Nature Journal 13

Yosemite Valley – March 13, 2017

My first natural park experience…how are any others going to compare? This is one of the most popular and well-known valleys in the world. The scale of its popularity is tangible and can be seen by the lines of cars going up the hills, idling at an incline, waiting to emerge from the Wawona Tunnel and get their first glimpse at the spectacular valley that lie below. My dad and I only allowed for one day at Yosemite in our schedule; we were driving a loop from Las Vegas to San Francisco, through the San Joaquin valley and down the Pacific Coast Highway.

We wandered around the valley floor; our necks craned at a seemingly permanent 90-degree angle so we could gaze at the ancient monoliths that surrounded us. We walked along the edge of a quiet stream where the water was still enough that it reflected the bright blue skies and the white caps of snow on the rocks above. We sat there for many minutes and talked about what we knew about this place. We both watched the Ken Burns special on National Parks and we shared what information we remembered from the documentary. Everything felt so real, so magnificent, so far beyond the world I have at school or at home.

After a few hours of hiking on the loop around the valley, my dad returned to the shops and I decided to hike the falls. I knew that I couldn’t get all the way to the top because the snow was still covering the trail. As I weaved up the stairs and through the trees, I got small glimpses of the view I would see after a few more minutes of strenuous climbing. When I came upon my first lookout point, I was completely taken by what was before me. I sat there for about 20 minutes alone (one of the advantages of visiting in the off-season) and I thought; I thought about life, school, how places like this exist and my own existence. My worries were dwarfed by the monoliths in sight. They have formed over millions of years and I’m here for barely a fraction of mountain time. This reminds me of Aldo Leopold’s Thinking Like a Mountain – how it’s easy to be carried by emotion and individual perspective because it is difficult for us to see the bigger picture. But a mountain is objective; they move slowly and see all that lies below. I need to think more like a mountain, especially during seasons like finals when all I focus my energy on is grades and performance. A test cannot derail my life, but small-mindedness can.