Yosemite

AAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHH! I hate traffic! Really, I detest sitting in traffic. I just sat needlessly in 45 min. of traffic because I forgot to buy something I need while at the store the other day. I could have been home already. But nooo, I decide that I will save myself the trouble of having to go out later by hitting the store on my way home. Bad decision. If I only had a crystal ball I could have seen the accident and rubberneckers bogging down the should-be-moving traffic! What should have taken me a mere ten minutes turned into 45 minutes of traffic plus the 10 minutes that this simple task should have originally taken. An hour of my life wasted all because of metro-Atl’s freakin’ traffic! On my list of Top 10 Reasons I Like To Hike And Disappear Into The Wilderness, traffic ranks right on top.

So what’s this got to do with Yosemite? As usual when I need to escape and can’t, I dream. I’m a big dreamer. I came home (when I finally got out of the Automobile Hell) and pulled out one of my photo books. It was my book of Yosemite National Park pictures. I was thinking about how beautiful and amazing it was. And, of course, I began thinking about my next trip there when Best Friend and I plan to hike Half Dome (the scary cables and all!). I really wish that I had some photos to post but I visited in the summer of 2000 and that was before my digital photography days. Of course I do have a scanner that I could hook up, but that sounds like too much work right now.

I hope my words below will suffice. I wrote them a while back when I had thought I would be able to go back and then my broken heart realized I didn’t have the money. So again, I dreamed and remembered what I did when I was there in 2000.

Yosemite

Down in Yosemite Valley, I look up high
I gaze at the granite giants reaching for the sky
El Capitan, Cathedral Rocks, and Half Dome
Gaze down back at me, their faces of stone

Tumbling waters down from their great heights race
Feeding the Merced River that mirrors back their gaze
The Bridal Veil, Yosemite, Nevada, and Vernal Falls
Roaring loudly so all can hear and answer their call
To witness and behold their mighty power
And stand by the spray of their drenching shower

Walking amidst Giant Sequoias so tall
I am most humbled; I am so small
Yet I feel a sense of greatness, so heartfelt
Walking in the steps of John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt
Who walked along the Redwood cove
Along this ancient Sequoia grove
Who walked this sanctuary with such adoration
Who declared this most beautiful in all the nation
And as I stare up at the towering trees
I must admit that I have to agree

Leaving the enchanting valley floor
One may wonder; could there be more
What more could leave me as awestruck as this
The forest, the green, the shades, the mist

Rising slowly to stand in the sky
Mighty mountains are passing me by
As I travel to meet them and walk upon their breast
I see them close in around me and know I’m truly blessed
To be standing in the Tuolumne Meadows, sprinkled in colors galore
I lie down in this alpine meadow to watch the eagle soar
After a while I climb higher still
I’m in the clouds; I feel the growing chill

High up in the Sierra Nevada Range
The impression of summer season has begun to change
To a whisper of winter, with peaks in white powder
The rush of the wind growing steadily louder
As I finally reach the high Tioga Pass
Is this scenery real or has a spell been cast
Upon me, whose breath has been stolen
Along with any words to express what my heart is holding

Moved to tears I can barely take my leave
Ever since I left her behind, I have grieved
A longing for California in my heart
A longing for this place two worlds apart
There is only one cure; only one remedy
And I know that I must come back to Yosemite