por Anthony Monterroza

This place was nothing short of jaw dropping beauty from the moment my vehicle’s tires rolled onto the frozen roads of Yosemite National Park. The sounds of ice crunching beneath my tires filled the air as I rolled my windows down to breathe in the unbelievably fresh air that the forest was projecting.

My car glided into a snow-covered parking lot and backed up with with ease into my spot. I noticed my eyes could not move quick enough to take in and process every bit of intense detail that was being projected by the world before me. I was feeling a sense of freedom I had never felt before.

As I stomped my way across frozen bridges and slippery roads I passed several roaring streams, flowing strong from the literal tons of snow that the present winter has brought. I was in basic waterproof hiking boots and sweatpants along with a thermal, t-shirt, and windbreaker jacket to tie it all together. In my backpack I had water, camera, tripod, trail mix, and a weatherproof speaker to keep me going along my journey. Needless to say I was not much prepared for my trip at all and if it wasn’t for my driving passion to find adventure and create my own personal journey to self-growth, I would not have gone far before turning back after a few hours of basic walking and leaving to sit within my hotel room.

I began my ascent upwards towards the famous Half Dome trail, stopping multiple times to gaze in bewilderment at the profound landscapes that presented themselves at every clearing that was along my path. I was slipping profusely on the frozen rock and dirt as the trail began to slope with the steady rising elevation. The walkway had a thin layer of ice over the top of it which made falling on my ass inevitable and constant. It took me two hours before I found the trail to be secure enough to walk with my camera hanging around my neck and not worry about my tumbling and landing on it. I was cold, exhausted, and thirsty, yet I had been having the most fun in the entirety of my life.

I took a quick water break and pushed forward another hour, kicking my way through piles of freshly laid snow until ultimately being met with yet another unrealistic spectacle that mother nature herself had hidden away within the confines of her mountains. I froze and stood gazing in amazement as I took it all in. The very chill that ran up my spine as I breathed deeply through my nostrils is still imprinted in my memory today. The sound of a few distant roaring waterfalls complemented the scents of wet pine trees and earth very well as the sight of my dreams sat directly in front of me. I took my pictures, strapped into my backpack, and hurried towards the first waterfall.

There it is. The first waterfall. I tasted the crisp mist as it rose off of the rocks lying at the bottom of which it cascaded upon. It was truly a landscape to behold and take a much-needed break at. My muscles ached as I hydrated but all the sensation that the thrill of exploration had brought into my very being silenced whatever resistance my body was trying to show me. I walked to the edge and peered over it and saw at least 200+ feet between myself and the ground. I hung my legs over the edge and thought of absolutely nothing as I watched the movie that life was playing for me. Time passed and eventually, I had to move on from this beloved position to continue onward throughout a frozen Yosemite.

“The sound of a few distant roaring waterfalls complemented the scents of wet pine trees and earth very well as the sight of my dreams sat directly in front of me.”

Anthony Monterroza

After enjoying the moment messing around in the snow and fooling around in the icy water I dragged on up the mountain that sat behind the first waterfall. At this point exhausted and carrying less than half the water I had started with, I found myself taking more and more breaks as I climbed. I had arrived at the top probably no more than 90 minutes later to a little clearing with a shack that sat at the top and a sign to the right of it with multiple distances to different viewpoints of the park etched onto the surface. I know Half Dome was less than 5 miles away but can not remember the exact distance. I could only recall seeing that “Little Yosemite” was 1.2 miles away. I then turned from the sign and went forth towards the top of a waterfall that poured into and fed the first one. I walked until the path had ended seeing nothing but deeply layered snow in front of me and decided to go further anyways seeing the views tease me just around the corner. I took one step, bam, my leg instantly sank a good three feet deep into the white abyss and cold snow started to fill my boot. I shrugged it off and repeated with my other leg. Forty-three icy leaps later and I came to a little bridge that sat at the top of the falls. I leaned over and spent the next five minutes puking from exhaustion. Shaking, I picked up my camera and took some photos then sat back and tried to enjoy the final view of this forever memorable hike as I hydrated and ate. Before me sat the entire valley of Yosemite, its snow-blanketed powdery mountains peered back at me as my mind seemed to welcome the vision with two arms wide open. I was dumbfounded in every sense of the word and proud that I had gotten so far on my first actual hike throughout Yosemite.

I packed my gear up and descended from the mountains spending every second of that walk remembering every smell, sound, detail, taste that I could. When I arrived at my car I got out of every piece of clothing I originally started in and changed into some shorts and a sweatshirt then hopped in and instantly cranked the heater. Twenty minutes of shivering and heating up my engine and I was finally good to go, ultimately ending my escapade with a heated car and month’s worth of adventure.

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Anthony Monterroza was a lover of all things outdoors.

His proud and loving mother, Tina-Marie, shared this story that Anthony wrote when he was 20 years old, following his winter adventure in Yosemite in 2017, motivated by “his great passion for the great outdoors.” As she celebrates Anthony’s life together with family and friends on May 8th, 2021, she hopes that his writing and images will inspire more people from Latino communities to explore our beautiful world.