Yosemite

You know those moments you have that you just can’t relive that change your perspective of what you see in the world? I had that moment.

We all had woken up at the crack of dawn in hopes of getting on the road quickly. Luckily we had all of our clothes laid out, and our cameras were charged and ready where were we going you ask? Well we were going to Yosemite National Park(for a day). As I was stumbling out of bed, I thought “Hey, maybe we will be lucky and the waterfalls will be in full flow like back in 1982.” But I was in for a surprise, a surprise the size of a roaring waterfall.

Ok. I have to admit, I am NOT a morning person. I am a night owl. But I was surprised that I got up without even complaining about it. Anyway I quickly got into the shower and then afterwards I put on my clothes. I then went downstairs for breakfast. I went into the pantry and pulled out the cereal. As I ate in the kitchen, I stare out the window thinking,”The last time we went, the reason for being so dry was because of the lack of rainfall. But with all the precipitation we were getting for the past few weeks I am positive that the river, creeks and the waterfalls will be in full flow.” I was curious to see if my theory was correct.

Anyway, my mom, and dad,(my brother was just running around.) were all in a rush trying to get everything straight. While I was just peacefully eating my cereal. Now here comes the part that annoyed me the most. My mom called out to me from upstairs saying,”KANMANI!“CAN YOU PLEASE CHANGE YOUR SHIRT!” AND WEAR THE ONE I PUT OUT FOR YOU!” then I yelled back and said, “MOM!” I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT!” then my dad HAD to butt into the  conversation my mom started and said,”KANMANI! LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER!” OR YOU’RE NOT GOING TO COME WITH US!” this was my reply, “FINE, I WILL YOU DON’T NEED TO SCREAM!” I climbed up the stairs and to my room. As I walked to my room my dad scolded me for being “bad” and not replying to my mom. Well excuse ME for not knowing what she was talking about!

As I walked into my room, I finally notice the shirt my mom laid out for me. It was the one my brother my brother got me when it was his birthday. I mean I LOVED the shirt really! Honest! But I just didn’t think that it was practical for a trip to the MOUNTAINS!(No offense Madhavan.)  But I put it on anyway, without complaining. After I went downstairs to continue breakfast. I found my dad there. I joined him at the table. He was holding a little black bag in his hands. I asked him what it was. He opened it and I saw a small glint of red. Then I realized it was a swiss army knife.

Without thinking, I asked him, “Daddy?” Can I see?” He replied saying, “Sure. Just don’t touch, you will easily hurt yourself.” He showed me all the features, including the scissors, nail file, screwdriver, knife, toothpick, soda opener, etc. As the minutes passed, he showed me everything as I stared in awe. Finally my mom and my little brother came down the stairs. My mom asked if we all went to the bathroom. We all reply with an anxious “Yes!” Then we all went out the door and straight to the car. My brother and I walked(actually runned) eagerly to the car. As soon as we buckled up into our seats, my dad started driving.  I just sat there calmly. But in my mind I was screaming, “WOOHOO!” FINALLY!”

Once we got onto the road, my dad put in an album that said in fine print on the front “NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL MUSIC #57 in the cd player. I kept dancing in my seat and sang along to the songs I recognized and enjoyed. We continued driving for a few hours until we got to Mariposa. We stopped in front of a nearby Subway and we went inside and ordered two  sandwich for lunch up in the mountains. Then we went to a nearby Burger King to get burgers to eat in the car because we were all pretty hungry. Then we were on the road again.

We continued driving, but as we drove I noticed that the below me there were small streams of water running. But as we continued the streams turned to pools, and the pools turned to roaring rivers! It was magnificent! I had never seen it like this! My theory was correct.(That’s what usually happens.) As we continued driving, the rivers got even more powerful. Roaring with water as we drove along the slick road. As we got closer and closer to Yosemite Valley I started to see more and more tree’s. But these weren’t ordinary trees. These were Sequoia tree’s. I stared in awe as we passed by hundreds of them. Then my dad made a stop and he said that we can get out and go see the lake. So we went down into where the lake is. Since it was a bit steep and a bit slippery, my mom grabbed onto my shoulder for support. I was lucky I didn’t slip and fall onto my butt. Anyway, we got to the edge of the mini lake and we put our hands in. It was SO COLD! I mean it was so cold that I could move my hand for like 2 minutes. Then my dad dared me to put my hands in the water for 15 seconds. I was like, “ARE YOU CRAZY!?” But I did it anyway. It was traumatizing.

After that, we went over to the area where you could see Bridal Veil Falls. We decided to take a few selfies in front of the waterfall. Here’s one I took:

I took the selfie in front of the bushes that were behind me. It took me a while to adjust myself to the prickly leaf’s but I managed to take the photo without falling into the bushes and possibly severely hurting a few woodland creatures.

Anyway, we looked at the waterfall and we were amazed at how it changed. Before it was just a thin line of water. But now it was a huge waterfall cascading down. It was amazing.

We wanted to take a family photo but we were sort of struggling so my dad asked an old couple to take the photo for us. After the photo’s we talked a little bit with them. They were really nice. After they left, we stood there for a while and stared at the cascading waterfall. A few minutes later we were in the car buckling up for our next stop.

We continued driving as we passed the tall trees and trails. I have to be honest with you. But I really wanted to see a firefall. A firefall is basically a waterfall with the Sun’s rays shining through it. It makes the waterfall look like fire! But I didn’t see that. I was pretty disappointed but my spirits instantly rose again when we stopped and stared at Yosemite Falls.

Okay so when we stopped in front of the grassy field. We got an amazing view of Yosemite Falls from a distance. It looked amazing. But my dad had and idea. He asked me to get the binoculars from the car, so I grabbed them and handed it to him. He then put them up to his face and focused it on the falls. His jaw instantly dropped as he stopped and stared at the majestic falls. Then he gave them to me. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. It didn’t speak for a few minutes. I was frozen.

When I finally gave the binoculars back to my dad. We both stopped and stared and tried to process what we just saw. Then I ran over to my mom and dragged her over to the spot my dad and I were at, and then handed her the binoculars. Then I positioned her so she can get a clear view of the waterfall.

When she finally looked at the waterfall through the binoculars she just said,”Wow.” Something told me that this shocked her as much as it shocked my dad and I. I just stood there watching the waterfall crashing down, as I stared in amazement. About 20 minutes later we were in the car again driving towards upper Yosemite Falls.

We were struggling to find a parking spot. I know. Horrifying. Ok. I know you’re being sarcastic but really, finding a parking spot was a very tragic experience. But then the most magical thing happened.So you might want to read closely. So when we all finally gave up on finding a spot, my brother started crying. Two fat tears slid down my brother’s cheek. Then BOOM! There was a parking spot right in front of us! We were all in such shock that we kept asking my brother if he had magical powers.We climbed on the steep trail then finally we arrive at Upper Yosemite Falls! When we walked toward the waterfall we were instantly splashed by water. With the force of the wind water droplets begin being forced out of the waterfall and out into our faces. It was an amazing feeling. But what was extraordinary was the waterfall.

Up close the waterfall looked even more awesome. Why? Well the waterfall was in full flow cascading down and crashing on the large boulders. The water lapped against our faces as we stood there staring. My dad stood on top of a bench and just stood there for like 15 minutes.(Not kidding.) It reminded me of a scene from,“The Lion King.”

My dad was intrigued by the sight but I didn’t really blame him. It was enchanting. The way the water moved and how it splashed on our faces. For a few seconds I saw everything in slow-motion. The water the people. The rivers, everything.I know that seems almost unreal, but I imagined it that way. I couldn’t stop staring at the marvelous sight in front of me.

Something bothered me though. The people. You see, the reason is because they never take the time to enjoy the moment. All they do is just take a bunch of pictures that they will probably just not look at it and discard anyway. They don’t live in the moment. What’s the point of going if you can’t see it now? A picture only reminds of the place you saw. You’ll just be all like,” Oh yeah, I remember that.” Then just toss it. But if you are actually there, in that place, you have to embrace, the smell, the sounds, and the feel. Trust me, I know.

After watching the waterfall, we walked back down to the trail and sat on the benches. Then an old lady asked if she can sit with us. We agreed and said she can. She then told us that she has been here about 30 times. I was really shocked about that. She also told us some interesting things about Yosemite that we never knew. Like, the water in the National park wasn’t this full since 1987! It turns out that it was so full that it flooded everywhere! After a while of talking we left to go back to the car.

Anyway. We stayed there for a long time. It took us a while to drag my dad back to the trail. My dad decided that we should eat in the woods. So we tried sitting on a boulder. It didn’t work. We tried sitting near a tree, it didn’t work. We tried sitting near a bush, it didn’t work. So we just decided to just eat in the car. It was a wise decision because I couldn’t last another minute without eating something.

We were back on the road again. This time though, we were heading to Glacier Point. As we drove we saw bits of snow. Then as we went further we saw more and more snow along the road and in the forest. I was so happy and excited to see snow for the very first time ever. Then my dad stopped the car and we climbed out and went to one of the snowy banks of snow.We climbed up and my dad was advising us on how to walk in the snow, and not land on your butt.The snow was freezing cold, but none of us really did mind, because we were having so much fun! Then I made a snowball and threw it at my mom’s butt.

Then the epic snowball battle began. My brother threw a massive snowball at me, so I threw one back at him. Then snowballs were flying everyone. It was awesome! The snow felt like a big huge Popsicle.(That I can’t eat obviously.) Then we all started to get numb. So we went back into the car. We couldn’t stop talking about the snow so time passed quicker, so before we knew it, we were at Glacier Peak.

When we got there we parked and we started walking. But then my brother said he needed to go to the bathroom. We all sighed then my mom took him to the nearest bathroom. But then my mom and brother rushed back outside and my mom looked sick. Then my dad and I looked at each other. My mom was literally gagging. So my dad decided to take my brother into the woods and do his,“Business.” My mom and I waited for about 10 minutes. Then they finally came out. Then we walked toward the point. We all climbed onto a huge rock and watched the mountains. It was so… Calming. I know it sounds super weird but it was honestly calming. We stayed there for a long time, watching the waterfalls and mountains from the peak.

We went to a different part of the area and took a few photos. I tried naming all of the waterfalls, but I couldn’t name one the. So I gave it a nickname. The “Mystery Waterfall.” As I looked out into the mountains, I noticed something trying to crawl up from the other side of the rocky fence. So I helped it. Turned out that it was a little ladybug. (Luckily it wasn’t poisonous.) I named the ladybug Yosemite. I know it’s weird being friends with a ladybug, but if you have met me, you would know that I would be friends with anything.

After a while, we had to go. I was really sad. But we had to go because it was getting late. So we climbed back into the car and started driving. The sun was setting and it was beautiful. My parents were talking for a long time so I just dosed off with my brother. A few hours later, it was almost midnight and we were still driving. But it was pitch-black outside. We were close to home. My entire body ached as I tried to get up from the position I was in. 20 minutes later, we were finally home. I went straight to my room and changed into my pajamas. Then I crashed into my bed.

So this was basically the most memorable Yosemite trip yet. Why? Well why don’t you just go and find out yourself?

• Kanmani Harivenkatesh