Up at 5.30am, out the door by 6.50am having showered, breakfasted, made a packed lunch and packed up everything into the car. Hit the road and headed south west. Drove for an hour until we reached the entrance to Yosemite National Park at 7.50am. Paid on the gate and drove in. The reason we went so early is because the queues to get in the park can take hours and then the roads around certain parts can become gridlocked. The advice is to arrive before 8am. Drove another forty five minutes to Yosemite Valley.
The valley is the really busy part with all the accommodation and main parking areas. We needed to do this first as A: We'd get a parking space and B: The Tioga Road (A long scenic drive through the high part) was the way we were going to exit the park later. By the time we got to Yosemite Village there were already a lot of parked cars but we did still manage to park easily. Walked up to the visitor centre and bought a magnet. Get it done early doors. The girl who served us told us that each of the 'Speed kills bears' signs we had seen on the way in is place where a bear has been killed by a car. We must have passed at least five on the way in, most around the car park area!
Then we went to the cafe to get a drink as we had now been up for four hours. I had a hot chocolate which was very weak, just warm milk really and a cookie which was really nice. Ann had something. Next we went to the museum. It was about the heritage of the native people who lived there before the final village was razed to the ground in the 50s/60s. There were some amazingly made baskets which were really intricate.
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| Amazing basket |
From there we went out to walk around the recreation of a native settlement.
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| Cedar Bark Tent |
Next we walked down to the meadow which is the centre part of the valley. From there you get a great view of some of the main features of the area
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| Half Dome |
Went down to the river. Stuck a foot in. It was cold.
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| Bridge over numbing water |
Saw some people go past on paddleboards. One bloke was fully dressed. I retorted to Ann he must be good at it as you wouldn't want to get all your stuff wet. Hilariously about 30 seconds after he passed us he fell in. Then a bloke suddenly appeared next to us and flung himself completely in the water. He seemed to forget he was wearing sunglasses.
It was starting to get quite warm now so we decided that we would head back towards the car via a shop to pick up some bits to go with our lunch. The shop was very busy. Spent a good while wandering around it looking at all the tat before eventually buying some things. Headed back to the car. The village/valley is a dead end, so you have to return back out the same way you have come in, except on a one way system, so we started to do so. We stopped to take a photo of El Capitan, probably the most famous feature of the park.
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| The Captain |
Carried on for a bit and then pulled over into a stopping area next to the river to have lunch. Saw a flatbed lorry go past with a loads of tourists sat on the back and a guide sat up front giving a tour. Looked like it must be very hot on the back of truck with no shade.
As it was hot we sat in the car with the aircon on to eat. We watched various cars pull up and stop, get out take photos and then drive off again. I was just finishing my lunch when a car pulled up. An old lady got out and walked back towards us. I thought she was going to take a photo of the waterfall across the other side of the river. Instead she came and knocked on the window and asked me to take a photo of her in front of the river. I agreed to help. I got out the car and she gave me her phone. She then started to edge down the slope a little towards the water. She didn't look great on her feet and I thought she was going to stack it down the bank. Eventually she stopped and I took a couple of photos. She then struggled to climb the whole half a meter back up to the parking area so I then had to yank her up the hill. I asked her if she wanted a photo of her with the river and the waterfall in the background. I don't think she realised you could see the waterfall if she moved about three feet along. So we took another couple of shots and then she thanked me, told me she loved my accent and then wandered back towards her car. I got back into our car to much merriment from Ann, who to my surprise hadn't filmed the entire thing. Then the lady got in the passenger door of her car and the car drove off! We hadn't really taken that much notice when she had arrived so I presumed she was on her own hence why she needed someone to take a photo. Turns out whoever was with her was just a lazy bastard.
Having finished lunch we then moved a few yards down the road to a place called Valley Viewpoint. There were parking spaces but the flatbed lorry had parked across most of them. We had to sit and wait for what seemed like decades for the driver to check everybody was back on the lorry so he could move out the way so we could park.
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| Get out the bloody way! |
Once he was out the way, we could park and enjoy the spectacular view back up the valley.
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| El Capitan, Half Dome(in the distance), and a waterfall |
Whilst I was taking pictures a man came up to me and said 'It's spectacular isn't it?' I agreed. He then told me he had been to the same spot in June and the river had been a raging torrent. Once I managed to get away back to Ann, she was again filled with merriment and asked me why I was attracting so many people today. I left and went and put my feet in the river. Ann eventually followed and did the same. It was still cold.
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| Splosh |
Having seen all there was to see down on the valley floor we then started the climb back out. Eventually we turned on to the Tioga Road. The road climbs up to 9945ft as it crosses the entire park. It also has some nice drops off the side with little to stop you falling. I could sense Ann tightening her grip on the car as we drove, not that that would help if we plummeted off. From November to May the road is closed due to being impassable with snow.
As we drove across we stopped at a couple of points to take in the views. We couldn't remember the name of one place so referred to it as Ormskirk Point. When we got there it turns out it was called Olmsted Point. Took a photo. Climbed up a rock.
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| Half Dome in the distance |
Drove on to the east entrance to the park and then down 3000ft to Lee Vining, who I think played bass guitar for Simply Red. Headed a short distance north to our accommodation for the night Virginia Creek Settlement.
Not much around so went and ate in the restaurant of the place. It turned out to be the most expensive meal of our trip so far, but not because we ate so much, just because it was really expensive. The highlight was the waitress asking if we wanted dessert whilst Ann was still in the middle of a mouthful of food. Breakfast is not included in our stay. Looked at the menu for it and decided we couldn't afford to remortgage the house so nipped to a garage in the next town and bought breakfast from there.
Now starting to feel the effects of getting up so early. Luckily in the morning we can eat breakfast in bed. Have decided that Yosemite is like a very large version of Dartmoor. Exposed granite, high ground, rivers flowing and too much to explore it all in a day. To even scrape the surface of it you would have to stay a week and trek away from the roads. We feel like we have seen Princetown and Haytor.
States visited - 4
Granite watch - high
