roadtrip to yosemite national park

Yosemite National Park is a place that holds a special place in my heart. It was the last leg of our USA trip and probably the most beautiful. 

We left our San Francisco Airbnb early in the morning and Dan & I took turns driving down the highway towards the National Park. The views along the way were wonderful, apple tree farms, endless country hills, winding roads up and down mountains. The moment we arrived at Yosemite National Park we were all in awe. We paid our entry ticket and as we started driving, we were surrounded by more and more Sequoia Trees until that’s all we could see. We all fell silent and stared out the window. I think in that moment it really sunk in where we were.

We made so many stops on the way to our accommodation, any viewpoint or waterfall that we drove past we stopped and eagerly jumped out of the car to take photos. We pulled over at Bridal Veil Falls and did the quick hike to see them. When we arrived at our accommodation just at sunset, one of Hayden’s friends arrived minutes after us and they went back on their way to Los Angeles. Dan, Sam and I spent the rest of the night figuring out what we’re going to do in the park over the next couple of days and taking pictures of the stars from our balcony.

We set off in the morning from San Francisco to Yosemite National Park.

The scary winding road leading into the park.

Pit stop for lunch where Hayden took my camera and snapped some photos.

We were already in awe at the sights before we even got into the National Park.

Our second stop, a lookout just underneath some loudly buzzing electric powerlines.

We're officially here! As soon as we saw the sign, we pulled over and took about a million photos and selfies with it. This is Sam holding up a polaroid I took while Dan filmed it developing.

We were all sitting in silence for the first 10 minutes of driving through the park. Being from Australia, we've never seen so many beautiful and tall Sequoia trees together before. Again, we were in absolute awe of our surroundings.

There is no phone reception in the National Park, so you only have a map to guide you. Though we found out pretty quickly that it's very easy to get around & hard to get lost with most of the roads doing a big loop around once you're in the park.

Bear proof bins & storage containers.

Our first glimpse at the ever amazing Half Dome.

Sam's face of disbelief/awe/amazement at the waterfall that was casually on the side of the road. By this time we've pulled over a million times, but every time the sights were beautiful! 

Our first mini hike was to Bridal Veil Falls. This was still just on our way in and through the park to our accommodation. 

Spotting the huge pine cones hanging from the ends of the tree branches from our balcony.

We arrived at our treehouse where we were staying for the next few days. It was here that we said goodbye to our travel companion Hayden as he was picked up by a friend and they drove back to Los Angeles.

Our first sunset in Yosemite & the view from our balcony in the photo below.

Bridal Veil Falls hike information

hike length: 0.5 miles

hike time: it took us about 15 minutes there and back

difficulty: easy, the entire hike is a paved footpath

all photos edited with my Disposable Film Lightroom Preset!

In the summer, Juls and I had the chance to explore Yosemite National Park along with a few friends. Though we only had a few days, we made the most of every minute going on adventurous hikes, walking alongside beautiful deer, driving through the windy roads, enjoying an amazing philly cheese steak and we were lucky enough to stay at a gorgeous house right in Yosemite. We loved it so much that the moment we left we already had a yearning to come back even though we still had a 3 month adventure ahead of us across europe, and so we did in the winter of 2016. This is summer. This is where i feel at home. Where is your favorite place to travel? See the photos and blogs: http://blog.juliatrotti.com/search?q=yosemite Colored with 'Yosemite' Premiere Pro Lumetri Preset coming soon! See more at: www.imakefilms.com.au // www.premierepropresets.com Shot on: Sony A7s + Sony RX100 MKIV