Yosemite National Park ~ Day 12

Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View. 

We had a GREAT time ~ 

drove 1,647 miles..... 

hiked about 66 miles in eight days..........

and saw some amazing things!!

Yosemite National Park ~ Day 11

Thursday, August 25th ~ Happy 100 Year Birthday National Park Service!!

Today we played tourist again and started the day by watching two movies in the Yosemite Theater. Then it was onto El Capitan to see some of the rockclimbers......

But first, we watched this bird take a very long bath in the water fountain! :-)

There are two guys climbing here - look in the middle of the photo for the guy on the bottom and up to the left a bit for the lead guy.  Need a closer view?

Here ya go!

Here's the guy on the bottom.  So it takes, on average, 3 -5 days to climb El Capitan and the climbers need to bring everything - food, water, shelter - with them.

Watching other people climb made us hungry. Here's Brad enjoying ice cream AND a donut.

We took a drive around to see other sites - this is Bridalveil Falls - like I said, really quite dry this time of year. It was flowing so little, that whenever a breeze went by, the water was blown away, rather than down.

The Merced River at the west end of the Valley.

Back in 1997 there was a flood that destroyed much of the housing, structures and campgrounds. Knowing that Brad is 6 ft tall, this sign gives perspective.

Yosemite National Park ~ Day 10

~Wednesday, August 24th ~ 

We took only one hike while in the valley, partly because all of the waterfalls were dry, partly because it was hot, and quite honestly, there aren't that many hikes in the valley. (Most that would interest us are from Glacier Point.) This is a hike past Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall, then loops with the JMT as a return. We woke at 6am to catch the first shuttle of the day (supposedly 7am, but it came at 7:15am) to the trailhead.

We were on the trail about 7:45 am with very few people....ahhhhh! So here's where the hitchhiking story continues........We originally thought of hiking to Glacier Point from here (about an hour's drive from the valley), and thumbing a ride back to the valley. However, after our chatty driver with our first hitchhiking a couple days prior, there was no way we were going to listen to some boring person ramble about for an hour or more, so a one-way hike was nixed. This left the loop as previously described. It was about 5.5 miles and 2,000ft elevation change.

The trail began paved for a bit......

Vernal Fall (not Falls) from far away.

Remember those rock-steps we complained about before - here they are again, although better formed and going up - much easier!

There's the trail down below...........

Vernal Fall. 

The precipice of the falls....

You'd never know this calm water becomes the raging falls..........

Still working out way up to Nevada Fall.........

Nevada Fall........

Top of Nevada Fall

Best view of Nevada Fall was on the return trip via the JMT

A different perspective of Half Dome as well.   Most of the people we met on the hike to the falls were heading to Half Dome to hike up the side with cables. One needs a permit for that.

A few switchbacks on the way down......

People! Yeah - did you notice how few people have been in our pictures all along.  We got within a mile of the trailhead and holy shit! It was about 11:30ish and these people were just starting their hike on a HOT day.

Yosemite National Park ~ Day 9

~Tuesday, August 23rd ~

 Our 1st day in Yosemite Valley!  So we were concerned about two things coming to the valley - the heat and the masses of people.  Well, yeah, it was hot - nothing one can do about that, except eat lots of ice cream. The people, well, they weren't here!  Sure, there were  a few people, but nothing like we expected (Disney World at Xmas time....)  Here's our first sighting of famous Half Dome.

Yosemite Falls Lodge is about  15 minute walk to Yosemite Village....... 

The Merced River meanders though the valley............

This is Housekeeping Camp. For $100/night, you don't have to bring your tent or sleeping bags.........

Inside of a Housekeeping Tent

Each tent gets its own bear box.

Here's Half Dome Village - remember, we were to stay here, but go into the Yosemite Falls Lodge the last minute. We renamed it Shantytown.  Trust us, through the magic of photography, this looks charming. However, it was pretty run down, tents about 2-feet apart (no exaggeration), central bathroom. $126/night, or thereabouts.......

More of the Merced River......

Campground in the Valley - there are quite a few.

Yomsemite Village has a bunch of different places to browse - a Visitor Center (of course), post office, restaurants, museum, graveyard, Indian Village, restaurants, the Ansel Adams Gallery, wilderness center, and shops.

Oh, while we were there, Suzanne completed the paperwork to earn her Junior Ranger Badge (it said that it's for all ages....) She took her oath with a ranger at the Visitor Center and got a badge. Yeah, they gave Brad one for doing nothing.....he was just standing there........

This is Camp 4 ~ a popular place for rock climbers to stay.

Half Dome again

Yosemite National Park ~ Day 8

~Monday, August 22nd ~ 

Back to Tuolumne Meadows via the JMT. We read that this area was "one of the most scenic areas in Yosemite," which is actually why we decided to stay in the southern loop of the HSCs, rather than include all the camps (Glen Aulin and May Lake - both north). This was 7.5 miles, 900 (net) elevation loss. By the way - Suzanne hates this hat, but it kept her cooler and she didn't get a sunburn.

Cool views of Tresidder Peak.

Cathedral Peak.

900 ft (net) elevation loss,  but with 2.5 miles of a gentle ascent and then fairly steep descent.

Echo peaks.

Cathedral peak (again) and the trail.

cool!

Cathedral Lake.

Trail....

First sign.......5.5 miles to go!!

Getting closer!!!!

Civilization!  Story time - so first, we didn't think that this section was "one of the most scenic areas....." in fact, it was our least favorite section. However, that has nothing to do with the story..... So we parked about three miles down the road when we left. To get to our car we could: continue hiking (nah), wait and ride the hiker shuttle (maybe......) or, hitchhike!  Brad has never thumbed a ride before - we stepped out of the woods into civilization, turned to the first car we saw, stuck out our thumbs, and bam - had a ride! First try! (Kids, don't try this at home.) The guy was a climber and had no problem taking us the three miles to our car. This was a good thing, because kid-you-not, the minute we got to our car and got our stuff from the bear boxes (remember those?), it started to POUR!  Not Oregon rain, no. Open-the-faucet-and-let-'er-rip rain. Hail too! So we were glad to get a ride and so quickly!

So after a lunch of burgers, fries and soda, we were off to the Yosemite Valley for a few days ~ Part 3 of our trip! (Part 1 - Tuolumne Meadows; Part 2 - High Sierra Camps)

We stayed at the Yosemite Falls Lodge. Yup - another story ~ We were originally slated to stay at Half Dome Village (which we nicknamed Shantytown - you'll see why later), but the night before we left, Suzanne checked to see if there were any last minute openings at the hotel (which was always our first choice, but there had been no vacancies) - and there were! Sold!

No more bear boxes (they were fun for while, but did become cumbersome), hot water, a real & private bathroom, (relatively) clean surroundings......And we were surprisingly pleased by the accommodations - nicer than we had anticipated.

Outdoor deck overlooking trees. There was no air conditioning, however our room stayed cool - no direct sun. Yah!

After we showered - rock, paper, scissors: Brad got to go first -  it was laundry time again.  Brad (whoops: Labor) washed the socks in the sink since.......

.......they were so dirty.  Yuck!

And washed the rest of the clothes in the bathtub.

Recognize these clothes? :-)

Here's the view around the lodge as we walked to dinner.

So there are a few places to eat near Yosemite Falls Lodge - the "cafeteria" (we had breakfasts there), a "nice" restaurant (which looked fine but was more than we wanted) or here - the Lounge. Perfect! No children! :-)  The menu was simple and good - we actually ate here all four nights we were here. Their vegetarian soups were excellent every day, they had great sandwiches and salads, we enjoyed baked brie - perfect for us!