Driving in a matte black and slick silver Jeep Grand Cherokee through tall, thick  trees that have been tested against the forces of nature. Scars cascaded down the thick brown trunks of the giants, from bears scratching their backs. My family and I drove the winding roads through the mountains, looking down at us, as if we were a single star, in the entire universe.

We pulled into the park and off to the right I see the weathered wooden sign that says, Yosemite National Park. We continue down the bumpy gravel road to where the parking lot is. I step out of the car, lean over and touch my toes, after 5 hours in the car, this feels amazing. I look around and it feels like I’m in a fish bowl, trees are everywhere and mountains surround you.

I grab my CamelBak and strap it to my back, I lace up my Keens and take a deep breath of Eastern California air. We head out on the trail, our destination, the base of a giant waterfall that cascades down 2,500 feet of eroded rock. Yosemite Falls, the largest waterfall in California, is a destination that many people travel great distances to see.

We start on the gravel path with trees that lean over us as if listening to a story we were telling. The sun is just creeping over the horizon and there aren’t many people here so early in the morning. Walking on the path feels peaceful, the birds chirping, a slight breeze kissing my cheek. We reach a fork in the path and one way says loop and the other says Yosemite Falls. We take the one on the left, to the waterfall.

As we continue walking we can start to hear the falls, the sound of a gust of wind rushing by your ear. The sound gets louder and louder and as we reach a bridge in the path we can see the falls. A river is under us from the gallons of water being produced from the falls, and up on a hill we see what we came 5 hours for. We are all so excited we spring the rest of the trail to the base of the falls. We have to shout in order to hear each other talking. My mom pulls out her camera to capture the moment for eternity.

My brother and I see a path of rocks further down the river, away from the base of the falls. We start leapfrogging from rock to rock in the river. We eventually settle on a big rock in the middle of the slow moving river. I lie on my back and close my eyes, listening to the birds, and the soothing sound of the waterfall. In the cliche “wilderness”, I found myself. I realized that being outdoors and going on adventures is something that I wanted to do for the rest of my life.