Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park - home to epic views, pristine pine forests, and the infamous giant sequoia trees. Naomi was almost weeing herself with excitement as we drove in. I told her not to as it would spoil our flash convertible hire car.

The park lived up to all expectations. We had the best part of a week there and chose to spend our time exploring the nourthern section of the park, rather than Yosemite Valley itself, which was filled to the brim with tourists. Straight away we knew we had made the right decision. After pitching our tent in a campsite called 'White Wolf' we set off on a small hike to explore a lake for the rest of the day. It was stunning. Instead of being laden with tourists, the trail was home to many native animals, including deer, the tenniest tinniest chipmunks, and even a black bear.

Over the course of the next few days we got into a great routine. We would wake at the crack of dawn, make a little fire to warm our hands and make cups of tea, then set off for the day. Leaving so early we would have almost a whole day of hiking without seeing another soul, and often had an entire trail completely to ourselves. There is nothing quite like standing on the edge of a cliff face, whole valley view unfolding beneath you, and no one around but your partner in crime.

One day we did push it a little far though. We chose a trek called The 10 Lakes. As the name indicates, the walk culminates in a beautiful view where you can see 10 individual lakes from above. Naomi told me it was 20 kilmoetres, which sounded fine. She did not tell me though, that a couple of hours into the walk she realised it was actually 20 miles rather than km! Towards the end of the 34km that we ended up walking, we were both pretty exhausted, and I have to say my legs were s-o-r-e the next day, but that view was well worth it.

One of my highlights was hiking into a valley with giant sequoia trees. Some of these trees were up to 3,600 years old! Their bases were as wide as a terrace house and they stood tall and wise, overlooking everything that had been happening in the generations passed.

Yosemite - a dream of dreams - we left the park covered in dirt from head to toe after not having showered for a week, but with that fresh forest air in our lungs we felt unconquerable.