Blogs from Yosemite National Park, California, United States, North America - page 7

Geo: 37.8772, -119.727Aaaaah, a much better sleep was had by all last night, and at 7.30am we were up and raring to go on another adventure to explore the delights of this utopian landscape. Today, however, we were feeling more than a little sore after yesterday's exertions and so decided to tackle some of the scenic drives within the park. Breakfast was eaten by the side of the road. Not normally a piece of information to write home about, but if you could see the side of the road we ate our breakfast on, then you would understand. On one side, Half Dome towered above us, its black granite peak seeming to glint in the morning sun. On the other three sides, sheer granite walls stretched almost endlessly into the cornflower sky above. Today was going ... read more

Geo: 37.8772, -119.727Today was the day we had both looked forward to with a mixture of apprehension and excitement. We were going to make Stacey's lifelong dream come true and embark on the great American road trip. We picked up the car with only a short wait, and then sat in the car for a good five minutes trying to work out how to make it move. After wrestling with the stick, pulling on the steering wheel and a lot of huffing and puffing, we eventually realised that we needed to press the brake before the car would allow us to push into drive mode. Once we had that licked though, we were off into the Monday morning madness of San Francisco. Armed with a sat nav ap and a vague walking knowledge of the area, ... read more

Left early today so we could find parking at Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. Hiked trail through old forest, saw a sequoia estimated to be 1,800 years old called The Grizzly Giant, the California Tunnel Tree (cut in 1895 to allow horse-drawn stages to pass through), the Faithful Couple (two large trees fused together at their base and sharing the same root system, remain clearly seperated above. The Bachelor and Three Graces is another example of four different trees sharing the same root system. Drove on to Tuolumne Meadows but rain moved in and we turned back to camp. Seeing Yosemite requires a lot of driving and riding. Long day, had to refresh at El Cid Mexican Restaurant in Oakhurst. Highly recommended if you like Mexican food.... read more

Headed out for Yosemite, first stop Mariposa Grove. All parking full, so will try this again earlier tomorrow. Headed for Glacier Point, the most popular area of Yosemite. We were able to see Half-Dome, and looked down on Yosemite Valley. Now for the long slow trek back to the main road. All of the attractions in Yosemite are very spread out, and roads are no fun to drive. After driving through Yosemite Village, no parking close enough for us to shop or find anything to eat, so we headed back out, but not without stopping to view El Capitan. We left the park through Arch Rock Entrance on hwy 140 to drive back to Oakhurst through Merced even though it is further it turned out to be much faster than returning through Wawona and the South ... read more

This morning, we drove from our Oakhurst hotel back to the south gate of Yosemite to see the Mariposa Grove of Sequoia trees. We took the tram tour (rather than hiking a couple miles up and back)--we found out that this will be the last year the tram will run because they want to take out the roads to restore the grove to its natural state. After we left Yosemite, we got some fresh Califonia fruits and nuts from a roadside stand to enjoy as Steve drove us back to our San Francisco airport hotel. Oh, and we found an IN & OUT BURGER drive-through in Merced--one of Laura's favorites, seems to be unique to California. Steve & Dana took the rental car back and got a taxi ride from the airport auto rental place back ... read more