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Published: September 10th 2008
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We were really looking forward to Yosemite as it is one of the iconic national parks of the United States, and probably the most popular in the whole country, about 4 million people visit this park a year. The accommodation in the park gets booked up really early, and it is really expensive, so we decided to stay outside the park which meant about an hours drive each day... but it was certainly worth it! Unlike the other parks we had been to it was covered with pine trees and really green, which was such a contrast to the deserts we had become used to.
The park itself is massive, and the 3 days we were there really didn't do it justice. The main area is the Yosemite Valley, a deep valley hemmed in by the massive granite cliffs such as El Capitan and Half Dome, with lush pine forests and the gorgeous meadows that Yosemite is famous for, covering the valley floor.
There were some great walks around the valley, and as the weather was absolutely gorgeous we tried to make the most of it. The only thing with walking around Yosemite is the wildlife... there are a
lot of bears in the national park, so everyone is warned what to do if you see a bear. Simon kept reassuring me that we were very unlikely to see anything, although Simon was always on the lookout so we could get a great photo... while I was looking out for them so we didn't get attacked!
The harder walks take you up the valley, so we started off with some great relaxing walks along the valley floor, across the famous meadows and through the pine forests next to the river. Along the river were stretches of beaches to sit and relax, a lot of people went swimming in the river... it was a bit cold for us but just dipping our toes in was nice enough! We walked out to Mirror Lake, which was supposed to have a great reflection of the mountains, but as it is late summer a lot of the lake had evaporated so it wasn't quite as good as it was supposed to be, but still beautiful scenery along the way.
As it was summer a lot of the waterfalls, including the famous Yosemite Falls, were dry which happens every year. We were
told that the Bridal falls were still flowing but once we got there, all we could see was a tiny amount of water falling over the edge, and then most of it was blown away by the wind! We finally managed to find a waterfall that was in full flow, the Vernal Falls, but we had to work to see it. The first part of the trail went to the bridge where we could see the falls in the distance and where a lot of people stop, but we continued up to the top of the falls climbing 500 granite steps... it was Dead Womans Pass on the Inca Trail all over again!!! We made it to the top after about an hours climb up and we were greeted by great views looking down over the falls and fantastic views over the park. We found a lake near the top and found a great spot to rest in the shade before making the descent down. We had started the walk quite early to avoid the heat of the day, but as we headed back we passed what seemed like everyone in the park, struggling up the steep hills to see
one of the only falls in the park still with water!
One evening, after walking for most of the day in pretty quiet areas through the woodlands, we were walking back to the car in the late afternoon and only minutes from the campground, a woman approached us asking if we saw the bear. She said it had run across the path we were walking on only minutes before, into a field. We stood and watched to see if we could see it and spotted the Black Bear in the distance standing under a tree. We watched the bear just us two, the woman and another man that had stopped, but it didn't take long for a crowd of people to gather to see what we were looking at and soon a park ranger arrived. The bear was known by the rangers, it was a female Black Bear that had a cub and known to be pretty aggressive. We watched for probably over an hour as the bear climbed up a tree to pick apples. We felt quite safe as there were hundreds of people all watching the bear, and following some people's advice.... always make sure you are
not the slowest runner in the group of people you are with, we felt confident that we were OK!!!!
After a while we could see the bear start to climb down the tree, and being only about 50ft from the bear was a bit worrying.... whilst in the tree it seemed OK but now she was on the ground! However, she had a look around and didn't seem fazed by anyone as she just sat down with her back to us and picked up all the apples she had dropped. We eventually left her eating the apples for her dinner and headed back to the motel for our dinner. We felt extremely lucky to have seen a bear, chatting to others who visit the park every year, no one had seen a bear before!
Even though the drive was a long one out of the park, we did pass a couple of other areas on the way out which were worth a visit. We had spent most of our time down in the valley, so we thought we'd head up to Glacier Point, which was well worth the drive for its great views across Yosemite Valley from the
cliff top. We also stopped at the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, in the south of the park and home to some of the worlds largest trees. The giant sequoia trees are so big it was virtually impossible to capture it. It made us feel so small walking in amongst the giant trees, especially against ones named like the Grizzly Giant, and one that we could walk right through a tunnel in the trunk, probably big enough to fit a small car!
We really enjoyed our time at Yosemite, even though we didn't see the famous Yosemite Falls flowing, but it was more than made up for by seeing a Black Bear climbing up a tree! It was certainly one of the parks we looked forward to seeing the most, and it certainly didn't disappoint. Next, we head north again, back towards the coast of California.
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