Yosemite Date Day...

Yosemite National Park is a gorgeous display of God's creation. It is only a two hour drive from our place, and after about nine months of living that close to such beauty, I decided that we needed to go check it out. So one morning, I woke Sam up early, put him in the car, and told him to go back to sleep. We were going to spend the whole day together, and I wanted to surprise him with a hike in Yosemite. It was a beautiful morning for a drive and the sun had just hit the valley as we arrived. I was feeling very energized and ambitious, and wanted to hike to the top of Half-Dome. I knew that it was 18 mile hike, but that didn't daunt me. About a mile and a half into the Half Dome hike, there is a gorgeous waterfall. So I knew that even if we didnt make it near Half-Dome, it would be a worthwhile hike. As it was, I barely made it to the waterfall. One way to get there is to go up the front of the waterfall and climb some steep steps to the top, or you can take the longer more circitous route around the back of the waterfall. We ended up climbing the front and coming back down the other side. It was a fun hike and I was tired by the time we got back. But I also promised Sam that I wanted to climb Half-Dome, I would just need to train for it.

We got to see the sun rise on our way...

Our first glimpse of Yosemite. The sheer cliff to the left is El Capitan, and the rounded cliff to the right is Half Dome.

A view of the Yosemite National Forest

The drive into Yosemite is beautiful...

El Capitan...

Yosemite Valley Floor...

We were headed for the top of that Waterfall....

At the bottom of the waterfall...Here we climbed some steep steps to the top. There was so much water coming over the falls that we got soaked and it was slippery climbing to the top.

About halfway up...

This was the view looking back from the top.

And here is us, trying to dry out in the warm sunshine...

Enjoying the peaceful sounds of the rushing water...

There is the top of the waterfall that we made it to. This was the view on the way back

This was a second waterfall that feed the one that we climbed to. After this trip, I started running daily and got myself into much better shape. About three months later, we did the same hike, only we went further, past this waterfall...to the top of Half Dome. But that is for another time =)