Advertisement
Published: August 5th 2014
Day 5 Thurs Aug 24th
After an Al Fresco breakfast we drove through the forest and over the 6,000 ft pass and then gradually down past tunnel view into Yosemite proper. It take about an hour to get there. Its unmistakable. Initially we were looking across an extensive valley wondering then we got the glimpse of half dome and we knew then what was ahead. The area is just massive. There are lots of laybys and places to park and just hike a trail. You would need a fortnight to get to grips with it.
Once down on the valley floor, El Capitan loomed above us and we could see the Yosemite Falls towering above with water plumetting down the 2,425ft in three tiers. Its the highest waterfall in North America but by late July its not at its thunderous best. We walked from the car park to the lower falls pool and striped off for a refreshing swim - it was parky but exhilarating. Nothing could have communicated the incredible scene with the water pouring down to us as we gazed across the beautiful blue valley. We weren't alone unfortunately. The area was charged with people like it
was an amusement park.
Back at the Evergreen lodge we availed of the gorgeous swimming pool. We met a lovely family from Loughborough who shared our love of Triathlon and we had a good chat and a few drinks.
We returned to Yosemite the next day and went along to Curry Village from where we hiked up to Mirror Lake. This beautiful area was made famous by its location between the North Dome and the Half Dome mountains. Native American folklore claimed these to be arguing spouses turned to stone by the Gods. The lake was a major attraction especially in its early days. The sandy floor was dredged to treat the frozen roads in winter and this maintained an basin for the water to gather in. Frozen in the winter it provided ice and in the summer it stillness reflected the imposing ancient warring couple above.
After our whole double dome ice creams we returned to the beautiful pool area at Evergreen Lodge for the bbq and chat with the Rounds.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.05s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 6; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0299s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
