Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite

I recently attended a beautiful wedding in Groveland, California. It’s an awesome little town that sits right on the border to Yosemite National Park. It also happens to be a 20 minute drive from Hetch Hetchy – the San Francisco Bay Area’s water source! I’ve heard my family talk about SF’s amazing tap water my whole life. It was pretty exciting to actually see the place where mountain snow melts into a valley and gets sent to my faucet! I’ve been to Yosemite so many times – but never to Hetch Hetchy!

My boyfriend, Chris, and I drove Hank the Truck out to Evergreen Lodge and posted up at a nearby campsite. The first day was stormy but we were happy to stay cozied up and cook breakfast in the truck before the wedding. The sun came out the following day and we made the drive up the winding road to Hetch Hetchy! The first thing you notice upon arrival is the sheer power of the water going through the dam. It takes a good 3-4 minutes of staring to comprehend how much water is actually moving through it! There is a great little 5 mile (roundtrip) hike that takes you around the reservoir to Wapama Falls. We took a few minutes to have a ProBar Picnic before venturing into the heavy mist of the waterfall! After getting back to the truck, we made some coffee for the 3 hour drive back to San Francisco. If you haven’t tried using an Earopress for camping coffee, I definitely recommend it!

Checking out Hetch Hetchy was an amazing way to connect and be thankful for the water that I drink almost every day. It’s so important to be aware of the resources we use, and where they’re coming from. As a lover of the mountains, it’s also nice to picture the snowmelt that gave me my glass of water :)

The End!