Blogs from Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California, United States, North America

The Sierra Nevada is a mountain range designed for the superlative. It wins the gold medal for the largest living things in the world (Giant Sequoias), the oldest living things in the world (Bristlecone Pines), the highest mountain in the USA, some of the tallest waterfalls, and of course, the most famous National Park, Yosemite. But its discovery is linked to gold of a very different sort, in the form of the mining rush that swept the area in the mid-19thcentury, creating boom towns and then abandoning them with relentless indifference, pursuing only the wealth that the right claim could uncover. The foothills of the Sierras are full of these gold rush towns, preserved with their wooden boardwalks, false-fronted main streets and leafy avenues. Some are living, like the beautiful little town of Murphys, with its ... read more

The towering grandeur of these majestic Giants provides a living relic from a prehistoric age. Their immense girth soars up into the sky as a striking symbol of longevity and strength. Some of these trees were alive when Jesus walked the water, once dominating an area of some two-million acres of the Californian coast, and before the last Ice Age pruned them back they covered almost the entire northern hemisphere of Planet Earth. Today they survive in parks created by the very species that brought them to the brink of extinction. Knee-jerk: We should save the Giants and restore these forests to their original state, right? Crescent City is the first town we came to heading south into Northern California. I’ve long known of this place because a certain anarcho-primitivist, Derrick Jensen, lives there. I had ... read more

On this world, there is a place that can resemble a fantasy world. Yosemite national park is a place of large granite mountains all around with humongous Sequotia Tree. At the first time, I was awed by the size of its granite. I felt like I was in a new planet. Yosemite was my first stop for the West trip. I could not understand the long drive for this place. It took us three days to get to this place. Once I arrived, I realized it was worth it. Plus, seeing the changing scenery of the real West was amazing. Even though I did not had a famous to stop by, driving to see the changing scenery from the Eastern US to Western US was something worthwhile to see in your lifetime. Crossing from St. Louis ... read more

Over the last few years I've been to many great historical places and had plenty of exhausting ski trips, so I thought this year that a more relaxing holiday was in order. So where better to go than a land of limited history (we have pubs older than your country Americans!) but full of fun opportunities and sunshine, why the Good Ol' US of A. Being a huge fan of America and it being a huge country, it was hard to choose where to go. Which coast is best? East coast or west coast? Ah well, it was decided that a visit to both would save arguments and a plan was formulated to fly to San Francisco, make our way down the west coast, pop in to see brother dearest, drive to Vegas and if we ... read more

Well, that was the best sleep we've had for a while, we have a lovely home cooked breakfast and this this motel is great value for the money, for 1 nights stay with dinner and breakfast $160.00, you can't do better than that! We head out now to Yosemite National Park and stop off at Bodie to see the famous Bodie Ghost Town it's another dusty ride ahead as we head down the dusty winding road, it reminds me a little of Ballarat Gold fields and to imagine that this was once a town, with a school, bank, library, saloon and now nothing, just empty shacks of where people inhabited. When you look into the school rooms you can see where books still lay and a world globe is faded with age, but you can still ... read more