Yosemite Falls and Mariposa Grove

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We started the day by tackling the Upper Yosemite Falls trail. This is classed as “strenuous” and I can verify that it is indeed strenuous. The complete route takes you from the valley floor up to the top of the lower falls, then continues right up to the top of the upper falls. We didn’t plan on doing the entire route as it can take 6 hours but we made it beyond the lower falls. It was a lot of climbing up at the start! That’s definitely my exercise for the week! It was also very hot which made it tough but thankfully it eased up a bit and also clouded over so it was much cooler later on. The views were fairly breathtaking and the way down was much quicker. We got down just in time as the heavens opened and it tipped it down!
We drove to Mariposa Grove in the afternoon which took about an hour and gave us a chance to recover from the walk and allow the rain to pass. The grove is home to giant Sequoia trees and they were really magnificent. The rain had eased off by the time we got there but it was pretty nippy. The temperature seems to vary wildly from 58 - 90 depending on where you are. The grove is quite large but you can follow a trail around and see lots of sequoias, including some particularly interesting ones - Giant Grizzly, the Bachelor & Three Graces and the California Tunnel Tree. Photos to follow when I can upload.

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