Dear Yosemite, I’m going to be brutally honest… I thought you were probably overrated. Yes, I’ve seen videos of climbing Half Dome and countless documentaries of rock climbers summiting El Cap, but to be honest, I was so much more enthralled with the human element than you. I’d seen all kinds of Instagram and Facebook posts about you, but I didn’t get that you’re truly that impressive. When we first rounded the corner on Wawona road, and I first peeped Half Dome, I knew my heart was about to be stolen. My eyes filled with tears at Tunnel View when I looked into the Valley. In that moment, I got it. I finally understood that to visit Yosemite is to love Yosemite. John Muir was speaking of your mountains when he now famously wrote, ‘The mountains are calling and I must go’. He worked his ass off to make sure that you were preserved, funded, protected. I am forever grateful to him because a little piece of your mountains will forever be calling and a piece of me will always be aching to get back to you. The cool fall weather and rain gave you the perfect moodiness for you […]