Reporting Live from Yosemite

Yosemite is worth every ounce of hype and love she gets. She is breathtaking and worth however far you are traveling to visit her. Yosemite is located in Northern California and is one of nine National Parks that lives in California. We road tripped from southern California to visit, and here are my recommendations for when you are reporting live from Yosemite.

Where to Stay:

Yet again, here is another trip where Seth could win an award for finding the coolest place to stay. For this adventure we stayed at Autocamp. Autocamp is a camping community with cozy airstreams and tents to rent for your Yosemite trip. Autocamp has a beautiful community building with food options, souvenirs, and space to hang out with friends or read a book.

The airstreams were a *dream*. The beds were comfy. The shower was top notch. And it was the best place to call home during our Yosemite adventure.

Autocamp was about 35 minutes from the entrance of Yosemite. The drive to get there was beautiful, especially during the late fall with the autumn colors. We took the 140 which follows the Merced River into Yosemite. It may have been a chilly drive in, but driving with the windows down was a highlight for me.

Places to Eat:

For this adventure we grocery shopped and cooked most of our meals on a cast iron pan over a fire. One night we did venture into the small town, Mariposa (🦋 butterfly in Spanish), to grab some local eats after a day of hiking at Yosemite. We went to Charles Street Dinner House off the main strip of businesses. The staff was so friendly and the food was like a home cooked meal. 11/10 would recommend.

Hikes at Yosemite:

We spent two days hiking at Yosemite. We went pretty hard on the first day. Like over 19,000 steps hard. At least that's what I would consider hard for a person with Rheumatoid Arthritis. We parked near the canvas tents that were closed for the winter and walked to the Vernal Fall trailhead. The round trip hike to Vernal Fall is 7 miles and it took us around 4 hours to complete it. The best part about this trail was that there were places to stop and enjoy the breath taking views allllll along the way, and it wasn't just at the top of the fall. Once we made it to the top we explored around the lake, carved our initials in a tree that fell, and snapped some polaroids pictures for our memory book. Normally the way down is easier, right?! Nope, not for me on this day. My legs were jell-o the whole way back down, which made the trek back to the car longer than I thought it would be. No regrets though! Would do it again in a heartbeat...but would maybe pack some more snacks. Also yes, my boyfriend did make the decision to do this hike in ripped jeans.....seems like a crime to me.

On day two we opted for a lighter hike since we went pretty hard on day one. We did the Yosemite Falls Trail which was a paved pathway to a stellar view of the Yosemite Falls. We then got the bright idea to take our adventure off trail and climb on the boulders up to the waterfall. It was a lot farther to get to the waterfall than what it looked like from the paved path. And about 3/4 of the way through I had a sudden realization that if there were to be an earthquake my 5 ft tall body would be annihilated by the boulders that surrounded us. I made the executive decision to park myself at a tree off to the side and had a snack while Seth finished the exploration to the waterfall. Did I have fomo from missing it? Yeah...yeah I did. But did I get first pick of the snacks in our backpack? hell yeah. So who is the real winner here. (me).

Yosemite is a bucket list adventure that you need to add to your list! After your visit be sure to check out the Free Solo documentary on Disney+!

Thank you for joining me on this Reporting Live segment! Over and out! See you next time! Xo, Ris 🦋