Day 1

July 3, 2012 (Alexandra) At this moment, at this exact moment, I am as comfortable as I will ever be on this trip: sleeping bag was warmed by the intense sun, long pants & socks, fullish belly. The mosquito in my tent sounds like Chewbacca from star wars. Today was day 1. It was the most physically demanding day of my life. I hope that this will be like childbirth and I will conveniently forget the pain I just went through my tomorrow so I can do it again. It took us 6 hours to go 7 miles - thats my fault as I was huffing and puffing & had to stop every couple minutes so my calves could stop burning. Good God - Up, Up, Up we climbed and the sun was relentless. The first half of the trail and no switchbacks - just cruel! And then the stairs to Vernal Falls- that is where the song "Stairway to Heaven" came from - never ending stairs! I am pretty sure Jasin was annoyed by all my whining today. But I couldn't help it, I am whiner, and I'll admit I cried at one point. Everyone was passing us with no backpacks on & it was pissing me off - NOT FAIR! We did pass a group of older Asians whose packs were filled with more stuff than ours. I have named them the Asian Invasion. I wonder if they will thru hike the trail we are on. Tonight we, or should I say, I, am in pain. My shins hurt, my feet hurt, everything hurts. I dread tomorrow morning. I hope I stay warm tonight! Love, Whiney Brat Wuss

Tuesday, July 3, 2012 (Jasin) We started around 8 am on the trail. We ate breakfast at the coffee shop before heading out. We walked from Camp Curry to Happy Isles where we started the trail. The trail was pretty much uphill the entire day. We took the mist trail instead of the JMT. I had read that is was more spectacular and it was also shorter, but much more steep. The trail winds right up beside Vernal falls going up alot of stairs built right into the side of the wall and no switchbacks. It then goes up along side Neveda Falls, which I think is the more impressive of the two falls. This part of the trail had more switchbacks but was still steep and no fun. Alex did not enjoy this part at all. Once at the top we still had almost three miles to go. Again, most of this was uphill and by then it was starting to heat up. We met several nice people that when we told them what we were doing (the JMT), they gave us lots of encouragement. We camped around 2 pm and set everything up. When we went to get water I noticed a much nicer camp site with an amazing view of halfdome so I told Alex that I would move everything cause she was not happy after the day we had had. I was able to move it all in one go which was awesome. I was able to get signal on my phone so I gave my mom and dad a call. They were happy to hear from us but I didnt want to talk for long due to battery power and not using it all. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, reading, and waiting for the sun to go down. This place is beyond words it is so big and I don't think that the pictures will do it justice. Today was not as bad as I thought it would be. We are both feeling the altitude and being out of shape but I think we will be just fine. Alex is worried about the rest of the trip and gains in elevation and pack weight but we are here and I think she will do just fine. Its hard to believe we are here. All the planning and prep are here. I am glad we are doing this, it will push and challenge us physically and mentally. Elevation: 7,210 Total Miles: 6.5 (7.5 with hike from camp curry) Elevation Gain: 3,000 ft