Orientation was just a blast. The only decent part of it was
when we got to hear the NPS rangers talk to us. Basically, don’t do anything
stupid so they have to come get us. The rest was a bunch of Aramark blah blah
blah we’re cool stuff. Luckily for me, I only had to go through general
orientation from 8-11—and not the other two for tips and food. Because no one
tips a lifeguard and the only time we deal with food is vomit. ;)
So after our lunch break I went to the visitor center and
read every single sign there, absorbing all the information that I could: 1) to
kill time and 2) because I’m a nerd. I asked the person at the front desk if he
could give me a brief overview of the different trails because I’d be here all
summer, and he handed me one of each of their trail maps and pamphlets. Somehow
I still got out of there in just under an hour.
The first thing that I decided to do was the Lower Yosemite
Fall Trail. It’s really short and paved, and it was super crowded. The falls
were so big that they were spraying everyone on the bridge. It was pretty
sweet.
At the end of the Lower Yosemite Fall Trail, there was a
sign that pointed to the right that said, “Mirror Lake Trail—4.5 miles.” I
still had time to kill until my friends were done with ServSafe, so I decided
to take that option also. I later realized that it meant 4.5 mile to get to
Mirror Lake—not 4.5 miles total. Also, the listing on the trail map rated it as
“Easy,” but I would give it a “Moderate” considering there were a whole lot of
stairs and I think any old people that tried to do it would’ve had trouble with
all the rocks. The Easy only applies if you park super close and walk on the
paved path.
Along this path was a great example of the rock slides that
everyone talks about. Apparently a rock falls in Yosemite each day, so if you
hear thunder—you better find solid shelter fast. It is the most common cause of
natural change in the park today.
Also visible from the trail were the Royal Arch Cascades.
They were so large that they were actually flooding the trail in a couple
locations. I got a closer view later tonight—but more on that later.
Then, much much later, I finally arrived at Mirror Lake.
It’s a pretty big lake and I wasn’t too impressed with my first glimpse. Then
as I rounded the corner, I understood why it was called Mirror Lake. My picture
doesn’t do it justice…but hey, I tried.
Okay, so I finally made it back to my tent cabin and Andi
and Abby finished their ServSafe class, so we ate supper and then were going to
go “bouldering.” It’s really just a fancy name for rock-climbing (also called
“scrambling”). Whatever. You climb rocks. Well, we did that for a little bit
and then we went on a hike that’s not on the maps. Part of it had carved out
stone steps though, so I don’t really know. It was called Devil’s Bathtub and
the entire time I was mainly thinking that if I didn’t die my parents would
kill me. At the top we were at the base of the falls that I saw from afar
earlier. The view of everything was spectacular though!!! That’s enough said
about that. Don’t want to get in trouble. :)
Well, that’s about it for today. I get to start my temporary
housekeeping position tomorrow…yippee.
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