The Second Day in Yosemite

We had two choices today.  We could drive 3.5 hours to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, or we could return to Yosemite.  And as badly as we wanted to see the other two parks, we decided to return to Yosemite for a more leisurely day.  We knew tomorrow might be a big day on the road, and a lower-paced day suited us better.

Since the sky was blue, we returned to Yosemite Falls to take better pictures of them, and then we went to the Wawona Valley.  There is a tunnel on that road, and right before the tunnel is an overlook.  We took this picture from there.

Nice, huh?  That is Bridalveil falls on the right, Half Dome toward the back, and El Capitan on the left.

The road to Wawona is as twisty as any we had driven, so the 35 miles took us about an hour.  We had planned to eat at the lodge there . . . older than Ahwahnee but not as grand . . . but the dining room had closed about fifteen minutes before we arrived.  So instead we went into a little store, bought some items and had a picnic lunch next to a beautiful, clear river.

We explored the pioneer village for a few minutes, taking pictures at the lovely covered bridge, and headed back down to Yosemite Valley. Wawona has a golf course, adirondack chairs are set up on the lawn, a tennis court is down the hill.  It is a sleepier part of Yosemite . . . 

We noticed that the rain was coming in, and when we arrived at Tunnel View we had to retake the above picture.  I thought it was beautiful in a different way!

We decided to then go to Tuolumne where we would see a small sequoia grove.  The bigger grove, Mariposa, which is in Wawona, is undergoing restoration, so this one would have to do.  The road to Tuolumne was equally twisting, and the elevation change even higher.  When we arrived, we got out of the car to rain and sleet.  But we decided that once we were there, we should go ahead and make the two-mile walk . . . with the dogs.

The way to the grove is entirely downhill (which meant we had to come back uphill).  The further down the hill we went, the foggier it got.  Don felt the fog made the walk more authentic.  When we saw the first sequoia tree, there was no mistaking it.  Some of the Ponderosa Pines were as tall as the Sequoias, but the girth of the Sequoias was two to three times the girth of the Ponderosas.  We learned that once Sequoia trees get taller than the surrounding trees, they do not grow much taller, in contrast with Redwoods that continue to grow.  We took pictures of one of the trees that had been cut out (many years ago) so people could walk through it.

The mile walk back up was not so bad, but Jordy and Nelson wanted to play.  The tumbled and rolled as we walked up the paved but still dirty path, so that when they got in the car, they looked like this:

What muddy messes!  We were glad we took the walk, however, because although there were only 25 sequoias in this area, they were quite impressive.

Yosemite Falls

As we made our way out of Yosemite Valley, we came upon the Yosemite Falls.  Because it is spring, all of the falls are running full bore.  We did not realize that the Yosemite Falls are one of the ten longest waterfalls in the world.  Seeing them makes us wonder what Angel Falls must really be like!

The Park Service has made a beautiful walking area for those who want to get closer to the Lower Falls.  We took the walk, but what we really wanted was a picture of the Upper and Lower Falls.  Luckily, that was not too hard to get.  Unfortunately, on Tuesday, it had gotten cloudy.  Wednesday morning, however, the sky behind the falls was blue, and we returned to take a better picture.  Glad we did!

This was taken from the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center.  I liked how it showed so much water!

The Ahwahnee Lodge

The Awahnee Lodge in Yosemite is another of the beautiful big lodges, similar to El Tovar in the Grand Canyon, Furnace Creek in Death Valley, or the Yellowstone Lodge.  This spectacular lodge's dining room is as grand as any we have seen.  The ceiling in the dining room was thirty feet high, with huge beams held together by steel lashing shaped like arrowheads.  Indian motifs were painted around the edges othe ceiling, the floors were painted with similar motifs, and the chandeliers were huge.

We were fortunate to sit in the back near a window that allowed the wonderfully fresh air to billow in.  We had views of California dogwoods and other California plants, all while enjoying a nice lunch.

This was not the view, but the pink dogwoods were just down the road.

What I don't understand is why the name has changed to the Majestic Yosemite Lodge  Yes, it is Majestic, but it has been the Awahnee Lodge forever.  For some reason, when the vendor for the park changed to Aramark, the name changed.  One of the waiters said something about intellectual property and money - it didn't make sense to me.  How does one change the name of something so historic?

Anyway, it was a beautiful place to eat and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

El Capitan

Not much farther up the valley, we came to a huge granite cliff.  At first, I didn't think it could be El Capitan because the map made it look as if El Capitan was much farther away.  I was wrong.  What a beautiful, imposing geological marvel it is.  We did not see anyone climbing it (though we did see climbers on another rock near the Ahwahnee Lodge (now renamed the Majestic Yosemite Lodge.  How does one rename a piece of history?  But I digress.), but we did have beautiful blue skies that allowed us beautiful pictures.  At one place, we went down to a beach, and because not as many people frequent the park in April, we were able to get a "peopleless" picture!  Here is the same picture using two different cameras.  Amazingly, the bottom one is the iPad, which gave a better color quality to the picture!

I felt much about El Capitan the way I did about the Grand Canyon.  No picture can do it justice!

Bridalveil Falls

We have seen several Bridalveil Falls - one in Oregon, for example.  The one in Yosemite is much different from the one in Oregon, and I thought the one in Oregon was more accurately named.  But nevermind the small stuff.  This is one awesome waterfall.

It is running full bore because of the spring runoff, and if one gets too close, one gets wet!  We stayed back a little because we didn't want to get our cameras wet.  What we thought interesting about this particular fall is that by summer's end, it is just a trickle.  Hard to believe it could dry up that much.

The above picture is taken from a ways away.

We really liked the way the sun is shining on the falls, and the mist is "ghosting" up around the trees.

Yosemite

The two of us had never been to Yosemite, so we decided we should go while we were in California.  We stayed in a KOA park about 40 miles from the entrance to the park, and after taking a leisurely morning, we drove to Yosemite.

The road is a twisty winding thing, rather narrow but beautiful.  A river, the Merced, runs next to the road, and since it is April, it is running rather swiftly.  Beautiful rapids, lots of rocks, and waterfalls from the side of the road made for a very scenic drive.

We came upon a detour, and at first we couldn't figure out how there could be a detour in a one-road canyon.  Then we saw a large rock slide, called the Ferguson Slide.  It first came down in 2006, and the road was closedfor several months.  They built a temporary road with bridges, but the bridges would not support larger rigs.  Eventually they constructed two temporary bridges that could handle buses and RVs, and, using the old road, made a detour that is a one-lane only road, controlled by stop lights.  It works, but I imagine in the summer and even on weekends, it gets pretty slow!

The drive just to arrive at Yosemite is about an hour.  We spent about seven hours there, which will be documented in several posts.

The Brilliance of the National Park System

I had not thought much about it before this trip of many National Park visits.  I had always just accepted that the National Parks were a good idea.  But the last few visits have convinced me of the brilliance of the idea.

John Muir was quite the visionary.  He recognized that Yosemite was a special place, and his conversations with President Roosevelt must have been convincing.  And thank goodness they were.  I cannot imagine what Yosemite would look like if it had not been protected; or Yellowstone or any of the other parks.  Has the Park Service done everything right?  Of course not.  But because of their oversight, sequoia trees and bristlecone pines still exist; everyone can experience the beauty of Yellowstone, Arches, and the Great Smoky Mountains; and areas of our country have been protected from decimation for all to enjoy.

I am proud of our nation for its National Park System. We need to support it so that future generations can experience the beauty we have experienced over the years.