Summer Time… June 3, 2009

The summer days are passing a little faster than I’d like. I’m not used to this. My time has mostly been filled with my online psychology class (ugh), a PE class at Columbia College, and working a little for my dad.

A couple Sabbaths ago, Charlene and Michelle Narita come over to our house to go on a little hike. Mitchell and I took them up over our hill and down to a creek. There were already some people there that didn’t look too friendly, so we headed back up to a little waterfall we had seen. Mitchell started bounding up it while the rest of us looked at it with less than thrilled expressions. The rocks were really slippery and the sides were almost all poison oak. But Mitchell convinced us to at least try climbing up. It turned out to be quite a humorous experience. Char and Michelle each had a good fall, and Mitchell and I just slipped around everywhere. Char slipped completely flat onto her stomach on the rocks-I’ve never seen Michelle laugh so hard, though she had her own good fall. Though us three girls were complaining to Mitch the whole time, I’m sure they’ll look back on that as a fond memory.

Probably the most exciting thing that’s happened over the past couple weeks was hiking Half Dome in Yosemite. The Naritas organized it, and a few other families came. The group met at the church at 4 a.m. and we headed up. When we arrived and were getting ready to hike, we saw a bear approach and attempt to get into a car that had food inside. They’re just a little too bold these days. By the time everyone arrived and we got to the trailhead, it was around 7:00. We headed up vernal falls, which is really pouring right now. I brought along a poncho-otherwise I would’ve been soaked. The group split up into a few different groups as we continued on. That last bit before the cables is definitely the most gruesome. Tall steps at the end is not fun. The group I was with continually waited for me as I plodded along. Fortunately the cables weren’t too crowded, so my group made it up around 11:30. We ate lunch up there, but then clouds started rolling in and it started sprinkling. Two rangers were up there and advised everyone to start heading down as it is pretty dangerous to be up there in lightning storms. Everyone dashed for the cables, which made going down them a very slow process. Going down the rest went a lot faster. Matthew Narita, Josh Pratt, and I were in the front and made it down to the bottom at quite a brisk pace. I don’t think my knees will ever be the same… We took the bus to curry village to wait for the others to arrive, which ended up not being such a good idea-it was a big hassle for them to pick us up. Anyway, we drove home, and the group headed to the Narita’s house for dinner. It was delicious as usual. We had cupcakes for dessert in honor of Josh and Kirk’s birthdays. Fun day…