Yosemite National Park

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Went and bought some beans and bread in the shop and made a breakfast in the lodge. Drove to Yosemite Valley. First stop was Bridal Veil Falls which was aptly named as the water seemed to evaporate as it went over the top of the cliff. Andy and the Boys wanted to climb up as far as they could. I went half way and stopped to take photos of them and then decided to climb a little higher to get a better view and then i got stuck and couldn’t get down. I got really scared as by then i thought the boys would be down and wondering where I was. I caught someone’s attention and asked if there was a way down but they said no so all i could do was climb higher and see if there was another way down. I eventually found a way down but by this time my legs had turned to jelly and i could hardly walk. The boys had had a great time and Steve said it was one of his highlights of the holiday, scrambling through bushes and jumping over rocks and streams. Drove to the end of the valley and then got the shuttle bus to Vernal falls and walked to the viewing point at the bottom but then decided to climb up. Andy and the boys went via the river so i went by the path and i met them half way up, they looked like little ants from where i was. At one point i watched them jump over a huge gap. By the time i met up with them, Nick had gone in up to his neck and Steve had fallen flat on his back and scraped it. Boys! Who would have them! The next bit to the top at 5,044ft was a series of steps which fortunately had a hand rail on the dodgy bits. Coming down was just as bad and by the time i got back to the car i could hardly walk, the tops of my knees were in agony. Saw loads of Chickarees which are a bit like squirrels but smaller, they make a real loud noise. Didn’t see any bears but met some Americans who were camping in the park and they had seen 5 in 5 days. I would love to camp here. Got an ice cream at the village shop and then drove to Mariposa Grove which was at the other end of the park to see the giant Sequoias. I could hardly bear to walk the trail but forced myself to as the largest trees were the furthest away and we were too late for the tour bus. The largest tree we came to was called Faithful Couple and had been formed from two trees merging together. The four of us with our hands outstretched did not get half way round it. I thought the trees were fantastic, the tree called the grizzly bear is 1800 years old and had a branch seven feet in diameter, but to the boys they were just trees. Ran out of time as the sun was setting and we didn’t fancy trying to make our way back in the dark so didn’t get as far as the Wawona tunnel tree but we did see the California tunnel tree that you could walk through and the clothespin tree which looks like a giant clothes peg, the hole being formed from numerous fires. The grove was not as beautiful as you might imagine as lots of the trees were burnt, i think the New Forest is prettier. Got some of the sap on my hand and the smell was gorgeous- cedar wood i presume. Drove back to our hotel but got caught in the road works and were escorted 7 miles up the road very slowly. Just made it back in time for dinner but had a pizza in the cafe this time. Had the worst night’s sleep as it was so hot and couldn’t put the air conditioning on as it was too noisy. Couldn’t work out why it was so hot as we never used the air conditioning in Las Vegas but slept fine.

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