Day 13: Yosemite - "We call it 'equality'"

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A long one today, but it was all exciting. If you're a skim reader make sure you don't miss the last bit

Does everybody know what day it is today? That's right, its bear day! Or at least I'm hoping it will be. I did see a bear last night on the way in actually, but it was a statue of Yogi Bear. Not quite what I'm looking for.

We actually slept in a bit today before Gez, our driver for the day, once again negotiated the very windy roads into the heart of Yosemite National Park. Yosemite is the kind of place where you could easily spend a week or more exploring everything, so we were looking for some inside information on which spots were a 'must see' for our single day in the park. Following the advice of a friendly park worker we set out for Glacier Point first. Somewhere on the 45 minute drive there it became very obvious to all of us just how big Yosemite is.

Arriving at Glacier Point we could see that our new friend had not steered us wrong. You get an amazing view of Yosemite valley from this lookout. And plenty of opportunity for great photos and feats of rock jumping bravery. The latter was mostly for the boys. My girly pin drop off the side of the rock doesn't really rate a mention here. Squirrels are in plentiful supply at Glacier Point (and as we later discovered elsewhere in the park). They're also pretty used to people so you can get some close up shots... or you could if the darn things would stay still for just a second! Someone once told me that squirrels are just rats with good PR, but I think they're cute all the same. A good start to our wildlife photography efforts.

Leaving Glacier Point, the next stop our unofficial tour guide had recomended was tunnel view. This is another lookout located just on the other side of a tunnel, the first of many which claim to have a maximum clearance about 3 feet lower than the top of our RV. But that's only at the sides, so why let that stop us? Probably with a little more apprehension than he let on, Gez simply drove us along the centre line, allowing the size of the RV to encourage oncoming traffic to edge further toward the curb than they might otherwise have been inclined to do.

More photos were taken at Tunnel view and then we climbed back aboard the RV, next stop Bridal Veil Falls. Taking a slightly cross country path to the falls (somewhat satisfying those who were keen for a bushwalk) there was some rock climbing to be done to reach ever better vantage points for photos and getting wet in the mist. In their excitement to reach the top the gentlemen that I am travelling with forgot that the lady of the group may require some assistance with the more demanding parts of the climb and I eventually found myself in the river after sliding off an unexpectedly slippery rock. Relegated to the sidelines for a while I was pleased to find that I at least had mobile phone reception and could send an sms or two while I waited for my companions to return. The ultimate in multi-tasking.

With the falls conquered the boys were ready for lunch and I was ready to change my very wet socks so we once again boarded the RV and Gez whisked us away to Yosemite Village itself. After downing a surprisingly healthy lunch and dutifully clearing our rubbish into the bear proof trash cans, we were once again to be found at the foot of a waterfall. This time it was the massive Yosemite Falls. More rock climbing ensued (this time with assistance from the guys where my now somewhat battered ankle required it), along with the associated getting wet and taking of photgraphs.

WIth the day rapidly coming to a close our last stop was to visit the giant Sequoia trees in one of the groves along the way out of the park. To see these giant trees you have to hike a mile down into the forest. It actually doesn't take too long to make it to the grove though, its all very much down hill... on the way in anyway. The guys were pretty impressed by the size of the trees but to be honest, I wasn't all that impressed. The trees we saw aren't anywhere near as big as some of the big trees I'd seen on family holidays. In my tired and sore state, it didn't really seem worth the mile of steep uphill walking that would now be required in order to get back to the RV.

And so the long trek back to the RV began. As could be predicted, the boys all wanted to be the first to make it to the top and were soon well out of sight and hearing. Pressing on up the hill without a soul in sight I was becoming quite annoyed with the woman from Yosemite tourist information who had promised that it was worth the hike to see these relative saplings. Pausing for a while to catch my breath and take a drink, I was startled to discover that my mental tirade had distracted me so much that I had walked right past a deer which had been standing just a few metres from the road. I quickly fished my camera out of my bag and approached it as quietly as I could, trying to get a closer photo. Energised by the excitement of seeing a wild deer up close, I kept my camera out and continued up the hill with renewed energy, this time keeping a sharp eye out for more deer. Not more than a hundred metres later I saw something move off to the side of the road. This time it was clearly too big to be a deer. I had my camera at the ready to try and add a candid shot of an elk to my growing collection. I didn't manage to get an elk shot though. Mostly because as my 'elk' lumbered down the slope onto the road 40 or so metres in front of me I realised that it was in fact a bear! Yes, that's right. A real live bear. I couldn't believe my luck. As the solid brown mass ambled slowly across the road part of me desperately wanted to get closer for a clearer view and a great photo. The sensible part of me however realised that sneaking up on a bear while alone in the woods would probaby not be the best thing for my personal safety. I elected to stand very still, take photos quietly and hope that it wouldn't notice me. Plan B was to copy the bear scaring method an American ex-colleague once taught me at an after work drinks event - "Make yourself look big and make noise to scare it away". Given that the bear would have been far taller than me standing up I'm glad that Plan B was not required.

Eventually the bear continued along down hill on the other side of the road (though not before walking briefly toward me to find a path down). Deciding to play it smart I waited a minute before continuing along my way, keeping an eye out in case my bear had a friend still waiting to cross. Not too much further along I found the boys, waiting for me at the top where we'd parked the RV and was able to point out the bear I'd just seen to them, albiet at much more of a distance.

Still very excited about actually getting to see a bear in the wild (I'd given up hope a while earlier) there was only one thing to do - send lots of text messages to people at home! Happy now that my main objective for the trip had been accomplished, I settled back for the drive back to our camp site, took in the stars for a while after we arrived and promptly fell asleep.

Tomorrow, we have to give back the RV. It's time to go to San Francisco!

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Photos

Team photo at Bridal Veil falls.
Note that none of us are actually looking at the camera

Comments

[Vanora]

Great Photos
Yeh ! A real-live bear ! How lucky were you ..... ! What a shame "good things have to come to an end". Enjoy the last part of holiday and love to all.

[mum]

the real Yogi
loved the text msg. enjoyed the blog. can't wait to see the photos and hear the story.