Well, our group made it safely to Fresno, CA and into the mountains to our destination, Tenaya Lodge last night. There are 23 hikers from the DC chapter, and we will be joined by another 20 people from the San Diego and Chicago chapters for tomorrow's event.

This morning, because I just couldn’t bear to be indoors, I joined my teammates Carey, Ellen, Katie, Karen, and Jon on a short hike of a nearby nature trail. We started at the lodge and walked down a dirt road before turning onto the trail. Just before the trailhead, we spotted a coyote on the road. It ran away as soon as it saw us, but I got a picture of its paw prints in the sandy dirt.

We wound leisurely around the trail, admiring the tall sugar pine trees with the gigantic pine cones. About halfway into the trail, we spotted a creek. We all took turns walking out on a fallen log, a makeshift footbridge for those who are brave enough to try it. After about an hour and a half, we headed back to the lodge to see what the rest of our group was up to.

We ran into a few others who all wanted to go on the $25 waterfall tour (which included a box lunch). Sean, the guide from the lodge, led us back up the same road, this time going about 2.5 miles to a trail that ended at the small but pretty Tenaya Falls. We broke for lunch at the falls. Michael decided to see just how cold the water was and jumped in a couple of times. If I had had my bathing suit on, I would have been right there with him… After lunch, we hiked back to the lodge (I can’t believe we hiked 6 miles the day before our big event!) and got ready for our “Inspiration Dinner”. At dinner, we learned that the Yosemite hikers in the DC chapter raised nearly $300,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. This year, all of the Hike for Discovery participants (for both the Grand Canyon and Yosemite) raised over $4.2 million!!  Absolutely amazing!  All those donations really do add up!

Thanks to all of my wonderful donors, I was able to raise over $6,700 for this event.  I am… astonished.  I cannot thank you enough, or even articulate how much your support means to me.  Please know that so many people are being helped and lives are being saved because of your generosity. I couldn’t have done this without your support!