I’d never heard of Bass Lake before taking the LA to the Bay Contiki trip with my travel bestie, Sophie.

We’d be travelling from Las Vegas to Bass Lake, spending a night in a cabin, and then heading to Yosemite National Park for a day of hiking and gorgeous views.

On the day-long drive, we stopped for lunch and I had my first ever In-N-Out burger. Honestly, the best fast food burger I’ve ever had. And a decent chocolate milkshake (I love a milkshake).

*Pool view and our cabin at Pines Resort (August 2023)*

Once we’d arrived at Pines Resort, we checked into our cabin with another roommate (who I ended up really liking, and regret that we didn’t have more of a chance to connect).

That night, our entire travel group was going to have a “shit shirt” pizza party. Throughout the trip, our tour manager told us all to make sure that we buy a cheap shirt with a stupid slogan on it for this very occasion.

Sophie and I had a slice of pizza and then headed back to our cabin for an early night. Because first thing in the morning, we’d be waking up for a hiking day in Yosemite.

A day I was very much looking forward to.

On the morning drive to Yosemite, we were warned that our bus would be making a lot of sharp turns on the winding roads down what is essentially a canyon road. I didn’t expect my motion sickness to be triggered by it.

But of course, if it can go wrong, it will go wrong on vacation. So I was sick on the bus. I feel the need to share these travel moments, because a lot of people will look at travel photos and have a skewed version of the reality of what actually happened.

Between the gorgeous lookouts and photos of airplane wings in the clouds, there is struggle and moments that aren’t super great. Every trip has its moments.

*Hiking Lower Yosemite Fall Trail (August 2023)*

Finally, we arrived at our destination, and we were given the day to explore!

We first hiked the Lower Yosemite Fall Trailhead, with beautiful views of the falls. It was so relaxing, the weather was perfect – not too hot, a little overcast so the sun wasn’t too bright.

When we made it to the welcome centre, Sophie and I grabbed some early lunch before continuing on to our goal of reaching Mirror Lake.

*Mirror Lake, Yosemite National Park (August 2023)*

The Mirror Lake Trail really was beautiful. Even when it started to become an uphill battle. We’d been hiking for hours, so it was nice to have a sit and enjoy the lake views. As rewarding hiking days are for me as a traveller, it does kill my ankles to walk for that long.

Another fun thing for us that day was that the buses that usually ran quite often around the park weren’t operating on a normal schedule. We really were banking on being able to take the bus back to our meeting point.

So we walked from Mirror Lake back to the bus stop and crossed our fingers that a bus would come in the next hour. Thankfully, it did, and we were able to grab a Starbucks drink before getting back on the bus to our cabin.

*Poolside at Pines Resort (August 2023)*

Once we arrived back at Pines Resort, Sophie and I had a much needed relaxing evening. We cooked spaghetti for dinner and then headed to the resort pool to watch the sun set. After a day of walking, it was so nice to have an evening that felt very calm and honestly, normal.

Just leaning back into a lounge chair poolside, listening to the Tragically Hip on my phone, it felt like cottage country back in Ontario.

The next day would be our last on this Contiki journey.