Yosemite National Park

After two intense days in Yosemite National Park, I am slowly returning to civilization and ready to work on my PC again :).

Waterfall from above

Yosemite was one of my absolute must-see priority destinations before my trip! It is one of the most famous national parks in the USA, with beautiful mountains and located in amazing California: So it was clear to me, I have to go! And I fulfilled this dream in the past two days. Little Kathrin all alone in the giant Yosemite National Park, simply fantastic! One of my favorite authors, Paulo Coelho, says so beautifully: 'It is the possibility to live a dream that makes life worth living.' and the man is so right. Do you know that feeling when you follow a crazy desire of your heart, no matter how difficult the path is and how crazy the desire may seem? If you don't know it, I can only recommend to you, follow your crazy heart. Because the feeling of fulfilling a wish is so amazing. So I was completely enchanted and couldn't believe it at first when I actually arrived in Yosemite. All the mountains, the green colors, and the waterfalls, simply impressive!

On both days, I went on quite long hikes. On the first day, I hiked up to waterfalls, and on the second day, I hiked up to a mountain peak to have a view of other mountains and valleys. Day 1, the hike to the waterfalls (Nevada Falls hike) was already very impressive. Seeing waterfalls flowing out of rocks live has something very powerful, magical. It seems so unreal, the power that water has and it looks so beautiful at the same time. The powerful flow of the water somehow gave me courage: If water can flow so powerfully through rocks, then our lives can flow too, no matter what challenges lie ahead of us. While watching the flowing waterfall, I also got a whole bizarre desire (and no, I'm not at risk of suicide!). I would have loved to simply jump into the water and follow the waterfall down the mountains. I had the feeling that I could fly and that I belong in this natural beauty, that I am a part of it. The feeling may sound totally crazy now, as if I've gone crazy again ;). But it's crazy when you talk to other hikers who look at the landscape: They experience a very similar feeling. Nature simply inspires in such a way that you forget everything around you and would love to fly into this silence and idyll. Thank God I don't know anyone who has actually jumped into waterfalls or other landscapes ;).

On Day 2 in Yosemite Park, I hiked the 4-Mile Trail, always uphill to Galcier Point, a famous viewpoint in the park. This point offered one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. It competes strongly with some viewpoints in Zion National Park and completely enchanted me. Once I reached the top, there was simply this incredible calmness that the mountains can radiate. No matter where I looked, there were other mountaintops everywhere, some covered in snow, some covered in trees, some completely bare. Personally, this wonderful, calming charisma on a mountaintop impresses me even more than waterfalls, for example, and so I would definitely recommend everyone going to Yosemite Park to hike the 4-Mile trail. BUT everyone is different and has different highlights, so consider it as my subjective opinion.

For me, 2 days in Yosemite Park were enough, as many hikes (including the famous hike to Yosemite Falls) were unfortunately closed due to winter. It's actually frozen in Yosemite Park already and was very cold, especially in the shade, so now I can sympathize with you freezing people in Germany ;). Also, some viewpoints in the park were no longer accessible due to the weather...especially my little sweet Ford would have had a hard time with the icy roads. It's a pity that I couldn't explore more of the park, but you can't have everything. I can imagine that in summer, you could easily spend a week in the park.

BUT on the other hand, I don't know if I would like to be in the park in summer. Even now, with the icy temperatures, there were already tourists everywhere, especially at the most famous viewpoints in Yosemite Park. That's probably the price you pay when a park is so beautiful and well-known. I have to admit that I have a huge problem when places are overcrowded with tourists. Somehow, it takes away some of the beauty for me and the magic of nature is then hard to see. When 100 people are babbling and almost fighting over the best photo spot, it feels more like a fair than relaxing nature. So I avoided the main tourist spots and I am immensely grateful that most people are not as eager to hike as I am. So at least during the hikes, I had my peace and the nature for myself, a blessing :D.

Since Yosemite Park is so crowded with tourists, the hotels near the park are in high demand and accordingly incredibly expensive. And camping in the park was much too cold for me in freezing temperatures. The only affordable accommodation for me was still in Fresno, so I had to drive almost 2.5 hours daily to my hikes in the middle of the park (even with a hotel in a nearby 'city', you would still have to drive 1.5 hours, as Yosemite Park itself is so huge that you have a very long drive to the middle of the park). I find it totally crazy that I would never do that in Germany...2.5 hours in the car to go hiking and getting up at 6 o'clock in the morning just to make it worthwhile? I would never come up with the idea and complain too much about the travel time and my tiredness. Strangely, it doesn't bother me much here...I simply adapt to my environment. For Americans, a 2.5-hour drive is really no distance at all, they just take it for granted here to see something beautiful. I once again realize how crucial the attitude towards things is. At home, I would consider such a long drive a waste of time, annoying, and too expensive. Here, I even enjoy the drive...I simply enjoy the nature, the freedom in the car, the time for thinking, and best of all: the music and singing loudly during the drive. There are hundreds of songs that celebrate the beauty of California or its cities. Listening to these songs during the drive, while knowing that you are currently at the place that is being sung about, is something very special :). I rarely take as much time for music in everyday life. Another realization for my life at home: I definitely want to take more time for music. Music is incredibly powerful in my opinion: It can express so much, greatly influence the mood, and simply enchant and liberate. Taking time with great songs is simply another piece of great quality of life that is easily attainable.

When I arrived in Fresno in the evenings after my day hikes, I was always quite exhausted. But my two Airbnb hosts were not: The retired couple always awaited me with joy, but also with concern about whether I had survived the day and the drive well. Normally, Airbnb is less about having social contact between guests and hosts, but the retired couple did it completely differently. They were simply adorable to me, so when I returned from my hikes, they always cooked traditional Filipino dishes for me (super delicious) and provided a great breakfast in the morning. They wanted to see all the photos and treated me like a queen. On the one hand, it was a bit exhausting when you came home tired in the evenings, but on the other hand, this giant interest and care did me a lot of good. It is simply beautiful when people are so interested in the life of another person :) One evening, the two even left me information from the university in Fresno and said that I could switch to psychology there and live with them during that time. If Fresno had been a slightly nicer city in California, I might have seriously considered it ;).

On the other hand, both of them were so hospitable and loving, caring people and had absolutely positive sides. They not only cared about me, but also about others, for example, low-income youth. So my conclusion is that not every Trump supporter necessarily has to be a terrible person or immediately stand out as a monster...some people have such great fears of the unknown that it brings out a terrible side in them, even though they are actually good people at their core.

In any case, I managed to leave the retired couple behind, because something great is in front of me: San Francisco =). On my drive tonight from Fresno to San Francisco, I took a little detour to the wine region of Fresno before sunset. I found super beautiful mountains with a view of a lake and walked around a bit. Things like Yosemite Park are great...but spontaneously discovering beautiful places on the way and spontaneously hiking there also has its very special charm.

After exploring the wine region, I just arrived in San Francisco with my little car. And oh my God, I drove over the Golden Gate Bridge, which was brightly illuminated with lights at night, and I saw San Francisco passing by at night. Simply incredibly pretty and a really intense feeling to know that you're driving on the Golden Gate Bridge. I'm really excited to explore this legendary city in the next few days!