Hello there! Am responding to the prompt by @galenkp to write something about being outdoors - not only because there are some prizes up for grabs (being honest here, lol!), but it's a fun exercise as well (because sometimes we just wonder what stuff to write about).
I was going through some of my photo archives, and I realised that in my younger days, I probably was a bit more adventurous and did more hiking during my travels. This was back in 2018, where I had a chance to visit the Yosemite National Park in California, US. The cover photo is one of the more iconic sights where visitors would take turns to take photos. Can you spot the water fall in the background? Haha.
Other than mountains and trees, there were many waterfalls too. This is the more popular one, Yosemite Falls, which wasn't too far a hike from the entrance.
It's such a magnificent sight! To get a sense of how grand this waterfall is, just look at how small the human beings are in the photos. It's just a treat to travel countless hours from the city to watch this grand spectacle in real life.
This photo was taken further downstream from Yosemite Falls, hearing these water sounds were just so therapeutic.
There were also rock formations as well. It really felt like a real life Geography lesson where all the stuff in the textbook came alive.
Unfortunately, we didn't get to stay there for a long time because it was a day trip and we had to travel to and fro from the city. With the little time we had, my travel buddy and I tried to cover the maximum area we could. I realised we didn't take a lot of photos too, except for the main "attractions", because we were probably too busy hiking and sometimes, it's not very safe to be walking on uneven ground and taking photos at the same time.
That said, we covered the key places in the park and it was a memorable "escape" to the nature, because the rest of the travel itinerary were largely in the city itself. I probably have said this more than 10 times but being immersed in nature is just a therapeutic feeling for me. It's amazing how we are so small when we stand below these huge mountains and tall waterfalls, and it's just a constant reminder that there's so much more to life other than just work and rushing from place to place. Sometimes we should take a pause, breathe, and enjoy what our Earth has to offer!