you are supposed to keep EVERYTHING that smells yummy and might attract bears (food, sunscreen, soap, lotion, lip gloss, etc). If you're not actively eating food, it's supposed to be locked in the bear bin, which is a little inconvenient when you're with a big group and you're trying to make dinner. After dinner we had some yummy s'mores :D My favorite camping food :D Most people make s'mores with graham crackers but for some odd reason, I grew up using Ritz crackers instead. Whenever I tell people that, they screw their faces up in disgust. This time I brought some Ritz crackers in addition to the graham crackers, just in case some one wanted to be brave. Amie had also had s'mores with Ritz so it wasn't just me swearing that it was actually good. Most everyone tried it, liked it and I think they're now converted :D
We all went to bed around 10pm, our bellies full from the s'mores :D It was still pretty nice out and I was toasty warm, bordering on hot, inside my sleeping bag. It didn't take long before I was asleep. All of a sudden around midnight I was woken up by some loud yelling. "GO AWAY BEAR, GO AWAY!!" AHHHH, there was a bear in the campground! We heard the yelling and banging for a few more terrifying minutes and then all was quiet... and I think that was even worse. All I could think about was that the bear could be walking by my tent at that exact moment. Did he smell the cherry chapstick I had snuck in my sleeping bag with me? Did he smell the Strawberry Daiquiri lotion I had put on that morning? I guess he didn't because I survived the night :D I got woken up a few times thanks to some loud campers, the cars driving by us on the road, and then the freezing cold very early in the morning, but no more bears. At one point though I thought that I heard a bear... it turned out to be just someone snoring. Phew :D
That night we cooked up some yummy chicken on the grill, and had that with some salad and veggies. We kept getting in trouble with the rangers though because we had food out, instead of shut in our bear bins. There is a big problem in Yosemite with bears, and every individual campsite had a steel bear bin where you are supposed to keep EVERYTHING that smells yummy and might attract bears (food, sunscreen, soap, lotion, lip gloss, etc). If you're not actively eating food, it's supposed to be locked in the bear bin, which is a little inconvenient when you're with a big group and you're trying to make dinner. After dinner we had some yummy s'mores :D My favorite camping food :D Most people make s'mores with graham crackers but for some odd reason, I grew up using Ritz crackers instead. Whenever I tell people that, they screw their faces up in disgust. This time I brought some Ritz crackers in addition to the graham crackers, just in case some one wanted to be brave. Amie had also had s'mores with Ritz so it wasn't just me swearing that it was actually good. Most everyone tried it, liked it and I think they're now converted :D
We all went to bed around 10pm, our bellies full from the s'mores :D It was still pretty nice out and I was toasty warm, bordering on hot, inside my sleeping bag. It didn't take long before I was asleep. All of a sudden around midnight I was woken up by some loud yelling. "GO AWAY BEAR, GO AWAY!!" AHHHH, there was a bear in the campground! We heard the yelling and banging for a few more terrifying minutes and then all was quiet... and I think that was even worse. All I could think about was that the bear could be walking by my tent at that exact moment. Did he smell the cherry chapstick I had snuck in my sleeping bag with me? Did he smell the Strawberry Daiquiri lotion I had put on that morning? I guess he didn't because I survived the night :D I got woken up a few times thanks to some loud campers, the cars driving by us on the road, and then the freezing cold very early in the morning, but no more bears. At one point though I thought that I heard a bear... it turned out to be just someone snoring. Phew :D
TO BE CONTINUED....
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