Yosemite 2

8 people
6 guys 2 girls,
3 Chinese, 2 Brazilian, 1 Israeli, 1 Hungarian and 1 Indian
3 Math post-docs, 2 Math Phd students, 2 in CS and 1 undergrad

I can dissect the data, combinations in many ways but bottom line is that it was a unique set of people.

Friday night, we left Bay area for Yosemite. Stopped at In-n-Out for dinner ( good milk shakes). We camped outside Yosemite National park, my first camping experience. Tents, sleeping bags, fire, flashlights, marshmallows with crackers and the best - starting at stars. It was quite cold at night.

Next morning, we hiked up to Glacier point on the four mile trail which is of length 4.6 miles. My first strenuous trail, we climbed 900 meters on this trail. From Glacier Point, we took Panoramic trail ( 8 miles total), on which first we went down, 600 metres, then climbed up 500 metres and them came down. The trail covered Nevada falls, vernal falls, ending at Curry village. All in all total 12.6 miles (approx 20 kms). The hike from Glacier Point to Curry village was done in 4 hrs and at a good speed. It was getting quite darker and the trail was quite difficult too.

So what do i get in the end -
aching legs, badly aching legs, a blog post and a sense of achievement and great fun. I am ready for half dome (considered to be the most difficult hike in Yosemite) now!

Notes -
Camping is fun! Need to buy my own tent now!