Yosemite: Scratching the Surface

Family Tradition

My family’s love for Yosemite goes back at least three generations. My grandparents made the Camp Curry tent cabins their annual summer destination with my dad and his sister. Dad continued the tradition with my sister and me, though we always roomed somewhere with four solid walls and a bathroom for Mom. After I got married, Yosemite was the site of our first vacation. Since then, we have visited the park with almost the same annual regularity my dad did as a boy. When our oldest daughter was two, she even called it “Mysemite.” Yosemite is where we find our grounding, our center, our place in this indescribable creation God has given us.

A few years ago, I stumbled upon a post in the National Park Travelers’ Club forums from a family who had visited all 59 U.S. national parks. They accomplished this incredible goal together as a family before their oldest turned 18. When I mentioned it to my husband, he was immediately on board with shooting for a similar goal ourselves. We wanted our youngest to remember the beginning of our quest, so we decided visits would count once she was five. As her fifth birthday approached we started planning in earnest, knowing our adventure must begin at our favorite park – Yosemite.

First Look

The opportunity arose soon after her birthday, as we began a road trip with my parents and sister’s family. Our trip would take us through California’s gold country, ending in Lake Tahoe. It took little persuading to spend the first night in Oakhurst so we could enjoy a day in Yosemite Valley before moving on to Mariposa. This was my sister’s kids’ first visit to Yosemite’s hallowed ground, and we were all eager to show them around. I was fortunate to be the driver of the kids’ car, and got to hear the gasps and exclamations of wonder as they caught their first glimpses of Half Dome and El Capitan. They never lost that amazement at their surroundings, staring in awe at every waterfall, reveling in the crisp air, watching a pair of coyotes forage through Cook’s Meadow. Every turn revealed something new, or a different perspective on something they had already seen.

We packed that day full of classic Yosemite adventures – Tunnel View, Bridalveil Fall, Junior Ranger activities, the Ahwahnee, the visitor center and museum, Lower Yosemite Falls, and Valley View at sunset. These kids got a great introduction to the park, and were already in love. But there is so much more they didn’t get to see. Mariposa Grove, Wawona, Glacier Point, Columbia Rock, Camp Curry, Happy Isles, Vernal Fall, Nevada Fall, Mirror Lake, Hetch Hetchy, Tioga Pass, Olmsted Point, Tenaya Lake, Tuolomne Meadows…and these are only the places I happen to know. And as often as I have been, I have barely scratched the surface of all Yosemite has to offer.

Diving Deeper

My niece and nephews had heard about Yosemite from many different sources. But it was experiencing it that gave them their first taste, stirring an insatiable desire to return and discover more. Likewise, every time I visit, I leave with a longing to go deeper, to explore more nooks and crannies of this wonderful corner of creation. And not only in Yosemite, but all the spectacular wild places this country, and the world, has to offer.

In a way, this parallels my relationship with God. Those first tastes of his love and grace were deeply satisfying, and at the same time left me wanting more. In my twenty years of following Christ, my faith has grown roots, and I have discovered new joys and knowledge of my Maker. I have experienced his love and grace in ways I could never imagine from those first nibbles. And now I know his peace, his hope, his power, his justice, his wisdom: all essential elements of my God. But there is so much more, both within these elements and entirely different ones, that I have yet to experience, yet to understand, yet to know. And unlike a visit to Yosemite, this relationship is unending. I don’t have to wait another year before I can fall back into his arms and soak up his love (Ephesians 3:18-19) or grow in my knowledge of him (Philippians 1:9).

The Beginning

This trip may have marked the beginning of our National Park Adventure, but it was a small piece in tapestry of experiences we have had and will have that shape our understanding of life, our family, creation, and God. I couldn’t be more excited to find out what else we will discover as we continue this journey together.