The best hike I've ever done

 Ironically I really didn’t want to do this hike at all.

 After walking for eight hours the previous day the last thing my aching legs wanted to do was to be strapped into a pair of snow shoes and dragged up yet another steep hill. Especially a hill which was technically closed. 

Yep, it may not sound enticing to begin with but hiking up Centennial Dome at Yosemite National Park was nothing short of mind-blowing. 

I think it is important to note here that my Dad (who had joined Jess and I after our stay in LA) is a madman who utterly ignores any sign that says “this trail is closed”. Yep, he’s that guy. The guy you watch from your car going for a run in a rainstorm or wearing shorts on a winter day.  He believes nature is a force to be reckoned with and that nothing, nothing can stop him. 

Anyway, saying this when we arrived at the start of trail a park ranger sign stated the trail was closed due to snow and lack of path visibility.  A sign we simply swerved around.  That’s not to say the park wardens sign was not true. It was. When we couldn’t find the path to begin (because of the uh … snow) I put my foot down at crossing the waist deep river and we turned back until we found a bridge.

 After traversing for some time on the path we reached the bottom of the final hill leading to the summit of Centennial Dome.  Now this hill was pretty tough, especially when you throw in some snow, sore legs and the stomach clenching drop that fell away to one side into it.  Jess and I were almost on our hands and knees crawling up slowly to the top.  But wow, the summit was certainly worth it! With 360 degree views of the park and half dome ( the most difficult peak to climb in Yosemite) it was jaw droppingly stunning. 

Going down was even harder than going up as we tried to fall flat on our faces and roll down the mountain. On second thought this might have been a good idea !

So yes, this was quite possible the best hike I’ve ever done that I didn’t want to do …

A week in LA

After staying with Elle in Marlton for a week I started my journey west ward on the first leg of my long journey home. 

We left Elle’s house in New Jersey early on Wednesday morning with a pretty impressive amount of travel in front of us. We travelled from five in the morning till almost nine o’clock at night EST.  We took the bus from Philadelphia to New York where we finally managed to wave down a taxi to take us to JFK to catch our flight to LA. We should have had plenty of time to relax before our flight but JFK had other plans – after standing in security for almost an hour we only just had time to grab some overpriced snacks from the terminal before boarding the five-hour flight. 

Finally touching down in LA felt like arriving in a different country – different accents, sunshine, palm tree lined streets and of course the smog! Smog, caused in part by LA traffic which I was sharply reminded of as we spent over an hour in an Uber making our way to our hostel on Hollywood boulevard. 

Jess and I stayed in LA for five jam-packed days.  Instead of giving a day-by-day blow of what we did, which would be somewhat boring I’ll instead tell you about some of the most memorable things we did. 

First of all on our first day we went to Griffith Observatory, a site I had seen time and time again in movies. The observatory stands out against the harsh dusty green of the Hollywood hills and the blue grey smog of LA that stretches out before it.  We were lucky when we visited – the smog wasn’t too bad and we had a reasonable view. However, we were told that sometimes you can barely see the buildings directly below the observatory because of the smog !

From Griffith Observatory we walked up to the Hollywood sign. We really had no idea what we had got ourselves in for at this point and frankly looked and were completely unprepared for what turned out to be a five hour walk. Families in hiking shoes and shorts raced past us as we struggled up the dusty paths  around the hills in jeans and sparkly t-shirts.  Despite the sweat and dirty clothes the view of LA and the Hollywood sign below was worth it.  It’s actually illegal to get any closer to the sign – there were plenty of signs and a huge fence emphasizing that physically going to the sign would result in prosecution. 

On our second day, we met up with our friend Ellen and visited the Getty Museum. My mouth dropped as we stepped in the tram which took us up the hill overlooking a cliff face to the museum itself.  It only  fell even further when we finally saw the beautiful, modern buildings making up the museum that looked more suited to being in a James Bond film than housing art. The actually museum, however wasn’t anything special. I’m not really an art buff but personally I thought the buildings and the gardens were more impressive. 

In the evening we treated ourselves to a California classic – In and Out burger. I had a vegetarian burger, which was basically just lettuce, tomato and “special sauce” and fries but it was still delicious!

On our final day Jess and I spent the day biking and walking around Venice Beach and Santa Monica. After biking around Venice and window shopping in Santa Monica we cured our hunger with might what have been one of the best meals I’ve ever had at Café Gratitude. Everything at this café is plant based and vegan and they can do some amazing things with vegetables. I had a wrap with tempeh and coconut bacon and Jess had a quinoa and squash salad. In the evening we met up with out friend Drew from Penn State and discovered a night market where we tried traditional poke.

LA feels like a completely separate to the world of Pennsylvania and Penn State.  Even staying there for five days I felt like we really didn’t even break the surface of the sights to see and the culture of the city. 

Phillies game

We spent a week staying with my friend Elle with her family in New Jersey and her Dad very kindly bought us tickets to the Phillies game in Philadelphia.  Not only did we get to see the game but we got to sit in the front row.  Now, I'm no baseball fan but this truly was the American experience tourists crave !

Thank you so much to Elle and her lovely family for letting us stay this week, thank you for showing me the true American experience.  

Goodbye Penn State

Saying goodbye is always hard.  Saying goodbye to somewhere and some people who have made a place your home is extraordinarily difficult.  I arrived in State College ten months ago frightened and alone but I was welcomed with open arms by the staff, students and families of those who are part of this community.  Not every day was easy but in between the laughter and tears memories were made and many good times were shared.  

I wonder if any school, any place would have ended up so close to my heart, but something tells me no. Something drew me to Penn State in the first place and whatever it was I certainly found something special.  

I left State College on last Friday morning. Rain poured down the windows of my roommates car as we drove to the bus stop. After a tearful goodbye and a small panic that our bags were not going to fit on the bus we slowly but surely headed out on to the freeway one last time.  

However, don't dispair this is by no means the end of this blog ! With almost a month of traveling around California, Nevada and Utah to go I'm going to have so many more memories I want to share.