Day 12 Yosemite National Park
Trip Start
May 16, 2008
1
15
22
Trip End
Jun 03, 2008
Where I stayed
Yosemite National Park,
California,
United States
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
We got to the valley about 10am, stopping off at Tunnel View as the valley was clearer of clouds today. We parked up and got the free shuttle bus to Vernal Falls stop. Quite a few people got off there to do this trail as well. Time was about 10.30 am.
Vernal Falls is a 370ft drop waterfall located on the Merced River that runs through Yosemite. Further up from it is the Nevada Falls (594ft drop). We hiked to the viewpoint at the bridge down below the Falls. We then continued up the Mist Trail, the map said it wasn't very far
Above Vernal Falls
. It wasn't but it was up steep rock steps up the side of the Falls! The ponchos were out and on as we approached the waterfall as it was getting rather wet. We had to stop several times to get our breath or to let people coming back down past. I don't know why they were coming back down, the steps were dangerous enough on the way down, they were suicidal on the way back! The final climb to the top is via a path etched into the side of the rock with only a handrail to stop you plummeting to your death. And then we had arrived. Lots of people sat having a picnic. Many squirrels zipped about attempting to either look cute in return for food or to just plain steal it from peoples backpacks when they weren't looking. Lots of photos were taken. It was almost 1 pm so we had our picnic we had bought in the Deli.
Rather than go back the suicide route, we carried on up a bit passed the Emerald Pool and went up through rocky switchbacks onto the John Muir Trail. The switchbacks weren't too bad, just basically made of rock. We reached the Clark's Point (5400ft high), getting great views of the Nevada Falls and across the valley to Liberty Cap, Mount Broderick and even the Half Dome was cloud free.
Heading back SE on the trail we got some great views down onto Vernal Falls and the area we had been in
Liberty Cap and Nevada Falls
. There had obviously been horses (or mules as the shoeprints were small) using this trail as there was fresh "nature" deposited at regular intervals along the trail. We also met some more squirrels who sat still long enough for me to get some good close video and pictures. 4 paws and fur, they can do no wrong!
We started down the switchbacks further down leading back to the Vernal viewpoint at the bridge on the river. On the way down we met a trek on their way up to leave more little bits of "nature" for the flies to eat. They lead and trail with a horse, and the mules go in the middle. I don't think I would feel brave enough to go on these paths on mules - I'd be afraid of it slipping and ending up over the edge.
Once we rejoined the Mist Trail, we got back to the bridge and had a couple of bottles of water from the drinking fountain there. One thing we have found out is that we had not been taking enough water along with us on our hikes. A bottle of Cherry Cola just doesn't cut it! After another rest we headed back down to the start of the trail to get the shuttle bus back. We were back there at 3 pm, so that was 4.5 hours that took us with an estimated 5 miles of walking
Start of John Muir Trail
. We got dropped off at the Village Store where we bought some supplies and touristy bits. Catriona got a coffee in Degnan's, while she did that I noticed that the Café section has a half dozen Internet machines. I they all have Memory Card slots so you could use them to upload photos etc. I'm not sure how much it costs.
We got back to the car, it had just started raining. We decided that we didn't want another day in the clouds so didn't got to Glacier Point, but drove back to Wawona. We had intended going to Mariposa Grove but the rain got heavier as we drove.
So instead we went to Redwoods lodge which is a couple of miles down the road just along from the Wawona. One of the other guests had told us about it. They supply lodges and their main building is a shop, reception, laundry and - even better - free wifi. We put a load of washing on and whilst that was in I updated the blog and photos.
We arrived back at the Wawona and stripped off and had a good shower. When we went down to the parlour, the piano player had appeared
Vernal Falls
. The place was full but we managed to get a seat nearby him - oh good. It was a Grand Piano, meaning it was loud. He played and sung tunes such as Lady Is A Tramp, Blue Moon and lots of other show tunes. Our room was sounding better and better all the time. Luckily we only had to wait 30 minutes for a dinner table and we made our escape. This evening we had a much better server, even though she did sound like she should be working in a Chicago outlet of Denny's. We had Californian Cheeses, crab and avocado salad (which tasted like crab out of a tin) followed by Tequila Lime Pork Skewers and Tempura Courgette & Mushroom. The pork didn't taste very Limey nor Tequila-y but were OK, the Tempura was quite nice with a good zingy sauce dip.
We then retired back to the room to open a bottle of Gloria Ferrer Blanc De Noir sparkling wine which we had put on to chill when we came back. The top blew off as Catriona was opening it luckily missing her but ricocheting off the ceiling. Luckily no wine was spilt.
We retired early (2230) after our second hard day of yomping. The rain has stopped so fingers crossed Tioga Road will be open and Glacier Point cloud free.
Number of Bears seen to date - None
Number of squirrels seen to date - squillions!
Number of miles walked in Yosemite to date - about 22
