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The morning dawned clear & bright, Glacier Point road was still closed when we drove past se we decided to walk there instead. We drove into Yosemite Valley & parked up at Four-Mile Trailhead. This was down as one of the more strenuous day hikes in the Yosemite, but the other one we were looking at, up Yosemite falls, was described as a "Stairmaster workout" so we opted for this one instead!
It turned out to be less bad than we feared, most of the trail isn't too steep, despite going up a very steep mountain side, as it zip-zags so much. Plus we stopped loads to admire the stunning views that greeted us with every turn. We took so many photos of the vally, of Yosemite Falls, and of Half Dome all fromslightly different angles as we climbed! We even got a rainbow over (Lower) Yosemite Falls! It was a great walk & I thoroughly recommend it to anyone who can cope with 4.6miles of constant climbing. On the way up we heard a bird booming on the mountain side but couldn't see where it was. Searching the web for "booming bird in Yosemite" gives the Sooty Grouse, but my
computer apparently can't play sound that low so I can't check it!
Update: Culprit found! It was a Great Grey Owl!!!! Rather annoyingly to us (& others who had done the same hike) Glacier Point Road had opened sometime during the morning so it was rather busier at the top than we were hoping. but it wasn't too bad & we got to see some more amazing views looking up the valley towards Vernal & Nevada Falls. Over lunch I chatted with a couple who were thinking of hiking that way & let them know that the John Muir loop they were planning was closed. Ended up telling a few people this - apparently we were the only ones to read up in advance & check what routes were open!
We decided not to do any further uphill & save Sentinel Dome for the morning! After getting rather dizzy with all the zigzags heading down we popped to the store to get some ice-creams (which were delicious!) even though the cloud was starting to build again. After that we decided to drive back & detour along Glacier Point Road to see the other points along there, just in case it got closed
again by the morning! We started off heading out to Washburn Point which had only slightly different views to Glacier Point. We didn't see anywhere to stop to admire the Pothole Meadows and decided to skip McGurk Meadow as the wildflowers weren't out yet.
After stopping off to shower and change at Big Trees Lodge we headed out to Oakhurst for supper (as it would have taken as longer to go back into Yosemite Valley & I didn't have anything smart enough to wear to the posh restaurant in the Lodge!). We returned to the South Gate Brewing Company where I had pizza & Chavaunne had ribs. When we got back we had fun trying to find a parking spot we had to stop the furthest from our building we had yet! Luckily as we walked back through the car park someone was pulling out so I stood in the space whilst chavaunne moved the car! It would be a ong enough walk with the cases in the morning anyway!
We then opted for an evening stroll around Wawona Meadow in the hope of seeing some wildlife, in hindsight this may not have been the smartest plan given that said
wildlife could include bears or mountain lions... As it was we got a coyote crossing the golf course opposite the hotel - which did look rather cool & ghostly against the dark grass!
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