"The best views come after the hardest climb" 

Before I start I would like to say that I am not affiliated with Trek America, all views/opinions are my own and I just want to share my experience with you all and hopefully give you an insight into what my trip involved if you are looking to do one yourself, which I would definitely recommend!

** I would also like to add that if I state any activities that I took part in, I will be going into more detail with these in a future post.

Thursday 20th June 2019 

This day was the start of the second half for me and the fellow trekkers that were doing the "Grand Trek" as explained at the beginning of my trek posts the trek we booked onto was made up of 2 individual treks, so this second half was the Northern Trail and it was the day to meet our new group. We woke up got ready and made sure we had collected all our luggage (although I left my laundry bag with a few bits of underwear in but didn't realise until a few days later) We had to meet in the lobby for 7:30am to meet our new group, new trek leader and our brief for the day.  Our new trek guide was Cat, we filled out all the forms again and got our itinerary for the next couple of weeks. It was time to make our way to the van. Our first stop was Venice Beach again to allow the new ones to see this area. Our next stop was Santa Monica pier, I wish we had more time to explore this area but I got to see the sign for the end of Route 66 which ends in Santa Monica. For lunch we stopped off at Chipotle for burritos (this trip has given me a new found love of burritos) now we all felt a little nervous ordering from Chipotle as it was our first time here and there were just so many options you could choose from to add to your burrito, so much pressure when we are all stood queuing! Our main stop was Santa Barbara today. We decided to stick as a group and we had a wander around the area then decided to stop to have some drinks whilst we were getting to know each other. We arrived at our campground for the evening and set up our tents, although a few people had some issues with broken tent equipment which wasn't a good start and another downside to this campground was that it was full of mosquitos and that didn't go down well as I was already full of bites. For tea Cat took us to this cool looking American diner called Rock and Roll Diner which was only a short drive away from the campsite.




Friday 21st June 2019 

We are heading for San Francisco!! Today's set off time was around 6:30am we were driving along the Big Sur today so this included a lot of stops and getting off the van as we there were many beautiful views and spots to see along the way. The majority of stop were along the coastline although it was quite a cloudy day so the views would have been even more beautiful if it was sunny. Our first stop was at McWay Falls which was a waterfall beautifully situated along the Californian Coastline. It was here where we had our first group photo taken! We also stopped off to see some elephant seals, I couldn't believe how many there were! We stopped off for lunch at this lovely beach named Garrapata State Park Beach we each picked up a camping chair and our lunch and made our way down the steps to the beach were we sat and ate. Our next stop was Lovers Point in Monterey, this was such a lovely little area and the sun came out for us! Back in the van as there were still a few more hours to go and there was quite a bit of traffic but we eventually made it into San Francisco. We could see in the distance the Golden Gate bridge and Cat said she would drop us off so we could experience the walk across it. This is something I have always wanted to do! Rach then requested to Cat that she wanted to stop off at Mrs Doubtfire's house so Cat kindly drove us to the house so we could take photos! For the next 2 nights we were staying in a hostel. So we all got assigned our rooms and me and Rach were sharing with Richard and Leanne who were married. Tonight Cat had made reservations for us to eat at House of Nanking which was situated in the Chinatown part of San Fran. We were all looking forward to eating Chinese food. This place was small and so busy! But we managed to get seats eventually to fit us all in. The food was so good, we had the buffet and already had a variety of dishes chosen to hand out to us which was a great way to try everything out, I would definitely recommend this place to try out if you are ever in San Francisco. 








Saturday 22nd June 2019

Today was a free day to spend in San Fran and we all went off in little groups to do what we had planned. To start off the day me, Courtney, Rach and Dean decided to walk down to the front of San Fran where Fishermans Wharf is. We walked past Lombard Street and took photos although it was full of tourists and hard to get that perfect shot. We were all getting hungry so we decided to stop off for something to eat in Boudin. I chose the waffles with Nutella, banana and strawberries it was divine! We had a wander around to find pier 39 to see all the sea lions and then did the usual stops at Hard Rock café and souvenir shops! It was then time to go to pier 33 as we had pre booked to do the Alcatraz tour! (If you're thinking of doing this then you do have to pre book your tickets well in advance as they sell out quickly) We boarded the boat and it set sail to take us to the Alcatraz island, it was only a short ride about 15 minutes or so. Alcatraz is an audio guided tour which was good as you could just walk around at your own pace and take your time looking around. When we had finished we got back on the boat and decided to have lunch at In-N-Out. Once we had finished it was time to head to pier 39 for our optional activity of the Sunset Cruise. The views are amazing for this and a great way to watch the sunset set but bear in mind it is very cold and windy when you are out there! Once our cruise had come to an end we set off to go back to the hotel which meant a long walk back... or should I say a long walk back UPHILL!! Now I knew San Fran was hilly but once you are there walking it, its on another level. I did really struggle with my asthma and fitness levels but the girls got me through it and we eventually made it back to the hostel for the night.



Sunday 23rd June 2019

Woke up, got ready and had breakfast in the hostel, then made our way to the lobby to get ready to load the trailer up with our luggage. We had our first Walmart stop of this trip and it was time to get into groups and stock up for all our meals. We had a little stop off at a fruit market and had our lunch. Cat also did a bear talk with us as now we are starting to get into the areas where bears could be! We got back in the van and set off for Yosemite National Park. During the drive we had a few stops to take photos one of which was Tuolumne Grove of Giant Sequoias, this was a short hiking trail but me and Anna decided to sit this one out. So we sat on a bench and even saw a little bear in the distance! Driving into Yosemite we also got to see the views of the valley, although the photos doesn't do it justice! It's beautiful.




Monday 24th June 2019

Today we had a wake up call for 4am as we were going on a hike but starting the morning off with watching the sunrise! From our campground it was quite a long drive (around an hour I think) to get into Yosemite itself. We stopped off to watch sunrise which was lovely to see but rather cold at that time in the morning! Once we were all ready we got back in the van and Cat drove us to the trail heads. I would love to have been able to do a full proper hike but me and Anna decided to choose to do the Mirror Lake trail and the others chose to do Vernal Falls. You can choose to just walk to the lake or do the full loop. We chose to do the 2 mile round trip there and back to the Lake where as the full loop is 5 mile. It was a nice little walk. Afterwards we headed back to Half Dome Village and grabbed a coffee where we met with Dean and Courtney. Me and Anna were a bit peckish so we stopped off to get some lunch that had pizza and garlic bread. I was craving some garlic bread so I chose that option. We met up with the rest of the group who had come back from their hike and we headed back to camp. We had a bit of free time before we ate this evening so a few of us decided to head to the pool (yes this campsite had a pool!) and sunbathe for a few hours before heading back as it was my groups turn to cook tonight and we were making stir fry!



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