I feel like kind of an idiot, now that I’ve visited several National Parks. I can’t believe that not only had I not visited them, but I actually had no concept of what they each were about. I know Yellowstone and Yosemite are mentioned all the time in news etc. I never knew that Yellowstone was essentially a huge Volcano, and I didn’t know that Yosemite was a glacier carved valley filled with grand granite peaks, numerous huge waterfalls, and beautiful trees.
Several people we’d talked to about the fact that we were headed to Yosemite made comments about missing the waterfalls (they dry up in the fall). I have to say, fall is a great time to visit. Very light crowds, and perfect hiking weather! I’d estimate that May might be the perfect month to visit, before school lets out, it gets hot, and peak rain/snow melt filling the massive falls.
That said, we’re simply trying to follow good weather south at this point, and see as much as we can. Even without the falls, this place is wonderful. We stayed 3 nights, giving us 2 full days to explore.
We rolled in from San Fran, and somehow we whiffed on planning our schedule for the day. We ended up driving the last hour in the dark, which was a HUGE mistake! A dog’s hind leg does not begin to describe the road we drove into the park, the last 40 miles of CA 140 leading to the park boundary were some of the steepest, curviest roads we’ve driven. In addition, there are a few areas where there is construction going on, temporary 1 lane bridges etc. It was a rough way to end a long day of driving in traffic. Once we were in the park, we were greeted immediately by a stone tunnel that looked about 10 feet tall and 8 feet wide (we are 12’10” tall). I can’t reverse the RV with the Jeep in tow, and there was no place to turn around, and the Ranger who checked us in didn’t mention it, so I went for it. Thankfully, we made it. That was followed by more narrow, curvy roads. The best part about these park roads were, they had NO SHOULDER, and there was a STONE WALL next to the road. I basically had to ride with my left tire on the center line, and pucker up when oncoming traffic met us. Thankfully, we didn’t pass any RVs on the way in, as no others were stupid enough to try it!
Enough complaining. The campground Kim reserved was called “Upper Pines”, and it was AMAZING! The loop was a bit tight for the big rig, as these parks are not optimized for Class A RVs, but once we were in, it was incredible. We had a huge site, with massive trees, and glacier strewn boulders laying around. The guys next to us in the VW Westfalia were none too happy to see us back in. Kim heard them on the back up camera saying something like “Our plan backfired!”. Oh well.
The next morning, we broke out the bikes and rode up the the visitor center. Upper Pines is smack dab in the Yosemite Valley. There are tons of other areas in the park, but the Valley is the “canonical” must see area including the famous “Half Dome” and “el Capitan” structures. The visitor center was a couple of miles from our site, and most of the ride was on a dedicated bike path completely separate from the road (you could not even see the road from the path). We were the only ones on the path.
At the center, we got the lay of the land… watched the intro video, got our Jr Ranger books (we need a separate post on these, they’re great!), checked out potential hikes and ranger led programs etc. I’m always a sucker for the 3d scale models of the parks, and this center did not disappoint.
After riding back for lunch at the RV, the Kim drove the kids back for a Ranger led program on Yosemite Geology. They learned all about how the area came to be, and the history of how it became a National Park etc. They came back raving about the ranger Sheldon. I guess he was great.
After that, we went for a walk in the campground as it got dark, and the kids (of course) climbed the boulders that are laying around the place. Thankfully, we quit before anyone got hurt!
Day two Kim did me a solid. There was a hike that looked amazing, 4.6 miles of trail that run between the Valley floor and “Glacier Point” (this is the top of the granite wall that is directly behind our campsite). Kim had asked Sheldon about doing that hike with the kids, and he had really discouraged her from trying to do the 9 miles round trip (valley -> Glacier Point -> valley). Another option was a bus ride up to GP, and hiking 4.6 miles back. The problem with the bus is it’s private, and would have been > 100 bucks. So, Kim decided to we’d all drive the Jeep to GP, and she would drive it back with Kat, while Kane and I did the 4.6 miles down to the Valley. It was AMAZING! Sorry about the volume of pics, but these represent probably 25 percent of what I took.
I can’t recommend this hike enough, there are so many great vistas on the way down… Half dome, Yosemite Falls, El Capitan, nearly the entire Valley can be taken in. The 9 mile round-trip would be quite a trip for 1 day and small kids.. it’s quite an elevation gain… 3200 feet.
That afternoon, Kim and Kat hiked the Vernal Falls, which sounded pretty cool to. It was nice to “divide and conquer” for most of a day, and it was indescribably cool to bond with Kane and do that hike down from Glacier Point.
Yosemite is going on my “must return and spend a week” list. What a beauty!
I’ve broken the pics into two galleries… mostly day 1 (all but Glacier Point hike), and the Glacier Point hike.
Pics mostly from day 1:
Glacier Point Hike Pics:
Your photos are great, but the only way to really appreciate the grandeur is to experience it personally. One thing our government has done RIGHT is to preserve our wonderful National Parks!