Yosemite National Park
Trip Start
Nov 22, 2007
1
30
55
Trip End
Dec 01, 2008
Yosemite National Park,
California,
United States
Monday, May 12, 2008
Okay-loyal blog fans. You have seen some fabulous photos of the great places we have been so far. Each has its own unique beauty and has been well worth our time and the many pixels we have devoted to the blog. Nonetheless, I have to tell you all that, as of now, Yosemite is my all time favorite of the national parks. Wildlife abounds and people are humble Lilliputians in the glory of a Yosemite spring. There is not a view that is not thrilling as one drives through this park, whether from the south entrance through the sequoias or from the west entrance through the pines, toward Yosemite Valley. If the Grand Canyon presents a god's-eye view of nature, Yosemite is an ant's-eye view. Here, everything natural is larger than life. The trees are bigger, the rocks are bigger, the rivers are stronger, the hills are steeper, the cliffs are sheerer, the waterfalls are higher and pump with greater velocity, and the roads seem to have more twists and turns here, with a different view behind each, than anywhere else
panorama from glacier point
.We camped outside the park for a few days in Oakhurst, since camping reservations in the park for the weekends already were booked solid until September (make reservations early if you have an RV!!). Oakhurst is still quite a few miles from the southern park entrance, and the southern park entrance itself is some 40 miles or so on Route 41 to Yosemite Valley, where the most famous natural sights are. There are campgrounds in Yosemite Valley, but they typically are sold out within hours of becoming available. This requires planning about six months ahead-we typically plan about a week ahead, and even then may change plans on the fly. If you are lucky, you might get a weekday reservation in the park (but outside the Valley) without too much advance planning, which we were able to do. We ended up camping in the park near the west entrance at Hogden Meadow for a few days during the week. This campground is still about 20 miles or so down Route 120 to Yosemite Valley.
From Hogden Meadow, we made the trek on our motorcycles into the valley each day to see different things. The ride is beautiful. From the tall pines at the west entrance, along the hills and mountains, past the rivers and down into the valley. Take the road through the Valley to look up to the falls-Yosemite (America's highest falls), Nevada, Bridal Veil, and Vernal Falls-or the sheer granite faces of the cliffs that rock climbers come from all over to conquer
rear view too
. El Capitan is the world's largest granite monolith. Each time we entered the Valley from the west we were struck with awe by the point in the road where Bridal Veil Falls emerges on your right and El Capitan shoots straight up on your left. We stopped at the visitor's center in the Valley. Yosemite Falls is right there-so high up and so powerful is this waterfall (actually three falls in one) that you can be mesmerized and easily spend 45 minutes to an hour just gaping at it through binoculars. We decided to hike around a bit, and we made our way to the trail leading to the lower part of Vernal Falls. Working our way up the trail, we snapped some pictures along the way of the river and the Nevada Falls. Our timing could not have been better in terms of seeing the waterfalls-one of the phenomena that Yosemite is most known for. Some of the falls we saw can only be seen in spring because they dry up after all the snow has melted from the Sierra Nevada peaks that surround the valley.
On another day we wandered a bit up the trail to Bridal Veil Falls. Upon our return we saw that many had stopped along the road to view and photograph some activity on El Capitan. Well, apparently there was a group of climbers scaling the sheer face-they were preparing to camp overnight on the vertical granite! They looked like small black dots to us, and even through our binoculars, you could barely make them out
falls we hiked to
. If they weren't moving, you'd probably never notice that any one was there at all. It is amazing and humbling realization from that perspective. We also took a day to drive past the Valley and make our way up to Glacier Point, which looks down on Yosemite Valley. Even from that height, the views of Yosemite Valley, Yosemite falls, Half Dome, and El Capitan below are impressive and awesome. We stopped at the side of the road to find a place for a picnic on the way back from Glacier Point. Turned out we were near a granite cliff called Sentinel Dome. After lunch, we decided to climb up the Dome, toying with the idea of climbing right up the side we were facing-we both love to climb rocks-but opted to go around and up the trail side instead. There was still snow on the trail side of Sentinel Dome, but once on top, just a great view and lots of rocks to climb. Since we both were into climbing the rocks, we started exploring the possibility of climbing down the off-trail side. Step by step we measured progress-each few yards it seemed that the side dropped off to nothing, but once you approached it, you could usually find a way to another ledge below. Well, we ended up picking our way all the way down-which certainly felt like an accomplishment. Check out the pictures and you will see how challenging it was.
Coming back from Glacier Point along Route 41 toward the Valley is what is called "Tunnel View." It is the spectacular panorama that opens up before you as you emerge from the tunnel on Route 41 just before the descent into the Valley. Here you can see El Capitan, Bridal Veil Falls, and Half Dome posing for pictures all day long, in all kinds of light and shadow, depending on the time and your vantage point. Some of the most famous photos of Yosemite are taken from the Tunnel View because you can capture so many of the park's unique attractions here in a single photograph.
Yes, Yosemite is an amazing place, and we only saw a small part of this park, which is the size or Rhode Island. For the truly adventurous, there is about 90 percent more of the park to be explored that is undeveloped and only accessible on foot. Maybe we will try that next time!
