The spirit of Yosemite.

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So the first thing we learned that Yosemite is because it is at fairly high elevation the nights were really cold as a result (freezing temperature) and the days were pretty hot.
The second thing we learnt was about the Yosemite black bears. They have been spoilt by visitors to the park leaving food lying around over the years so as a result you are not allowed to store anything scented in your car at night. This includes all food and liquids, toiletries, soaps, sunscreen, vitamin pills, etc. We had a grim reminder that morning of what happens if you do happen to leave something in your car that a bear wants. A bear had broken into a car by first trying to pull a door open then when that did not work he smashed the side window, pulled the rubber out to remove glass and then ripped out the back seat, all in the sake of retrieving a can of soup. A bear can smell a can of soup locked in a boot of a car in a chilly bin. That’s how good its nose is. And being incredibly intelligent creatures, they have figured that break and enter works well for getting dinner.
The visitor centre had an amazing exhibition on 58 of the states national parks. We gazed at pictures of each of them. Some of the landforms in the USA are truly amazing. Yosemite itself is definitely one of the better ones to see because it looks different each season of the year.
We watched the video which asks if you can feel the spirit of Yosemite. Sure can buddy! It's called the spirit of the living God, not some dead Indian chief.
Finally we decided to hike up to the upper falls lookout. Se we plodded up past the dry upper falls and gazed from the vantage point at the top of the valley into the valley below and observed half dome rock and glacier point.
Yosemite is famous with climbers who come to scale the vertical cliffs in the Valley. Camp 4 where we were staying is a walkin campground and many climbers know this campsite well and flock to it before ascending up the side of the valley and sometimes sleeping half way up when it becomes too dark to climb further.
The top of the valley was spectacular in view. We hung out at the top for a while watching climbers hauling themselves up one of the known climbs, and admiring the rock formations around us.
It was getting dark as we descended back down to the valley so we headed back to camp to bunk down for another cold night.

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Photos

Monkey Man
Time for a food break.

Admiring the view
Naomi sips on her water as she checks out the valley below.

Top Waterfall
This is where the raging stream drops over the side of the rock face and creates a spectacular waterfall....in spring.

Yosemite Panoramic
From the top waterfall viewing point

Rock Climbing
Watching from the top of the valley

Yosemite rock face
A climbers mecca. 1000ft up I guess.

Half Dome
Bathed in evening sunlight. You can tell why its called what its called right?

Feeding time
My sister took this shot.

Bear damage
A hungry bear breaks and enters for food.