Yosemite

  Yosemite National Park, California, United States
Monday, May 4, 2009

Yosemite National Park, there arent many words to describe the beauty and grandeur of the park. You really have to see it. The photos dont really do it justice but you can an idea of how fantastic it is.

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When we arrived the weather was awful to say the least. We tried our best to have a look around the park but the rain was torrential and made it impossible for us to get out the car. So after a short while we returned to the tent cabin that we were stayin in at the nearby mountain resort. It rained all evening and all night and we were not prepared for the freezing cold temperatures!! But we soldiered on and got up early the next moring and headed back to Yosemite, and yes it was still raining.

It rained for most of the day in fact but it didnt really matter in the end because we got absolutely soaked anyway on the 'Mist Trail' that we undertook.

A few eye catching and funny signs dotting around the park to tell you about as well. There is a bear sign which says if encountering a bear, you should not run! What u should in fact do is stand up to it and make loud clapping noises. This is suppose to alert the bear to your presence around him and therefore he should not attack you. Sod that, if I had seen a bear I would have first shat myself and then secondly, quietly run as fast as I could in the opposite direction!

My best sign however, in the park, was the one which tells you what to do if you come across a mountain lion. Apparently, you should make yourself look as big as possible, and therefore the mountain lion shouldn't come near you, but if it is to attack you, the words of wisdom on the sign are, fight back! Yea like Im going to play dead after it attacks me! Think I know who I would bet on in that fight though.

We decided we would do a hike, and most of the tour books recommend if there is one trail you get to do, you should do the mist trail,

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which takes you up a steep climb to the top of two waterfalls, the vernal falls (300 foot)and the nevada falls (600 foot).

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Its incredibly wet and at one stage you basically go under part of the waterfall and you emerge as if you have just jumped in a swimming pool fully clothed!

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The views from the top are amazing though and you get a great sense of achievement from it.

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Corinne was scared that coming down she would slip and die, but sadly that was not the case! I have never heard so much moaning in all my life! But in her defence it was very cold, we were soaking wet and it took us 4 1/2 hours so you could just about let her off.

We managed to muster up the energy to also visit Mirror lake, which gets its name from the fact that it reflects the image of the famous Half Dome rock face on its surface. 

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It was really serene and nice.

After all this we then headed back towards San Francisco as we had to return the hire car in the morning. We checked in to a seedy motel in Oakland just across the bay and got some well earned sleep ready for our coach journey to Santa Barbara in the morning.........