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We left Reno and headed for Lake Tahoe, knowing we only had about a 2 hours drive, we had plenty of time to explore the area (or so we thought......). It did not take us long to leave Nevada and before we knew it we were back in California. Soon we were winding our way up the Sierra Nevada Mountains, it was beautiful and that was before we even got to Lake Tahoe. Lake Tahoe is the second deepest lake in America and it really was something to see - azure blue surrounded by snow-capped Sierra Nevada Mountains. We have seen many beautiful things in our travels and this was one more to add to our ever growing list. It almost felt like we were in the Alps, it had that sort of atmosphere. I was secretly hoping (yet again) that maybe we would be able to do some cross-country skiing; there seemed plenty of snow about. We took our time driving around the lake and stopped off at Emerald Bay for a closer view of a waterfall flowing into the lake. It was yet another sunny day, which just added to the beauty.
But first things first - we
had to find a campground. We were unable to reserve a campsite in Lake Tahoe, so were hoping to find one that was available. We spent a good while driving around looking for campgrounds, but all appeared closed, which was very frustrating. It was beginning to look like we would have to change our travel plans (much to our dismay!), as we had planned to spend 2 nights in Lake Tahoe before heading for Yosemite National Park. We decided that we did not want to spend another night in a budget motel, which left us with one option - pushing on to Yosemite. It was disappointing as Lake Tahoe looked a fun, relaxing place to explore.
We had a further 4 hours drive to Yosemite, so decided to have our lunch at the shore of Lake Tahoe, and at least make the most of our short time there.
The drive out of Lake Tahoe was quite scenic, with the mountains and frozen lakes, yet another beautiful part of America. A small consolation was that there did not appear to be much snow on the ground around Lake Tahoe, so we probably would not have been able to do
any skiing!
We arrived at Yosemite National Park around 6pm, but still had at least another hours drive to our campground in Wawona (close to the south entrance). We did not mind about the drive though, as it was wonderful winding our way through the forest looking out for waterfalls (which were all around). We had reserved a campsite for 4 nights, but only starting in 2 days time, so we were hoping that there would be sites available for the night. If not then we were quite stuck, as we were quite exhausted from 2 days of long driving, and there was not much else nearby.
Fortunately we were in luck and found a site in the Wawona campground. After setting up our tent, we enjoyed our supper around the fire. It was a tranquil setting being in the forest with a river rushing close by and we were looking forward to our time in the park.
In the morning, we managed to sort out our campsite for the next few nights. We decided to spend 5 nights in Yosemite, leaving us 1 free day to play with before we fly out of Los Angeles. After
moving our tent to our original (reserved site) we decided to spend the rest of the day at Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. In a previous trip to Yosemite (March 2006), we were unable to explore much in Yosemite due to all the snow and thus unable to see the giant sequoias. So it was first on the list of things to see this time around. After finding parking (Yosemite is also A LOT busier this time of year), we began the 2 mile hike to the grove, still not too sure what to expect. We were not disappointed - giant sequoias are not as tall as redwoods, but they make up for it in their volume - their bark can get up to 2 metres thick!!! We soon realised though, that in order to see the real giants we had to do a bit of walking. We walked to the Bachelor and Three Graces; Grizzly Giant (some of it’s branches have a 2 metre diameter); California Tunnel Tree; Telescope Tree and finally the Fallen tunnel Tree. Little did we know that the last tree took us to the outskirts of the forest into fairly deep snow. I have to
admit that we were not to sure if we even saw the Fallen Tunnel Tree, I mean we did see a fallen tree, but there were no markers giving it’s name. We were quite tired by the end of all our tree-spotting and ended up walking around 14km. We were a bit unprepared for such a lengthy walk and fortunately there was an abundance of fresh flowing rivers to quench our thirst. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing by our tent. Our tent was situated just up from the river, which was a good spot as there are NO showers at Wawona campground. The closest are in Yosemite Village (a mere 20 miles away!!) So yes, every afternoon Billy and i have been changing into our costumes and taking a dip in the (close to freezing) river. It must have looked a sight us trying to look like we are casually swimming in the icy river and then jumping around trying to warm ourselves (we were numb it was so cold). Billy actually managed to submerge himself whereas i could just splash water onto myself. But we can laugh about it now.
Every campsite has a bear-proof
box where you are meant to store your food (instead of in the car). We saw a picture of the damage a bear had done to a car and were horrified. But we had a plan - we had Billy’s shoes which have gotten wet so many times that they are no longer capable of getting dry and therefore have developed an unexpected aroma ( I will have to find him a new pair soon)! That would definitely keep the bears away, and has worked superbly so far.
Our second day in Yosemite we drove into Yosemite Village, stopping at Tunnel View to get a panoramic view of Half Dome, El Capitan and Bridalveil Falls. It was another glorious day and we were going to make the most of it. We went into the Visitor Centre to ask about walks for the next couple of days, deciding on a short-ish walk today and a more strenuous walk the day after. We chose to walk to Mirror Lake and to hike to the Upper Yosemite Falls the following day. Yosemite Falls is the highest falls in North America however, it is a tiered falls comprising of an upper and lower
falls. It was quite something to see and looked like we had hard work ahead of us. The other strenuous walk we could have done was to hike the Half Dome, but they recommend doing it over 2 days as it is about 23 km and their is quite a bit of climbing, which is not really my thing. We caught the shuttle to the start of Mirror Lake walk and took our time walking along the river to the lake. We were not there at the best time of day to get the ideal reflection of Half Dome, but still managed to see it. It is hard to describe the beauty of Yosemite - lovely green meadows with winding rivers surrounded by granite mountains and waterfalls and many pine trees. After our walk we had lunch at a picnic site which had a superb view of El Capitan (a sheer giant granite cliff which is very popular with rock climbers) We had fun gazing up searching for climbers, we managed to spot a few and were amazed at their courage - definitely not my thing. And then it was back to our campsite for our daily dip in the
Telescope Tree
Looking up through the middle of the treeriver, before making our dinner over the fire. We were getting quite used to cooking our dinner over the fire and are thinking about building one in our garden.
The following morning was an early start - the day of our hike to Yosemite Falls. It was still quite chilly at 6 in the morning, but that did not put us off. Despite our early start, we only got going our after 9am (roadworks and heavy traffic). The hike is about 11km long but we ascend around 870m (2700ft), so it was quite a gruelling climb (from the start). The trail is made up of mainly switchbacks winding our way up the mountain. At about halfway the trail levels out (momentarily) just long enough for us to admire the amazing view of the falls, we were so close to the base of the upper falls that we could feel the spray of the water. The sound of the falls as it came over the top was incredible, like thunder. We had a short rest, before continuing our ascent. The second half of the climb felt a lot longer and steeper and we were very grateful to finally see the
top. It took us about 2 hours to climb, so we were quite pleased with that - our legs were not. But once we saw the view from the top, our tiredness disappeared, it was engrossing. We managed to walk all the way to the edge of the falls (a little bit hair-raising) and watch the water disappear. We spent our time sitting in the sun and admiring our view of the surrounding snow-capped mountains, feeling very pleased with ourselves. We were not looking forward to our descent but decided best to get it over with. The descent was not as bad, and we had a better view of the mountains as we climbed down. We had Half Dome and El Capitan in our sights most of the way down. It took us just over 5 hours (including breaks) to hike the Upper Falls and we were feeling quite exhausted at the end. After another soak in the river we sunned ourselves by our tent, this really is the life.
Today, being a Saturday, we decided to head out of the park in search of an internet cafe. We had seen how busy the park was getting the closer
it got to the weekend, and as we left the park entrance we met the queue of cars waiting to enter. I can see why Yosemite draws such a crowd; it is captivating and, if I had my way, could easily spend a week in the park exploring. There is so much to see and do - a real mix for everyone. We are planning to take a walk around Bridalveil Falls later and then watch the sunset on Half Dome. So I will probably post another blog on those pictures when we next get internet access.
We are glad that we revisited Yosemite National Park, and maybe we will be back for a third visit someday. It is a unique experience camping in the park (even if it is on a gradient and we end up at the bottom of our tent every morning!) We have fond memories of this park and have created many more that we can look back on and chuckle at. Tomorrow we have to leave the park and we head towards Giant Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park (to do a bit more tree-spotting). We are hoping to see General Sherman.
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Carryn
non-member comment
This park looks absolutely beautiful! Such stunning scenery. It sounds beautiful sitting at the top of the falls there.