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As of mid-May, we were still flip-flopping ideas about where to go during the Memorial Day (May-end) long weekend for our first adventure of 2007. I had been leaning towards Yosemite all along and the news of the opening of both the Tioga Road and the Glacier Point Road around May 11th kinda cemented our choice. These roads have never opened this early in the year for quite a few years now. Lower snowfall this year must have done the trick - blame global warming!
The Drive - May 24/25, 2007
Of course, we were not going to get any campgrounds this late in the game, so we decided to beat the crowd and try to reach the valley early on Friday morning itself (a working day). That would give us atleast a chance in the lone first-come, first-serve campground in the valley - the historical Camp 4. Accordingly we started from San Diego in our trusted car on Thursday night, May 24th just after 7 pm.
We did not carry much food this time around for the fear of not being able to store it in the car if we were not able to get a
campsite. Each campsite comes with metal food lockers that are bear-proof. Yosemite bears are advertised to be very notorious for sniffing food out of cars and making themselves comfy in your car We did not want our car to share that fate!
Yosemite from San Diego is a 420-mile road trip. We took our first and only rest area stop near Fresno, CA around 1.10 am after travelling around 300 miles. We took an hour and half
long nap. Refreshed, restarted to make the final stretch onto Yosemite at 2.45 am. Entered Yosemite National Park thru the South gate via Oakhurst at 4.30 am. The winding roads inside (and outside) Yosemite combined with the long drive were making me a bit dizzy.
Stopped at the end of the Wawona Tunnel to take in the classic Tunnel View pre-sunrise. Very refreshing! Just as dawn was breaking over the valley, we reached Camp 4 at 5.40 am. Guess what?! There were already some people sleeping in the line we were the seventh group in the queue. At that point we did not hold out much hope of getting a campsite in Camp 4. So we switched to plan B. While
my wife would wait in the line, I would drive down to a couple of other walk-in campgrounds that were supposed to open outside the valley in time for the Memorial Day rush.
I drove 30 miles to Tamarack Flat and White Wolf campgrounds. The lone ranger that I met at White Wolf was not sure if they would open that campground that day. That just leaves Tamarack Flat, which is closer to the valley. I again very nearly missed the Tamarack Flat campground on the way back. There were already a few people in the line there too. I chatted with them and decided to get my wife back and wait in the queue there with them. Tamarack Flat has 52 campgrounds and since it was opening that day we would definately get a spot there. So I hurried back to Camp 4. BTW this side trip got me a lot of excellent shots in the early-morning light. See the beautiful shot of the Bridalveil Falls.
Ah, just in time as the Camp 4 ranger started the day's rationing of the available spots at around 8.20 am. We were relegated to the 20th spot as the six
people who were ahead of us in the queue were not alone. There was a long queue of people behind us as well so we held hope. As it turns there were spots for 52 people!!! Yes, Camp 4 allocation is in terms of per-person.
We registered by 8.50 am and by 9.20 am had our tent set up. WHAT A RELIEF! Driving thru the night was not a waste after all Finally the nerve-racking portion of the trip was behind us and we could look forward to enjoying the park.
Day 1 Day 1 was spent mostly in the valley itself. We alternatively walked and took the free shuttle bus to some of the valley attractions and villages. Got a lot of nice shots of the Yosemite Chapel among others. These are among my favorite snaps of the entire trip. The waterfalls were at their peak, it being early-summer. We could not have asked for a better setting with the valley at its glorious best and both the Tioga and the Glacier Point Roads already open.
This first day we just kinda soaked in the valley. Did not want to do much since I was very tired from the nearly all-night driving. Had our lunch at Deganan's Deli/Cafe in Yosemite Village. We walked all the way to Curry Village for our dinner. Dinner was just a couple of pizza slices (ok taste, nothing great).
We did not know that yet but all this walking would come warm us up nicely for our long hike the next day.
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