After the relative comfort of our accommodations to date we were now to add a new dimension to our all american experience. Camping in Yosemite National Park! Instead of buying the tent, sleeping bags and all the camping paraphenalia we booked in to use one of their pre pitched tents on a campsite called white wolf. It was about 8000 feet above the valley and compared to the other accommodations offered it was pretty remote. Needless to say before we left i dragged mike to a camping store to get a torch, insect repellant, firelighting paste, matches and any other stuff i could get my hands on that i thought might come in useful! We left san francisco and it took about 3 hours to get to the park and then another hour to get to our campsite. We checked in, were given tent 15 and told we had to put all our food, drinks and toiletries in a bear box at the back of our tent as bears were frequent visitors to the camp! The tents dare i say it were actually better than i thought, they were big enough to house a double bed, 2 singles, a table, 4 chairs and a small wood burning stove. The only thing to disturb me at this moment were the flys which kept landing on me and the fact that the ground looked like it was moving as there were so many giant ants! You are not allowed fires in the park so you cant cook food therefore we booked to have dinner in the restaurant attached to the camp. Dinner was a family style service where everyone sits round the same table and there is a different 4 course set menu every night. The food was delicious and sitting round one big table was fun as you got to meet so many different types of people from all over the world. After dinner it was pitch black outside so with torch in hand we made our was to the tent to light our fire as it was starting to get cold. With me holding the torch mike was a pro at starting the fire and it went up first time and soon the tent was nice and toasty warm. To be honest i still hadnt learned to live in harmony with the ants so that first night i didnt really sleep well at all as it was too dark and when the fire went out it was freezing!

Day 2 after finally managing to get to sleep i wake to the sound of someone shouting and banging pots together. I open my eyes to see a giant ant crawling down my arm and when i sit up to look out the window the man is trying to scare this huge brown bear from the middle of the camp! AAAAHHHHH! At this point i should say that mike thought all this was hilarious, a scene straight out of carry on camping!! After calming myself down we got washed and dressed ready to do our first hiking trail! Most of the trails begin from down in the valley about an hours drive away so we set of with our guidebook in search of food and a trail. As Mike was driving i was in charge of reading the book and choosing a trail. The guide very helpfully lists them all, tells you how far it is and also how difficult the walk is from easy to very strenuous. I choose to walk to one of the waterfalls, vernal falls, it is classed as moderate in the book and whilst Mike wants a more difficult trek i win and we begin to climb the vernal falls. THe first part of the walk is a path winding uphill and whilst it is not too steep in the 95 degree heat you get pretty hot pretty quickly. We climb to the foot of the falls and the view is just amazing we take a few photos and catch our breath before continuing on. The next part of the trail takes us up the side of the falls, the path is no longer paved it is just rocks and the accent is much more severe. We take our time stopping every few meters to take photos, that is until our camera breaks and when we snap all we get is a white screen! We both play around with all the settings for about an hour before we decide it is totally bust. Of all the places to lose your camera ours breaks half way up a gorgeous waterfall in the middle of a national park with nowhere to get a new one! To say we were mad is an understatement and just to rub your noses in it everywhere you look there are people taking photos! We continue the hike nevertheless and the last 1/3 of the walk is an almost vertical climb up a rock stairway which having already done the rest of the climb was especially tough for me and i did think "this is moderate well thank goodness i didnt chose stenuous". Determination won out and we made it to the top. The view from the top was amazing you could see green and granite for miles it made all the climbing worth it. We had our lunch and relaxed at the top for an hour or so before beginning our descent. I foolishly thought this would be easier as it is all downhill however the strain on your thighs and knees from climbing down such a steep hill is almost unbearable there were times when i was quite happy to keep walking but i had to sit down because i felt my knees werent gonna hold me and i would fall it was unbelievable. We did eventually make it to the bottom and soaked our hot feet in the freezing cold river at the bottom of the falls which was bliss! By the time we got back to the car we had formulated a plan with regard to the broken camera. We went to the village store and bought a disposable camera our intention being to get the photos on a CD to upload them to the website! At this point it was only about 3pm so we had time to take in another trail this time a shorter trail marked easy in the guide! It was a 3 mile round trip walk to mirror lake. We got there in about 40 minutes and much to our disappointment the californian summer had dried out the fantastic lake, leaving a little pond to paddle your feet, we were gutted as the photos in the guide were gorgeous. After a quick paddle of our feet we crossed the pond to make our way back to the car. We started to feel a few drops of rain and almost couldnt believe it as it never rains in california. Within 5 minutes the few spots of rain became a huge thunder storm, the rain coming down in sheets and at one point we were being pelted on our bare skin with hail stones it was crazy. By the time we RAN the mile and a half to the car we had puddles in our shoes and we couldnt have been any wetter if we had jumped in the river, i have never been that wet from a rain storm before! The only good thing about being cold and wet is that when you get back to your tent, get the fire on (well mike the professional pyro got the fire going) and put on warm dry clothes it has got to be one of the best feelings ever! Dinner was the same as the previous night and the food was great, all the better having walked all day to earn it! It is safe to say with all the hiking and fresh air i slept like a log that night ants, bears and all!

Day 3 Wake up the morning of day 3 and "oh my goodness i cant walk" My adventures of the previous day had taken their toll and my legs were so stiff and sore. I think the downhill and then the running in the rain had finished me off i felt pain with every step and going down stairs or hills was agony! We decided in the morning to take a 90 minute drive to what is noted as the best view in all the park, glacier point. The drive was fantastic with everywhere you look housing an amazing view. The journey went so quickly with lots of oohs and ahhs along the way. After a few stops to take photos we arrived and parked up at glacier point. A short walk from the car ends in the best view of the park we had seen in the days we had been there. You could see the evolution of the park with all the landmark granite mountains and you could see all the famous waterfalls and a great view of the valley. We spent a long time taking photos then had some lunch before turning around and heading back to the tent. There were a few hikes which started from our camp the shortest of them being a 5 mile round trip hike to Lukens Lake. Despite my aching legs we knew we would never be in the park again so we took to the trail in search of a lake which would hopefully have water this time! A much flatter and easier trail led us to a beautiful peaceful lake where the surrounding trees reflected perfectly on the still water. We wandered around the lake for a while taking in the gorgeous views and enjoying that apart from 4 other walkers we were the only people there. After a short rest it was time to turn round and head back to the camp. The trail had been mostly through the forest so whilst the lake had been gorgeous and worth the walk we were not expecting much from the return journey through lots of dead trees and tree roots. Imagine our surprise when about 10 minutes in just ahead of us on the trail is a mummy dear and her two babies! We managed to get about 15 seconds before she got spooked and they all ran away. Whilst it was only a quick glimpse we felt blessed to have seen 2 bears, 3 dear, 2 racoons, a chipmunk and countless squrrels during our 3 nights in Yosemite. We made it back to the tent and both had a quick power nap before heading to the lodge for another delicious dinner.

Our final evening passed without drama and when it was time to leave i felt i was beginning to live in harmony with the ants and the flys however 3 nights was definitely enough i was ready for some home comforts so its off to Sacramento!!