Thursday May 19th

As we needed to be in the van by 8am, I was up at 6:30am to get ready. Everything always takes longer when you`re camping ... getting dressed; having breakfast; etc. It didn`t help that it was hovering near zero dehrees and the ground was completely covered in mud!

After a campfire breakfast of bagels and cream cheese, we were in the van and headed to the core of Yosemite National Park. Cassie stopped at a few picturesque spots for us to snap photos, and then droped us at one of the free shuttle stops at Curry Village at 10am, telling us to meet back at 6pm. After using the washrooms, all 10 of us caught the free bus to the bae of Upper Yosemite  Falls, a strenuous hike that would reward us with views across the park.

As we exited the bus, several ambulances came screaming past us with sirens blaring, stopping at the base of the hike we were about to commence. Not paying much attention, we started the hike and walked about 100 metres before we were stopped by a paramedic. `We`re working on a patient here, please step aside`he said to us. We all did what we were told, chatting to fill in the time and warning other hikers as they came up. `He must have a broken leg and they`re trying to move him onto a stretcher` I said out loud, having not looked at the situation very closely. `Um - they`re actually giving him CPR`, Sharon said. Scores of paramedics continued to rush past us to the patient, all holding different items and talking into walkie talkies.

Taking a glance at the scene, it really didn`t look good. They`d been working on this guy for 20 minutes, and I just couldn`t deal with the situation. My voice was shaky and heart was racing - a guy was dying (if not dead) just 20 metres in front of me! I turned to Sharon and said, `I can`t handle this - I`m going`. She came with me, also relieved to be away from the situation. (The rest of the group staued and later told us the paramedics had worked on him for an hour before pronouncing him dead, and then asked everyone to move off the trail whilst they transported the body).

With the plans for our hike out the window and feeling quite shaken, Sharon and I decided to take it easy, walking some gentle paths and taking lots of silly photos (i.e. hugging trees; meditating by waterfalls). From there, we walked into Yosemite Village, checking out te local store (full of amazing souvenirs - I scored a snowdome) and eating our packed lunches.

We each bought postcards and sent them home to our parents from the quaint Yosemite Post Office, then walked on to the interactive information centre. After walking through the displays, we came upon the theatre and watched a presentation on the history of Yosemite (admittedly, we did fall asleep at various points of the presentation). Tamsyn had snuck into the cinema whilst the presentation was playing, and tagged along with us as we exited to explore the outdoor museum.

The three of us then continued to explore Yosemite, walking from the main village to Curry Village for a drink. Approaching 4:30, we decided to hire bikes from the local hire shop. After a run-in with the extremely rude attendent (I refused to send a waiver for all 3 of us - it didn`t sound very legit), we were all equipped with extremely cool beach cruisers, and headed out on the road. For e, riding was fine - I`ve ridden quite a few times on this trip, and I`m used to driving on the right - but the others struggled. We took it extremely easy and slow for the hour, but had fun exploring.

At 5:30pm, we returned the bikes and made our way to the meeting spot - the balcony of the pizza parlour. The others had all arrived back, and we were joined by the 2 Danish girls who had missed the start of the tour. The dinner of pizza was greatly enjoyed by  everyone after a long day in the park, although our eyes were definitely bigger than our stomachs!

Back at the camping ground, we had the option to use the neighbouring hotel`s hot tub and pool, but we aall chose to have a hot shower and settle into bed early instead. It was toasty warm in my sleeping bag after the hot shower, and I was asleep in minutes .....