Active Sightseeing: Hikes through Yosemite, Big Sur, Zion and the Grand Canyon

Me, comfortable in the passenger seat as Melina drives us out of Yosemite National Park.

It turns out working out while road tripping isn’t as easy as I thought it would be.

After deciding to leave my job in Vancouver and head home to family in Toronto, I chose to live large and take the long way home with my car: down the Pacific Coast, and then back up across the Upper Midwest until I hit Canada.

I had embarrassingly high hopes of maintaining my progress at the gym during what turned out to be a nearly four-week trip by keeping up with TRX and body weight workouts.

Reality set in pretty fast.

While my road trip buddy Melina and I fit in a workout in San Francisco, it was hard to find time anywhere else.

On travel days we spent upwards of 10 hours in the car, which, for reasons unknown to me, is incredibly exhausting.

We’d get to our campsite (if we were lucky) before dark and set-up the tent, get ready for bed, sleep, get up, tear down the tent, make breakfast and hit the road again.

If we stopped somewhere for more than one night, our time was pretty booked with sightseeing, which, again, is exhausting.

Fortunately, a lot of our sightseeing kept us active since our main stops included Yosemite National Park, Big Sur State Park, Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon – all home to some pretty steep climbs.

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

We first did the must-see Yosemite Falls trail, which is just a light walk, and then hit Vernal and Nevada Fall Trails for a strenuous hike. We only had time for half of it, so we climbed up Vernal Fall and back down. It took about three hours round-trip.

A view of Yosemite Falls from the loop trail that goes around it.

From the bottom of Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall Trails in Yosemite National Park.

The view from the other side of the stream before we started our trek up Vernal Fall.

The pathway before we hit “Mist Trail.” This picture is deceiving because it doesn’t show how steep the climb is. There’s Melina Long Legs up ahead, while shorty treads behind.

This part of the hike is fittingly called “Mist Trail” as you hike along Vernal Fall. You get a little bit more than a mist, though – we got pretty soaked.

I have a million shots of this rainbow from the top of Vernal Fall.

Here it is again.

DOUBLE RAINBOW.

The climb was definitely a burner, but it was our first big hike of the trip and we were ready and raring for a workout, so at the top we did a few Tabata drills:

• Air Squats (8 sets of 20 seconds with a 10 second rest in between)
• Push-ups (8 sets of 20 seconds with a 10 second rest in between)
• Lunges (8 sets of 20 seconds with a 10 second rest in between)
• Plank (8 sets of 20 seconds with a 10 second rest in between)

A man from the trail even asked us, “You guys didn’t get enough of a leg burn after that hike?”

Guess not!

BIG SUR

We stayed at a campsite in Big Sur for two nights and did a two to three-hour hike up Ewoldsen Trail in nearby Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. The guy at our campground described this five-mile hike as a “burner,” with incredible views overlooking the highway and tropical-esque turquoise ocean waters, so we were sold.

However, as we started to hike up the dirt trail through the redwood forest we ran into some park rangers who warned us about poison oak and, even worse, ticks. We were mortified and only halfway up the trail. At that point, all we wanted to do was GTFO, so we carefully (looking like idiots as we tried not to brush up against anything) and quickly finished our hike, snapped a few shots, and got the hell out of there.

I’m still traumatized and living in fear of nature.

Before our hike up Ewoldsen Trail. On the other side of the trail head lies McWay Falls. I think that dinky little stream coming off the rock is the waterfall? Whatever. Still beautiful.

More views before the hike and tick drama.

A quick view at the top of Ewoldsen Trail.

Proof that despite my fear of contracting Lyme Disease I made it to the top.

We did not do any Tabata drills with the ticks here.

ZION NATIONAL PARK

We camped just outside of Zion National Park for one night and took a hike up Angels Landing the morning we left. It’s a pretty strenuous climb with a number of steep switchbacks. Once you get to the top you can go even further up the peak, which is so steep there’s chains that help lift you up. We heard about people falling off the cliff and dying, so we opted out of that portion of the hike.

There’s no shortage of views here.

Proof that Melina exists. Here she is super excited as we start our trek up Angels Landing.

The trail vs. the stunning view from the top.

Our signature “we made it to the top” picture.

That view, though.

GRAND CANYON

By the time we hit the Grand Canyon we were pretty tired and, well, sick of nature. But that’s not to say the Grand Canyon isn’t amazing – our first view of the seemingly never-ending canyon was breathtaking.

We camped in the national park for a night and walked along the Rim Trail the next morning. We originally planned to hike down into the canyon, but we were so tired and ready to get back to civilization (Vegas, baby!), that we kept the visit short, sweet and above the rock.

A view from the park’s first lookout point.

Zoomed in a bit.

Is it dry in here?

Signature “I made it to the Grand Canyon” pic.

Peace out, desert.

Now that I’m back to reality, I’m also back to the drawing board of managing my weight and getting on track with workouts. While I stressed at first about not being the healthiest – from English muffins for breakfast to late night Twizzlers – it’s good to enjoy yourself every once in a while. It took some time, but I finally let go and was definitely at my happiest while travelling with Melina.

Sometimes I need to learn to let go and just enjoy my time – especially when on vacation.

I wouldn’t change anything from this experience.