Granite Goddess

What's up y'all? I feel like I've been trying to accomplish a never-ending 'to-do' list and feeling like a caged tiger in this apartment! Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love our apartment but job hunting isn't the most fun thing I've ever done! Anyways, so last post I left off on a Friday rest day for me (I've had a lot of those, huh? I thought Friday nights were supposed to be riveting and having fun? Hmm...guess I'm not a college kid anymore).

Reflection of Yosemite Falls in Merced River via Swinging Bridge.

So Friday. I thought I was going on a nice little hike to Mirror Lake. Well, what was supposed to be a nice little 6 mile hike through the Valley turned out to be way longer and involved a bus back. One of the signs must have gotten turned so the arrow wasn't pointing the correct way because I ended up nowhere near Mirror Lake. After much question-asking, looking at maps, and wandering off a trail, I found the trailhead and I walked the easy mile to the lake. Hate to break it to ya, but it wasn't really a lake. Anyways, the walls looked awesome and I hung out there for a little while and relaxed.

Mirror Lake!

Saturday, I took Blair's advice and warmed up the legs by taking a 10ish mile, 3200 ft gain hike to Glacier Peak. On the way to the trail head, I walked over swinging bridge and was rewarded with a stunning view of Lower Yosemite Falls reflecting in the Merced River. I continued to the trail head and decided I was going to see how fast I could do the 4.6 mile hike. As it turns out, I was actually faster than Blair (the calf muscle endurance extraordinaire). It took me a short 1 hour 49 minutes. Yes, I'm bragging but if you would have been on the trip, you would know that I'm usually the one who would be lagging a zipcode behind if they didn't slow down and wait for me tripping over everything possible. Anyways, on the hike up, I saw a rainbow in the mist of Upper Yosemite Falls! It was super duper cool! Oh, and by the way, the summit of Glacier Peak is to die for. Like holy moly. Go there. You can see the Valley stretch on and on, get amazing views of Royal Arches, Washington Column, Half Dome and even El Cap. Don't worry, I'll post lots of photos!

Far left: Roayl Arches
To the right of the arches: Washington Column
Far right: Half Dome

Upper Yosemite Falls!

 Sunday, believe it or not, my legs and hips were a little tired (as were Rudy and Aaron) so we rested in the morning. Unfortunately, Rudy had to go back home so we said our goodbyes. Then Aaron and Blair put their off-width skills to the test climbing Generator Crack. Can't say they made it look super appealing but it was entertaining to watch at least!

Monday, Aaron and I took a 16.6 mile, 3700 ft gain hike to the top of El Cap (via Eagle Peak). We started on the Upper Yosemite Falls trail and then looped back behind some peaks and had a fairly easy rest of the hike to get to the summit. We saw only 4 people once we got off the main trail (peace) and made quick time to the summit. We had lunch atop El Cap and then hiked back to camp. Tuesday, I lead the most awkward 5.6 there is in all of Yosemite (Swan Slab Gulley). Once I got past the awkward section, it was super easy but I had awful rope drag that felt like I was dragging an elephant behind me.

Please forgive the greasy dirtbag look. Now we have motivation to actually climb El Cap and take another #summitselfie

Wednesday, we had to saw goodbye to the granite goddess. We dropped Blair off at the airport so he could go to graduate school recruitment and then Aaron and I headed for the Redwoods. We ninja-camped and on Thursday took two nice little hikes and saw the BIGGEST TREES I've ever seen. Here are some of the most intelligent things we said:

"That's a big tree!"
"This tree is even bigger!"
"This has to be the biggest tree we've seen!"
"Whoa."
"I can't fit the whole tree in the photo!"
"Now that's a big tree!"
"This is definitely the biggest tree!"
"The tree is huge!"

Imagine that! Plantgirl hugging a tree!

We stayed the night at the Hyatt in Portland. Unfortunately, my family members Peter and Alissa were busy and have their house being renovated so we weren't able to hang out. It all worked out because Aaron and I left Portland early to get to Seattle to start the apartment hunt. We walked by one place and just shook our heads 'no.' The second place was really expensive for a pretty small place. The third place was just right! <-- If that isn't Goldilocks and the Three Bears, then I'll be darned. Good thing my ma, pa, and Brett did a good job teaching me questions to ask and what to look for in an apartment because Irina (the property manager) knew that once we saw the view from the apartment we'd be sold. I peaked in the bathroom, noted the storage space, checked over the kitchen and cabinet space, found the washer and dryer, sized up the bedroom and living room, and THEN went to see the view. A lake view in the city! We can even see mountains! I liked the apartment before I saw the view but was head over heels once I saw it. I could tell by the smile on Aaron's face that he was also sold on the apartment (95% view maybe? :)  ) Anyways, we told Irina we wanted the apartment, signed the lease, bought renter's insurance, and went to go get a cashier's check.

By the way, the tree is bigger than the picture makes it seem.

Saturday at 10am, the place was officially ours! We dropped our meager belongings on the floor and gazed at our view (maybe drooled a little?) Then started the task of furnishing our apartment. First stop was Target to get cleaning supplies, a vacuum, a coffeemaker, garbage stuff, and whatever other odds-n-ends we needed. We also went bed shopping and found one we loved but found out we couldn't get it until Wednesday. That was a little of a bummer but I guess we were used to camping so it wasn't too bad to camp out in an apartment! We also went to a used furniture store and bought an end table and table for the living room / dining room area. 

And before I bore you to death with the riveting details of getting settled into Seattle, I will stop writing this blog post. For those of you who may actually be interested, another one will be coming soon :)  As of now, it is way past your bedtime and is nearing mine. On that note, I'll kiss the stars goodnight and dream of Yosemite and the granite goddess....