Well, I went back to Yosemite National Park.

After the last time - an excursion planned with my brothers - I wanted a revisit.

I planned on going solo, but constantly asked my best friend if he wanted to go with me. We love hiking. I wanted to share the place that had dug deep into my being and made me feel most alive. After leaving the invitation open for an extended period of time and a purchase of the campground, he finally took me up on the offer. Hell yes.

Yosemite 2.0 was good to go.

Four nights in a National Park campground, sunrise hikes almost every single day, followed by one night in a Fresno hotel at the end of the trip, and overall - an amazing adventure with my best.

The campground we stayed at was Bridalveil Falls. A little farther from the Valley than Crane Flat Campground (the last played I stayed), but our site was INSANELY amazing. We probably had the best site at the campground. Large rocks and boulders were scattered over our site. It was beautiful.

The first thing we did was to head up to Glacier Point. Touristy and busy, but only a 20 minute drive from camp. The views here are amazing - and a bit scary. I was so elated to be back!

Because Glacier Point was the nearest spot, we ended up here a few times. There was one major difference in this trip compared to the last one, exactly two years prior: the views of Half Dome were now masked with wildfire smoke. It was incredibly sad to see.

Sentinel Dome and Taft Point Loop

6.1 miles | 2,231 ft elevation gain | 33:39 avg pace | 3:26:20 moving time | 4:10:45 total time

Woke up and made it to the trail head at sunrise. A loop around to Sentinel Dome that challenged my fear of heights. Thanks to my best friend for the support and encouragement, I made it up the dome. Then we looped around to Taft Point and just stared in awe at the beauty of the Valley and El Capitan.

Extraordinary first day.

Cathedral Lakes

9.7 miles | 4,308 ft elevation gain | 35:08 avg pace | 5:42:01 moving time | 7:12:11 total time

This was the only repeated hike. Originally, I wanted to go to Echo Peaks, but with the smoke from the previous day, we decided to go to my favorite place of last trip: Cathedral Lakes. We woke up at 330a to drive 2.5 hours to the trailhead. It’s a BITCH of a hike up to 10,000 ft. However, there is nothing like laying down next to a couple lakes nestled at the top of some mountains.

Illilouette Falls via Panorama Trail

6.1 miles | 3,028 ft elevation gain | 38:17 avg pace | 3:53:11 moving time | 4:37:04 total time

The last hike of the trip. Sunrise at Glacier Point, down to have some lunch on top of a waterfall, and then back up a steep trail to finish the day. Sunrise through the trees and over Half Dome was just…breathtaking.