YOSEMITE

ANGELA, ME AND DOREEN IN FROM OF GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE (WITH FOG)

GIANT SEQUOIA

VENAL FALLS ON WAY TO NEVADA FALLS

HALF DOME

When I rose on Sunday 21st it was seriously foggy outside which, I am told, is not uncommon in San Francisco because of the cold air coming in from the Pacific. After dispatching my latest blog entry, I packed my gear and headed down to the Hotel lobby to meet my fellow travellers for my 18-day 'Best of the West' camping trip through the National Parks.

The driver/tour leader is Alex, and whilst checking in with him I met fellow Brits Chris and Katy who come from the Isle of Mann, Charlotte and Karen, also Brits, Donna from Australia, Angela from Sweden and Doreen from Germany. There was meant to a Korean chap coming with us too, but he didn't turn up for some reason. So, it looks like the girls heavily outnumber the boys, but I think I can live with that.

After a short pep talk about the rules of the trip, Alex drove us up to the Golden Gate Bridge so we could walk across, and then collected us on the other side. Because of the fog we couldn't see the top of the Bridge though.

We continued on to Yosemite National Park, stopping for lunch along the way. Once in the Park we initially headed for Tuolumne Grove to walk among the great Sequoias. We took a group photo at a tree with a tunnel through it large enough for a car. Then it was on to our campsite at Yosemite Lakes where we pitched our tents while Alex prepared supper.

An early night was required because at 5.00am next morning we left the camp site, leaving our tents pitched, to walk part of the John Muir Trail to Nevada Falls. The 7 mile walk involved nearly 1,000 ft of climbing, but the terrific views made the effort well worthwhile. Yosemite certainly lives up to its reputation of natural beauty. We were particularly excited to see Half Dome, a famous granite mountain peak which has a vertical rock face on its north side. The best rock climbers in the world come to tackle this incredibly difficult and dangerous climb.

We were down again by midday, and after some further exploration of the National Park got back to the campsite late afternoon. With some chill-out time remaining, some of us took a swim in the river adjacent to the camp site before getting down to camp duties, the most important of which was cooking supper.

I am pleased to say that we are all getting on with each other really well. We have lots more to do and see on this trip, and I am sure we are going to have a lot of fun.