Sooo… After the awesomeness of the Grand Canyon and Zions National park we drove trough the smoking hot Death Valley and made it to Yosemite. The first thing that struck us when we drove the camper up there is that we didn’t expect it to be so COLD!

First we thought it’s just because we got so spoiled with the insane heat at those previous places. But I have seen more than a couple red, frozen faces of backpackers there. Can you imagine? We arrived, got out of the car wearing our shorts, flipflops, sunglasses en t-shirts. At the campsite next to ours there was a lady wearing a scarf and hat keeping herself warm at the campfire (this was in the afternoon).  I think we didn’t survive long in our shorts before we changed into a warmer outfit. I didn’t feel like I was really prepared for this, cause we packed mostly summer clothes. So I bundled up by wearing leggings under my jeans, the two sweathers that I brought, and a jacket. And then it was kind off okay-ish.

So what happend is: we didn’t realize our campsite was so high up. Therefore, it was freezing cold there. In the evening we made a campfire but I still got a little cold. I was really happy we slept on top of the car, and not on the cold floor of a tent. But we needed to sleep with socks and sweathers on to stay warm.

Another way we stayed warm is to go for a little hike soon as we arrived. During the walk you forget about the tempearture, because: WOW! It is crazy beautifull out there! On the way to the US I started reading the book Wild by Cheryll Strayed. You may know the book or movie. Anyways, she decides to walk the Pacific Crest Trail. And we found out the trail lies close to our camp an goes trough Yosemite. So we decided to hike a tiny bit  (!!this trail is obviously crazy long and goes from the border of Mexico in the South all the way up to the Canadian border in the North and is 4286 km long) of the PCT. And I enjoyed this a lot! It was a quiet and piecefull walk and Yosemite is really georgeous. We passed by a few soda springs. The animals seem to love to drink that water, and when we where there we had company of a herd of deer.

Next to the deer, you can also run into bears at Yosemite. Yep, I don’t mean your teddybear! That means you have to keep all of your food and other things with a smell (yes, like toothpaste-no, not dirty laundry) in a bear-locker. Apparently bears can easily break into a car too, so thats a little scary right?  But it didn’t keep me awake that night (that was the cold). Also they really do their best to inform you how to be safe. A ranger comes in the evening at the campsite to inform you about it. They told us that there were currently three bears hanging around at the campsite!

The next day, after surviving the cold night, we went with the shuttle to do a hike to see two amazing waterfalls. We saw the Vernal fall (217 feet) and the Nevada fall (594 feet). They we’re really amazing, and I definetly recommend hiking this trail when you’re in Yosemite. Some parts of it are quite narrow, with little steps. But if I can do it, so can you!