This year Peter and I both had Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday off of work, thus giving us a four day weekend to enjoy.

Long weekends like this are rare and we knew we had to make the most of it. As our first holiday away from the familiar traditions back in Michigan, we were excited to still be able to spend it with family in California though. Katie, Ian, Timmy, Erika, and Peter and I (later to be dubbed the “#JuicySquad”) had decided to spend our precious four day, Thanksgiving weekend giving thanks for the beauty of America in Yosemite National Park.

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While this weekend trip is now months past, it has been on my mind thanks to our upcoming travel plans. This weekend the Yosemite crew will reunite to take on another National Park over Easter weekend: Zion.

The excitement of this impending adventure has inspired me to at long last catch up on my blog post about our Yosemite trip. Enjoy the fond memories we made together in the video I created to commemorate the trip! May this blog post perhaps inspire your own long weekend in the magnificent Yosemite National Park.

Day 1

The trip began very early in the morning of November 25th, Thanksgiving day. 4:30am to be exact. The rest of our group had gotten up even earlier, having driven from Oceanside to pick us up in Costa Mesa, California. It was still completely dark outside. I napped on and off and watched the sun rise up above the surrounding hills.

Our first stop: Denny’s. It was now a reasonable breakfast time (I don’t know about you, but I don’t eat my breakfast at 4:30am) and we had traversed far enough away from the busy morning traffic of L.A. that we were ready to grab a bite to eat at the first restaurant we passed that was open. That just so happened to be Denny’s, in a quaint town off of the main highway that smelled faintly of cow manure. After wolfing down our untraditional Thanksgiving day breakfasts, we were back on the road.

Sequoia National Park

Along the way to Yosemite was Sequoia National Park, so we stopped for a few hours to enjoy the THICC, juicy Sequoia trees and take a couple of hikes to stretch our legs. We hiked Moro Rock Trail and enjoyed the views of the surrounding forests and mountains from the top. And of course we had to visit the General Sherman Tree: the largest living tree in the world measured by volume! Now that was a #Juicy tree.

After exploring the park a bit, we made a pitstop at a wine tasting and general store just outside the park entrance for a little pick me up. And then it was back to the road!

Airbnb

By the time we reached our Airbnb in the little town of Mariposa outside of Yosemite National Park, it was already dark. It took us a couple tries and a few wrong turns to find the correct house, but eventually we did and Erica (who had driven from Vegas) was already there to meet us! The Airbnb was homey and the perfect size for our large group with several rooms, and most importantly for us it had a kitchen! We whipped up a big dinner of pizzas and charcuterie in lieu of a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Surrounded by close friends and family, we gave thanks, enjoyed the food until we were stuffed, and spent the remainder of the night playing card games and laughing together.

Day 2

Having set our alarms extra early, Peter and I got up to make breakfast for the group. One of our personal favorites: the Monte Cristo breakfast sandwich. After we had all eaten and geared up for a day of hiking, we set off to the park. It was about an hour drive to the inside of the park from our Airbnb in Mariposa. Along the drive we soaked in the scenery of the rolling hills, rocky cliffs, and dry, dead foliage as far as the eye could see (it was fall in the draught of California after all).

Yosemite National Park

The drive into Yosemite National Park was breathtaking. The winding road took us through beautiful landscapes of forests and monumental cliffs and waterfalls. We parked and made our way to the trailhead of our first hike in the park: Mist Trail. The trail was 7 miles roundtrip and led us to the beautiful Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls beyond. This is a popular trail at Yosemite and was especially crowded around Vernal Falls, but for good reason. The scenery is stunning. Around Vernal Falls the foliage is a deep, lush green and the air is filled with a refreshing mist from the waterfall (as the trail’s name can attest). I felt like I was in Scotland or New Zealand!

Despite the crowds, this was probably my favorite hike from our trip thanks to the stunning scenes of the waterfalls and following the river through and over the cliffs. It probably took us about 5 hours to complete, with plenty of snack and photo op breaks to catch our breath. The elevation increase really takes a lot out of you! By the time we completed the roundtrip loop, we were losing daylight and it was time to head back to the Airbnb.

For dinner we prepared another feast, as we were starving from the day’s long hiking. All we had eaten during the day were granola bars we had packed. Our bodies were exhausted and after a few rounds on sleepy Monopoly we retired for the night. We slept like the dead, resting up for another day of hiking tomorrow.

Day 3

Our second and last full day in Yosemite had another early start. We hoped to fit in as many of the hikes we wanted to do as possible. First up: the hike to Inspiration Point. This was a relatively short hike at 2.6 miles roundtrip, only about 2 hours to complete and not terribly difficult. Even better – it wasn’t a very crowded hike (unlike the ones we had done the day before). The trail led up to a viewpoint of 5,390 feet elevation overlooking Yosemite Valley below. This inspiring view is where the hike gets its name!

After making our way back down the trail and to our car, we snacked on an assortment of goldfish and beef jerky before deciding that it was time for a proper lunch. We drove into Yosemite Village to the little Village Store to shop for picnic provisions. Earlier we had learned that you can actually drink alcohol anywhere in the park (except on bridges!), so we picked up a few Half Dome beers along with meats and cheeses. We found a charming empty clearing surrounded by towering trees to lay our blankets and have our picnic of makeshift charcuterie. It was lovely.

Recharged with full stomachs, the group walked along the John Muir trail and the easy paved path to Lower Yosemite Falls. Again, this is a very easy, short 0.5 mile hike so it was no surprise that the trail and rocks surrounding the falls were quite crowded. The view was nonetheless beautiful though, and we climbed the rocks below the falls to get a closer look.

By this time we knew we had to be heading back to the car if we hoped to watch the sunset from Glacier Point. Unfortunately, we would not have enough time to do the long hike to the top, but we were in luck. There is a drive right up to peak of Glacier Point that took about 45 minutes to drive. Exhausted from our weekend of hiking, the drive was a nice reprieve and I myself fell asleep immediately. Once we arrived at the overlook, we scoped out a good spot to watch the sunset. It was already crowded with other people with the same idea as us – so make sure to go early to get a good seat for the show. The air was growing colder and we bundled up in our coats and blankets and waited for the sun to set behind us to display striking pinks and purples on our view of Yosemite Valley and Half Dome. We popped mini bottles of champagne we had bought earlier at the Village Store and sat in awe of nature’s beauty.

After the sun had vanished and the purple sky grew black, we went back to the car to make the drive in the dark back to our Airbnb. That night was solemn as we knew we would be leaving the following morning.

Day 4

It was another early morning at our temporary home, but this one was somber. It was time to say goodbye to Yosemite. Our weekend trip had come to an end. We packed up our things and hit the road to make the long drive home. Our bodies were still exhausted from the active weekend full of hiking and many of us napped on and off for the majority of the drive. We stopped for lunch (greasy and delicious pizza) and dinner (ramen!) before we arrived home around 10pm.

The #JuicySquad vowed that we would meet again for another adventure soon. Round 2: Zion National Park for Easter weekend.

Are you planning a trip to Yosemite National Park?

Have you ever visited Yosemite National Park? What are some other fun things to do in Yosemite during a weekend trip? Tell me in the comments below!

Yosemite National Park Service Website

If you enjoyed the video, be sure to give it a “like” over on YouTube and consider subscribing to our YouTube channel for many more California adventures. Make sure to check out the Zion video and blog post! Share this blog post with your travel buddy using the social share buttons or Pinterest image below. Thanks for stopping by my blog. See you again soon!