Yosemity National Parc

  Yosemite National Park, California, United States
Monday, July 7, 2008

July 7, from Lake Tahoe to Yosemity National Park

sunny 35°C /95°F

We are awake at half past six and felt that we had a good night sleep. Meanwhile, getting up in the morning has become a ritual of packing our stuff and getting ready which takes 30 minutes and goes very smoothly. So at seven we sat in the car for a long driving day.

For the next three days we will more or less follow highway 395 from Lake Tahoe to Death Valley, but today only to Yosemity and this route is again beautifull ! Somewhere along the 395, in nowhere, we stop at a small restaurant. We no longer know where we are but the ladies who are here, present us a very nice omelet and so we have a delicious breakfast.

At eleven we stood for the East entrance to the Tioga Pass of Yosemity. At this entrance we wanted to buy a national park pass so that we can enter all national parks on our route without paying separate entry fees. This pass costs $80 and is valid for 12 months for all the national parks in America. Unfortunately at this entrance it is not possible to pay with credit card. We can enter the park without paying on condition that we pay at the exit at the end of the day. 

Lembert Dome

The following miles became a song of ohs&ahs! The only way to drive this park is from one beautiful spot on to the next! At Lambert Dome we parked our car to have a short walk to the enormous rock. The view on the other side of the road reveals a beautiful view of Tuolumne Meadows. Everywhere along the route we found beautiful viewing points, it would take a whole day to visit them all. 

Amstead Point

The view point at Amstead Point however is one, which not must be skipped. It is worth to climb down the rocks for an astonishing view from the middle of this rock. The view as from here shows the valley and is really spectacular. 

Bridalveil Fall

In Yosemity Village we stop to visit the shop. We refill our water stock and at the back of the shop you can get a reasonable cup of coffee. After this visit we rapidly go into the park, to Bridalveil Falls. This waterfall really looks like a veil, so very beautiful and it seems to slow down when it falls. We drive the long route through the tunnel and to the left. From the valley where we started, we drove approximately one hour to Glacier Point. 

Glacier Point

From Glacier Point the views are impressive. From here we see the most important points and waterfalls very well. The route took a long time because here too are several beautiful view points on the way so we had to stop again often. Today we spent about 8 hours in the park. At seven we leave the park at the Mariposa Grove Road in the south, still some miles to drive to Oakhurst, our place for the night.

At this exit of the park we would have wanted to buy our park pas, but at this time of day, the exit is no longer manned so that won't succeed today. Here we have booked a night in the Best Western Yosemity Gateway Inn. This is also a typical tourist hotel for a 1 night stay, but here they offer something more. The lobby and foyer of the hotel have a very nice atmosphere. The walls and furniture are decorated with natural material such as wood and stone and it looks really nice. Also our room something more than a space with a bed; The wall has a enormous painting and the furniture that has been used are wooden, warm pieces. No standard hotel equipment.
In the meantime we became a little hungry so we drove to the Sweetwater Steakhouse. It is a pleasant place to sit and eat here and the steaks are very big and juicy. Also in Oakhurst is a Starbucks, so we ordered our WCM-coffee and took it back to our room. After finishing our coffee we were completely exhausted. Just a little talking about the day, a shower and well deserved sleep.

Distance driven: today we have driven 1 mile more than yesterday: 269