Guns and Sunrise in Yosemite National Park

From San Francisco we took a 5am bus to Yosemite National Park, and the driver hooked us up with an incredible lodge right under Yosemite Falls.



the view (en route)

Here we met the great Ben Scott from Australia, who laughed at everything I said and spent 45 minutes choosing which sandwich to buy in absolute hysterics. It all made sense when I discovered he had munched 2 acid tabs at 6am that morning.

 

Ben (on his ´Detox´)

That night we decided the only logical thing to do would be to build a massive fire, so after a quick skim of the 'Yosemite Dos and Dont's handbook' we took 4 extremely flammable towels from the lodge and ventured into the wilderness. We found a great spot under more stars than I knew existed and got a pretty decent fire going.

Things could only get worse...

It can´t have been more than 2 minutes before a real-life Ned Flanders Park-Ranger shone his torch in my eyes:

´´Have you been drinking alcohol or utilising recreational drugs!?´´

I thought we were screwed when this dweeb turned up, and I was right.

We apologised for the fire, put it out and did everything we were asked, but soon King-Kong-esque ´backup´showed up and for the next half hour we were treated like escapees from Azkaban. Supposedly a load of crystal meth smugglers hide out in National Parks around Cali and Death Valley, and Park Rangers here are the most armed police-force in the US, each carrying on them 2 handguns, an M16 and a pump action shotgun in the back of their van.

I wouldn't have laughed at his tight green pants had I known this.

...acrobatic interlude.

We were issued a $350 fine and after a hilarious 4-way game of Rock-Paper-Scissors (which didn't do wonders to prove our sobriety) the fine was issued in Ali´s name. I asked what would happen if we didn't pay the fine...

´´Sir...You are the master of your own destiny!´´

 ...was the informative response.

The whole ordeal proved to be worth it though; trekking up the Falls the next morning for sunrise was one of the most awesome and rewarding experiences of the trip.



Yosemite Falls; the highest waterfall in the USA.
Water freezes half way down, lands as snow, melts, then falls another 700ft.

 

Sunrise from atop the falls



After much debate we decided not to pay the fine.

As a result, Ali has a warrant for his arrest in every National Park in the USA..

...Shouldn't have chosen Paper.