Sonya's Blog - Day 302 - Yosemite National Park
Sonya’s Blog - Day 302 - April 19th - Yosemite National Park
We are off to the west gate of Yosemite today, it will be an hour and 45 minute drive each way. This is where Yosemite Village, Bridalveil Falls and the granite cliffs of El Capitan and Half Dome. There is also the famous arched entranceway:
After getting our pictures at the arch, we headed straight to Tuolumne Grove, which is where there is a small grove of Giant Sequoias. The drive was about 20 miles up the side of a mountain. There were some pretty breathtaking views, but we are going to get those on our way down. We managed to find a nice parking place in the shade, which was perfect, because Kizmet could not do the hike with us. It was only a 2 mile return hike, so we weren’t going to be gone long. It was getting pretty warm out, so I wanted to hustle. We had to walk downhill to get to the grove along the Big Oak Flat Road. I really wasn’t expecting a paved path, but it used to be a usable road. It was a very pretty hike down and it was breathtaking when we reached our first Giant Sequoia:
This tree was gigantic, it was breathtaking. It was just sitting there, all silent and majestic, like it had been doing for about 2000 years. Amazing. We walked through the whole grove on the designated loop. It was great. Here are our pictures:
Blake and Isaac on one end of a fallen giant:
Once we got our picture in the hollowed out tree, Isaac and I took off to go and get Kizmet. We set a much faster pace than Natasha and Blake. Blake needs to take it easy on his knee, as he re-injured it in the past week or so and it is all wonky again. Puts a bit of a damper on our hikes. Isaac wasn’t very happy with the pace I set, and it was all uphill, but I wanted to get back to let Kizmet out. She is allowed in Yosemite, but only on paved trails and in the parking lots. I am not sure why she was not allowed on this hike, because it was paved all the way to the grove. I am sure they do not want dogs in the grove, upsetting the delicate eco-system, which I can appreciate.
Kizmet was fine when I got back and our truck was still firmly in the shade. There was still snow on the ground, at this elevation, so it was a bit cooler than in the valley. I grabbed Kizmet and the lunch and took them back to the picnic table that Isaac was saving. I had to run back to the truck a couple of times, to get all the water bottle and such, and by the time I was done all my running around Natasha and Blake had joined us. We had a lovely lunch and then hopped back in the truck to drive back down the mountain to Yosemite Valley. As soon as I left the parking lot and got back on the road, I spotted this fox in an adjacent field:
Here are some pics of our drive back down:
You can see Bridalveil Falls way in the distance, on the left hand side:
These are Cascade Falls:
One of the three tunnels we had to drive through:
Once we were down, we stopped at El Capitan, which was on one side of the road, and Bridalveil Falls which was on the other side of the road, so we were able to get pictures of both:
El Capitan:
Our next stop was Yosemite Village. We stopped to get a picture of Yosemite Falls and then walked into the village, as it was not very far away. This area is all paved paths, so Kizmet was allowed to walk with us.
Here is a picture of Yosemite Falls, I was able to get the lower and upper falls in the same picture. It is good that we came in the Spring, because that is when the falls are the most spectacular. In the Fall they are barely a trickle.
Yosemite Falls, upper and lower. The peak to the right is called Arrowhead Peak:
As we walked towards the village, I saw Half Dome in the distance, so I snapped a picture:
We walked around the village for about an hour, checking it out. It is about what we expected. There were a couple of stores, a museum, an Ansel Adams Art Gallery (I guess a lot of his photography is from Yosemite), a Visitor’s Centre and other buildings for the Rangers. There is also a hotel and lodge and a small residential area.
It was about 4 PM when we were done poking around, and we decided it was time to start the drive back to camp. I really didn’t want to drive the roads at night. They are too narrow, with too many twists and turns. To top it off, the driver’s are crazy and love to tailgate. It’s our least favourite part of this area, the crazy drivers. Even if you are doing the speed limit, they are tailgating you like crazy. There are plenty of roadside turnouts, to let people pass, but it is a bit of a hassle.
We made it back to camp in one piece and had a quick supper. The kids and Blake watched the rest of their T2 movie, while I worked on my blog.
Sonya