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Published: March 28th 2006
Mt Watkins and reflection
Mirror Lake in Yosemite National Park shows off its exemplary mirror like qualities.With tears gleaming in our eyes we packed our bags (why wouldn't everything fit! I swear our bags have shrunk!) and farewelled the Green Tortoise in San Francisco and its lovely bagels. We very strongly recommend it as a great place to meet people and doss down in San Francisco....always something going on and 3 free dinners a week can't be bad. However, our time had come, the road was calling, and we hopped on a bus for Emeryville. And a train to Merced. And a bus to Midpines. And you don't want to know about the hill we had to walk up in the pitch black after the second bus broke down. Well, ok so technically the bus was promptly replaced but there was a very big hill after that.
Fortunately, a hearty dinner awaited us as we dragged ourselves the last few steps up the hill, bedraggled and exhausted and with oh so heavy packs (they've shrunk but suddenly they weigh twice as much? Can any physicists among you explain this strange phenomenon?). The Yosemite Bug was a cute hostel mainly to be recommended for its comfy lodge with roaring fire and full dinner menu, rather than its
Juliet en route to Merced
The Amtrak trains were great, even the food was surprisingly ok lumpy mattresses and erratic dorm thermostat).
After about half an hour's sleep we awoke to a beautiful day, sprinted to the cafe and crammed down some breakfast (those blueberry pancakes deserved so much more love and attention) before racing down the hill to catch our YARTS bus to Yosemite National Park. Having been warned of deep snow, we were attired glamorously, with Jenny in plastic bag socks (they worked!) and numerous layers of wool and thermal underwear against the cold.
The weather, lucky for us, had other ideas....the sun was pouring into the valley and the snow and lakes were sparkling. We were totally blown away by the majesty and the sheer scale of the park...if you are in America you have no excuse not to go here, it was an amazing experience (defintiely worth the sore legs for 3 days afterwards!)
The rocks were so ridiculously, hugely, overly rock-like that Juliet was laughing out loud all day at the sheer size of them, and in combination with the blue skies, the white snow and the trees all reflected in the lakes and rivers, with waterfalls and avalanches cascading thundering from above, the whole place made sure
Jenny en route to Merced
The scenery between San Francisco and Merced ranged from rusted cars and dumped rubbish, industrial refineries and factories, and rolling plains and orchards with the Sierra Nevada towering on the horizon we had a day never to be forgotten.
We came into the Park past El Capitan, continued on through the little villages, and stopped at the Visitor's Centre for the exhibits and the 'Spirit of Yosemite' Video. Which was, shall we say - a relaxing experience. So much so that Jenny had trouble keeping her eyes open. We then hopped on the free shuttle and headed off to the trail for Mirror Lake, which we spent the next three hours walking around, past and sometimes through in pursuit of views, photographs, fun and rocks, with a friendly pair of crows in pursuit of us (and our leftover lunch.) Half Dome's looming face towered above us and features preodominantly in many of our photos.
We meandered back through the park in the general direction of the lodge, allowing almost anything to distract us - a rock! A waterfall! A new view of Half Dome! Jenny and Juliet in front of a tree! A pile of snow, ripe for jumping in! (Jenny's shoes didn't get that damp really. And the plastic bags were there to be useful, after all!)
Our wanderings then took us to the bottom of the
Mirror Lake, Yosemite
Nestled between Mount Watkins and Ahwiyah Peak (corrected spelling to come) Yosemite Falls, by which time the ridiculously huge rocks had seen to it that the sun was no longer on us, and it suddenly became a bit more temperate... we enjoyed the snow and the thundering spray of the falls for some time, then headed back to the village to see the Ansel Adams photographs and purchase some postcards.
On the bus back to the hostel we delightedly put our tired legs up and relished the gorgeous sunset along the river valley. The bus driver kept up a running commentrary and we were twisting in our seats to see the Bridalveil Falls, El Capitan and a group of deer by the side of the road. We were such happy little campers on our return that even the hill failed to bother us (this time we knew all about the soup at the top! Well, either that or our legs were actually numb!)
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Katherine
non-member comment
Praise to the Blog!
Hey you guys :o) It looks like you are having an amazing trip. I love the way your blog is written and I bet you're going to have fun reading and remembering the million cool things you did in the states. Looking forward to seeing your Yosemite and LA pics! Big hugs, K