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| Our first view of Half Dome and Yosemite Valley around sunset before finding our campsite at Bridalveil Creek. |
**Side Note: Please understand I'm not spending time editing pictures and uploading the dozens of pictures off our cameras. currently what you're getting is what we've taken on our phones. We'll post a bunch once we have some time in between legs of our trip or maybe not till the end. Thanks for being patient and understanding I really want to be present where I am and enjoy my time with Geoff**
After cleaning up we headed down to the winding roads along the edges of steep cliffs to Yosemite Valley. This is where the majority of people come to when they visit the park. It's easy to see why. Pictures will never do this place justice. Standing in the middle of everything makes you feel so small and yet your eyes still play tricks on you as your brain can't quite process how massive everything is. Oh that giant cliff face is just right over there right? No. It's like a mile and a half away and it's one of the largest granite cliff faces in the world. Oh.
Our first day in Yosemite National Park we totally slept in, Geoff tinkered with the mass air flow sensor that was just replaced and still acting up, and we (he) cooked breakfast. Our first real meal fully using the kitchen in the van. It was delicious! Bacon, eggs, hash browns and toast!
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| Geoff getting the bacon going in our kitchen. It was perfect!! |
One of Yosemites most famous sites and defining features is Half Dome. A Granite dome with one side a sheer cliff face while the other three sides are smooth and rounded. The top (which is hikable for the brave and in shape) rises more than 4,737 feet above the valley floor. Yosemite National Park has the most granite domes in one site in the world and they are spectacular! The domes are ever present in the valley. No matter where you look you're surrounded by cliffs and breathtaking views.
We strolled along the paths of Yosemite Village and stopped for ice cream before taking in Yosemite Falls and a few stops along the Merced River. The bottom of the falls were crowded with a ton of people but we found a side path that lead to an open area with an even better view of the falls, right on Yosemite Creek, a granite bench and no people. It honestly offered even better views that being right under the falls.
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| Lower Yosemite Falls from our secret viewing spot without hundreds of people! |
The next day we headed up to Glacier Point which offers unobstructed views of the entire valley, the mountains, cliffs and domes surrounding it at depending where you stand, two to four waterfalls at any given moment. We ended up preferring Washburn Point which is a few miles before Glacier Point. It's far less crowded and offered better views of Vernal and Nevada Falls. From Glacier Point you can look down on the valley and Half Dome Village (formerly Curry Village), the tent city, the pool and lodges. We found a nice rock over looking Half Dome to eat lunch and it was awesome. After that we drove down to Wawona because why not? Currently Mariposa Grove is closed for restoration so there really wasn't much down there to see. Mariposa Grove is a site with hundreds of mature Giant Sequoias including two which are in the top thirty largest trees in the world! This part of the park will reopen in Spring of 2017.
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| View from Washburn Point. You can see Half Dome, Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls from here along with some higher peaks further out. |
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| Geoff and I at Washburn Point loving life! |
The following day we headed up to Tuolumne Meadows and Tioga Pass. This is definitely the high country and some areas are above the tree line reaching over 10,000 feet in elevation. We stopped off at Olmsted Point which has insane views of Tenaya Canyon, Cloud's Rest and of course Half Dome. Could have stayed there all day taking it all in. We passed by Tenaya Lake and arrived at Tuolumne Meadows maybe a few weeks shy of the flowers blooming which I was a bit disappointed about but the area is still incredible with views of the glaciers and higher peaks in the park. After watching some tourists get far too close to a group of deer we headed on over Tioga pass, elevation 9,945 feet, and out the eastern entrance of the park.
The National Park turns into a National Forest... INYO NATIONAL FOREST!! which I found hilarious. The name "Inyo" comes from a Native American word meaning "dwelling place of the great spirit". I can see why the Great Spirit would reside here. It's beautiful. It's home to Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous US and protects some of the oldest trees in the world. From there we wandered down to the town of Lee Vining where gas is a bit cheaper than in the National Park. We prepared a cheese plate to help power us back up over the passes and back to camp. Along the way we enjoyed sunset at Tenaya Lake and left only due to be drained by mosquitos.
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| the van INYO National Forest!! Hahaha! Love it! But really it's beautiful here. |
Our final day in the park we stopped at Bridalveil Falls in the valley then had a picnic lunch along the Merced River before picking up our raft for the afternoon. We rafted 3 miles down the Merced River from Half Dome Village to Sentinel Beach. The water is glacial fed and is freaking freezing but with the temperatures reaching the high 90's a dip was very welcome. Slowly floating through the valley is hands down the BEST way to take it all in. On average people spend about 1.5 to 2 hours floating. We spent almost 3 hours on the water and taking a dip here and there...
Pro Tip: Bring your own inner tubes, rafts and floaties so you can float down the river at your own pace, on your own schedule and to save around $60. They do have a shuttle back to Half Dome Village from Sentinel Beach specifically for rafters to make it easier to get back to your vehicles.
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| Upper Yosemite Falls from the Valley View pull out. This view was used in a painting from one of Geoff's favorite artists Albert Bierstadt who was instrumental in making Yosemite a National Park. |
We ate dinner at Half Dome Village, which was shockingly not overpriced, and headed out of the park via the southern entrance at Wawona and drove on to stay over in Fresno for the night.
We were both stuck by the lack of wildlife in the park compared to other National Parks like Banff in Canada and Yellowstone here in the US. Perhaps they're just better at hiding in the hot sun or maybe the forest fires drove them away. Who knows but it was definitely noticeable.
Well, Geoff is done the repairs on the van so we're headed to In-N-Out Burger before heading out of town headed for Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park. We'll update again later! If you get the chance you definitely should visit Yosemite even with all the insane crowds.
Till next time - Fair winds my friends!
Marsha (and Geoff)
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