Yosemite National Park

     For four days we visited Yosemite National Park. Our campground is in the town of Oakhurst, CA. While it is about 15 miles (via winding road) to the south gate of Yosemite, it takes us 1 1/2 hours to make the drive into Yosemite Valley! We thought of staying in the park, but even now all the campgrounds are booked! Wow, who knew??

     There is really not much to see on the drive in. There are several trailheads but we weren't interested in taking any of them. Going in to the Valley you are met with the icons that Yosemite is known for:  El Capitan, Yosemite Falls, and Half Dome.

Yosemite Falls

El Capitan

Half Dome

     El Capitan is "Ground Zero" for the hard core rock climber. We could only see one climber on our visit.

You couldn't even see the climber without binoculars 

Close up that shows the climber and his gear on the face!

     We decided to hike to Vernal Fall. The guidebook called it a "moderate" hike. Well, it seemed like it was straight uphill for 1 1/2 miles!! While a nice wide trail up to a bridge observation point, it was pretty strenuous. We stopped at the bottom of the fall and were soaked by the spray. I decided to brave the narrow granite steps for the last stretch. It was pretty challenging for someone who hasn't really trained for it. Taking frequent stops, I finally braved the final narrow pathway and arrived at the top of the falls!

Vernal Fall from the base

The beginning of the steps to the top

The last narrow approach to the top

Not nearly as impressive from the top!

Stellar's Jay visiting Barb

A rainbow greeted me on the way back down!

This water was snow just not too long ago and it IS COLD!

Snow Blower on steroids!!

     On another day we hiked out to Glacier Point. From here you can see a spectacular vista of the Yosemite Village and Vernal and Nevada Falls.

     The day before this picture, I hiked to the top of Vernal Fall. It took me a couple of hours to get there. There was another continuing trail that went further up to Nevada Falls. In the above photo (from Glacier Point) you can see how much further that hike was! Still, it was a breathtaking vista.

     We had a visitor from Germany volunteer to take our picture with Half Dome in the background. He took several shots from different angles. This is my favorite one.

     Side note... We have seen several of these camper vans in campgrounds. It has a kitchen, beds, storage, and can drive about anywhere you might want to go. You can hook it up at a campground, raise up the top (which provides a bed for some adventurous soul), and be relatively comfortable. Only in California and Nevada, and some international countries, it may spread and catch on across the country for the tourist on a budget.

This guy came up to see what we were up to. 

A Sequoia pine cone. Seed is about the size of an oat flake.

The tree next to me is a young Sequoia. Probably 50-80 years old!

And they get like this after 2,500-3,000 years. 

   

     Got this from the internet. Circa 1962 this was the Wawona Sequoia. You could drive through it and be amazed. Well, while this cutout of the tree was done about 80 years earlier, it weakened the tree and in 1969 the tree collapsed and fell.

     This is what the Wawona tree looks like now. It takes a lot of imagination to see it as it was. 

This is called the Clothespin Tree. 

     On the third day, we took the shuttle to Mariposa Grove. This hike took us to see the Sequoia grove in Yosemite. The photos above came from that hike. Upon returning to the shuttle stop, we took a quick tour of the Pioneer Village. Here they have displayed several old wagons that were used by tourists and park protectors during the late 19th and early 20th century.

     Imagine riding in this for two days, over rutted and rocky trails in order to get to the Yosemite Village!!

     Above is an old "Chuck Wagon". 

     There were several cabins and residences that were used throughout the history of the park and have been moved and restored. It was quite fascinating. 

     We now will make the trek a little further west and north and will soon visit Redwoods National Park. It will take a couple of days but should provide some great scenery.