For the past few summers the boys have gotten together for our annual bear hunt. No, we don't actually hunt bears. We just have a couple of big burly men in the group (looking at you Charles) and are always hoping to see a bear. Basically we plan a week each summer to get outside, camp and hike. This year's trip took us to Yosemite National Park.
Lets meet the crew.
Zach, 4th year of BH service
Yort, 1st year of BH service
Taylor, total BH n00b
"What have we wrought?
Sir Charles, OG BH member
Me, 4 yrs of services rendered
We began our trip by meeting first time Bear Hunt attendee and long time friend Taylor Bottles in his new home of LA. We hit the beach, drank the beers, played pinball and saw a total of 0 celebrities.
Venice Beach
From LA we headed north to our main destination.
animal style everything
Ok In-N-Out was not our final destination but a necessary stop along the way. 6 and a half hours later we made it to Yosemite.
our first look at the park
After setting up camp we devised our itinerary for the week over beer and sour patch kids. We decided to go big on day 1 and hike Taft Point and the Panorama Trail.
Zach showing off at Taft Point
Taylor descending Panorama Trail
Illilouette Falls
Vernal Falls
Minus the sore knees and hunger pains this was a spectacular hike. Incredible views of the valley. Dat Half Dome. Massive waterfalls (my favorite). Everything. We ended the day by eating entirely too much pizza in the valley. To our delight the restaurant even had the NBA playoffs on tv. I love getting out in nature and watching tv :)
Our next day was my personal favorite...A relaxed day exploring the valley and finding a good spot to post up for a while. A val-n-chill if you will. We ended up finding a sweet area along the water with an incredible view of El Capitan. We threw the friz, skipped rocks and of course washed down our sour patch kids with ice cold beer. My heaven.
Charles doesn't go anywhere without his triple stack Pringles
Our night ended back at the campground. Zach cooked dinner for us while Charlie watched disapprovingly. Taylor and I had splash after splash of whiskey earning us the title "The Splash Brothers." This was followed by more critical looks from Charles. Yort was by far the best behaved of the group and dutifully helped Zach cook and even cleaned the dishes. Thanks for being responsible Zach and Yort!
Here's a look at some of our campground hangs
yogi every day
Sadly, this was our last night with sir Taylor Bottles. As he traveled back to home to reality, the remainder Bear Hunt crew pressed onward. We spent the next couple days exploring Tioga Road. Our hikes included Tuolumne Meadows, North Dome and Dog Lake. The highlight of the bunch: North Dome. The lowlight: Zach stripping down naked and jumping into the freezing Dog Lake for a measly $50 (don't worry no photos will follow).
atop North Dome
y tho
but really why
Dog Lake
We even went out late for a night shot!
Tenaya Lake
On our way back to LA we stopped in Lone Pine for Mexican Food and checked out the Alabama Hills. This place was insane! We had no idea but apparently they've filmed a ton of movies here. Chuck is a huge Kevin Bacon fan and could barely handle the fact he was standing on the same hallowed ground where he shot Tremors. So blessed. Anywho, the scenery was beautiful and it was super fun to explore around these crazy alien-like rock formations. I'll definitely be back some day.
From the Hills we headed back to LA to reunite with Taylor for one last bro hang. Sadly, we were all sick of each other by this time. Chuck was no longer speaking to us. Yort missed his wifey. Zach missed his PS4. Taylor needed some alone time with his fiancée. It was time to conclude Bear Hunt 4. What a trip.
We will be taking applications for next year's hunt soon so keep your eye out. You will be vetted by Charles and will most likely not be accepted.
Thanks for following along for my first photoblog! Until next time.