For our first Valentine’s Day together, my boyfriend, Luke, planned the most amazing weekend with our good friends Cori and Michael in Yosemite National Park! I had never been before and was totally blown away by the incredible beauty all around us. It is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. We all took lots of photos, but even the best pictures can’t beat experiencing it in person.
We made the approximate 6 hour drive up north and arrived in Curry Village late Friday night where Luke had reserved us an awesome heated tent. I believe this is called “glamping” as we weren’t roughing it in a traditional sense as our “tent” did have an electrical heater, beds, and towels for the nearby showers. I enjoy regular camping but this was pretty great!
Above is an inside look at our heated tent (from our last day after we had packed up) – I found it so cozy and the beds surprisingly comfortable! I slept SO well both nights!
To not attract bears, they don’t allow cooking in the camp area so you have go offsite to make your meals and eat. Since we couldn’t find any fire pits, we used Luke’s cooking set and propane stove. Luke is pretty creative and resourceful when it comes to outdoor cooking and made the yummiest breakfast hash – it was so hearty and filling, perfect for jumpstarting our day.
I was really excited about the day’s Yosemite Falls hike but I also have some health issues that make strenuous activities difficult so I was a bit worried I would hold us back. What was so wonderful was that I ended up surprising both Luke and myself and made it much farther than either of us could’ve guessed. We did have to take several breaks but I was so proud of myself for not giving up – and my perseverance paid off as I got to see some incredible views.
One of my favorite moments from the whole trip was coming around this big rock during our hike and suddenly right in front of us – the most gorgeous waterfall complete with accompanying rainbow reveals itself. It was simply breathtaking. Just like the rest of Yosemite, photos don’t do it justice.
We climbed up some rocks to get away from all the other hikers and found a nice somewhat secluded area to have lunch and enjoy the sight of the waterfall. Definitely a highlight.
Once the sun started going down, we made our way back and found our friends Cori and Michael and decided to take a few “couple” photos of each other on this cliff overlooking this incredible view. Since Luke and I both wore red plaid, our photos ended up looking like the most “epic Brawny ads.” Haha I loved it.
The next day, traffic was a MESS – literally bumper to bumper (I thought we had left LA!). With so many people trying to leave the camp area, we decided to scratch our hiking plans and just walk around and explore the areas nearby which included this big open snowy plain where I had my first legitimate snowball fight and took some pretty awesome photos. I just can’t get over how beautiful the scenery is.
After our fun in the snow, we took an indoor break for lunch and played a game of Settlers of Catan. I had a bit of a rough start but was just making a comeback (I’m Orange) when Luke won and ended the game. Anyone else love Settlers?
Traffic hadn’t let up at all so it was back to exploring! We followed a trail farther into the woods and came across some firepits (at least we now know for our next trip!) and a river that made for more lovely photos. Cori took the beautiful photos below.
Before we knew it, it was growing dark. Luke took some gorgeous night shots with his camera as we made walked back and by the time we reached our car, traffic was gone (yay!) and it was time to drive back home.
Such a wonderful trip. Despite not feeling my best at times, I loved every moment of it and can’t wait to go back. Be sure to check out the awesome video Michael made of our trip!
