Snowshoeing in Rockefeller Grove

Posted by Nicole

I’m not in San Jose anymore! Last night, we arrived in Groveland, unpacked our bags, and ate some burritos with enchilada sauce.

This is my first time at our cabin since last December. Craziness! It’s nice to be back in the middle-of-nowhere and away from busy life for a few days. As for the rest of last night, it was pretty laid back — we played some sudoku and then watched Spellbound. That 2002 documentary is a fave of Lauren, my mom, and me because it is surprisingly funny! I’m glad David and his sons enjoyed it (or at least I think they did…)

This morning, we all slept in until about 11. I guess the cabin atmosphere put us all into hibernation? I was hoping to wake up to fresh snow outside, but instead we had a green and brown backyard with no snow in sight.

Our plan for the day was to get some brunch and then go snowshoeing in Yosemite National Park. We drove to the nearest restaurant, The Grill at the Pine Mountain Lake Golf Course, for some hiking fuel.

My BLT salad (minus the bacon) definitely hit the spot, but the views of the golf course and beyond were better.

It might look like summer, but it sure was chilly outside. The snow in the distance was more what we were looking for today…

… And we sure found it! We started hiking at the Rockefeller Trail at about 1:30.

It was my first time trying the snowshoeing and I was surprised how much fun it was! It felt just like normal hiking, except a lot colder. We were lucky to find a cross-country skier’s trail, so we weren’t the first people pushing into the deep, fresh powder.

At about 3/4 of a mile, we hit a beautiful look-out point of the valley.

After 1.5 miles, I put the camera away because it started to snow. As the temperature dropped, we all stopped talking and taking photos and were determined to get back to the warm car! Our minute/mile pace was ridiculously speedy ;)

On the way home, we stopped at the Vista Point look-out point and snapped a few more photos. Spending so much time in Los Angeles and San Jose really makes me appreciate the wide open land in this part of California.

Now we are back at our cabin and we just finished a yummy dinner. I roasted 10 sweet potatoes with cinnamon and SF maple syrup, my mom made a pesto dish with lemon pepper noodles, zucchini, and mushrooms, and there was also some type of stuffed chicken.

And, despite the mostly empty refrigerator and cabinets, I managed to throw together an awesome dessert of vanilla ice cream and crunchy peanut butter.

Gotta enjoy dessert before the onset of New Year’s Resolutions, right? Alright, time to go join my movie-watching family downstairs. I have 60% cabin fever right now, so hopefully we get out and go on more adventures tomorrow!

- Nicole

Q4U: Would you rather spend the holidays/vacation somewhere secluded and away from technology and citylife, or somewhere more exciting and busy?