If you’re a fan of the Famous photographer Ansell Adams you have most definitely seen images of Yosemite National Park. Ansell Adams documented the shit out of the park through out the 20th century and little has changed, bar the decreased water levels and mass amounts of tourists. Yosemite is just as breathtaking and impressive as you might expect. On the drive in every turn provides an incredible view; if you ignore the selfie sticks. It’s very competitive to get a camp site in Yosemite Valley and tends to book up quickly especially in the summer. But while we were there was a wildfire that threatened nearby towns and the power grid that fed the whole valley, causing punters to get spooked and leaving a camp site in a prime location for us!

First thing we were told is not to leave food or toiletries in your car or tent or risk a midnight bear B & E to get your lip smackers and peanut butter cups. Don't stress, there are hefty storage lockers on each camp site. We didn't see any bears but did witness a chip heist carried out by a raccoon.

We were itching to start climbing up the impressive rocks that surround the village and planned to do the Half Dome climb. Unfortunately we missed the memo that you must enter a ballot and all spots for the next day were full. Disappointment aside we settled on combining the glacier point hike and the four mile hike to give us an appropriately challenging substitute.

The trail up to Glacier Point is steep and relatively arduous but for being peak summer it was surprisingly low on the selfie stick front. As you climb higher and higher with your ears popping like crazy there’s an endless supply of spectacularly cropped views of waterfalls and Half Dome. You feel quite like your actually in the wild for most of the incline, and although there were wildfires surrounding the park the view was not obscured at all by smoke.

Glacier Point itself is pretty hectic, all the slackers in the park have caught a bus or driven to the Point which means it gets pretty crowded. Don’t be tricked by the tons of busses coming through as they don’t go back to Yosemite valley or any of the camps, you’ll just get sassed by a driver who seems almost happy to tell you you’ve get down the way you got up…Walking.

The Four Mile track part which is your decent from Glacier point is just as spectacular as the trip up but depending on your timing you may have to jog down to try and catch the last shuttle bus back to camp. If you miss the shuttle it adds an extra 5km’s to your already 29km’s so it is worth the jog.

by Ashleigh Dwyer & Max Blackmore

2017

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