Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park

Now that we are home, I don't have very much to blog about except getting our house and yard straightened out after being away for five months. Instead of going into those boring details, I've decided to remember some places that we have visited that I haven't yet written about. I'll begin with Yosemite National Park.

We visited Yosemite National Park on our 2010 trip, and what a wonderland it was. We arrived on June 19th. There had been plenty of rain in the spring, so the falls were absolutely amazing. Everywhere you looked there were falls pouring down from the surrounding mountains. That, mixed with the sunlight streaming through the trees, made the scenery almost surreal. It reminded me of the waterfall scenes from Lord of the Rings. Bob and I fell in love with the place, and it quickly became one of our favorite national parks.

We stayed at Yosemite Pines RV Resort, a campground about 22 miles from the Big Oak Flat park entrance. The park has a swimming pool, although we didn't get to use it. We were there for five nights, but didn't spend much time in the campground since we were busy seeing Yosemite. There are many campgrounds in the National Park, but we wanted the convenience of electric. Yosemite Pines RV Resort worked out just fine for us, and we enjoyed our stay there. Here are the highlights of the four days that we had to tour the park.

Day 1: We headed into the valley and did the loop. Bridalveil Falls was our first stop, and we got there early enough that hardly anyone was there. We moved on through the valley to Mirror Lake after stopping at the visitor center. Finally we took the path to the Lower Falls. So much breathtaking scenery in one day!

Bridalveil Falls - Yosemite National Park

Mirror Lake - Yosemite National Park

Upper and Lower Falls - Yosemite National Park

Day 2: We went to Glacier Point. You get spectacular views of Half Dome and waterfalls cascading into the valley everywhere. It was chilly up there – the elevation is 7274 feet. 

Half Dome - Yosemite National Park

View from Glacier Point - Yosemite National Park

View From Glacier Point - Yosemite National Park

Day 3: We toured the Hetch Hetchy Valley.  On our way we saw the cutest black bear cub (it was actually a blond) eating flowers on the roadside. We didn't see the mother, but I'm sure she was nearby!

Baby Brown Bear cub - Yosemite National Park

Damming up the Hetch Hetchy valley was a source of great controversy from 1901-1913 and was fought against violently by John Muir.  Today it contains 25% of San Francisco's water supply which is delivered through an aqueduct.

O'Shaughnessy Dam

Hetch Hetchy Reservoir

Hetch  Hetchy Reservoir

Day 4: We visited the Mariposa Grove to see the Giant Sequoias. The 1800 year old Giant Grizzly is located there - the oldest living sequoia in the park.

Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park

Grizzly Giant - Yosemite National Park

 On the way back we stopped at Tunnel View, one of the most scenic places in the park.

Tunnel View - Yosemite National Park

Here's a short video of our Yosemite Tour – only three minutes long, but covers the highlights of the park.  Enjoy!