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Published: August 30th 2006
Sitting by Tioga Lake
Lynne takes a break on the shores of Tioga LakeHi everybody!
We thought we'd post a travel blog on our trip to Yosemite National Park and the Inyo National Forest.
On Monday, we left Santa Cruz CA and our wonderful hostess, Berta Hees. After spending a few weeks in Santa Cruz for the
Cabrillo Contemporary Music Festival (Mark is a member of the orchestra), it was time to get out into the wilderness!
We had breakfast at Pacific Coffee Roasters in Aptos, CA and drove toward Yosemite. Because of mudslides earlier this spring/summer, the southeast entrance to Yosemite from the Midpines area is closed. We opted to drive in via the western route, the Tioga Road (route 120 at Groveland). We arrived at this entrance just under five hours after leaving Aptos.
This is the first time we drove all the length of the Tioga Road from the western entrance to the park all the way to the east, to Lee Vining and the Mono Lake area. It is a fascinating drive, with such a dramatic change in scenery along the way. When you first enter the park, you are among giant redwood groves. As you head to the east, you climb dramatically up several thousand feet, and eventually
View from Olmsted Point
Here is the beautiful view from Olmsted Point in Yosemite National Park. end up in desert-like conditions after the astounding decent from Tioga Pass through the Lee Vining Canyon.
Because we've hiked and toured a bit in the Tioga Road area in the past, we decided to concentrate this trip on the eastern edge of Yosemite - basically, from Tuolomne Meadows through the Mono Lake area. Mono Lake is actually outside of the Yosemite National Park.
Once we entered Yosemite, our first stop was Olmsted Point. This provides a terrific view of many landmarks in the valley.
After that quick stop, we drove a bit further to get to Tioga Lake. We did a terrific hike around the lake. The water is beautiful (but a bit chilly for swimming), the forest is nice, and it was a great way to do a 2-hour hike to get acclimated to being over 9,000 feet up. We were very surprised to see a bit of snow on several of the peaks around us. Apparently, Yosemite experienced a very wet winter.
Our next stop was a quick visit to Ellery Lake. We'll go back to this lake for a hike on another day. We wanted to make sure we drove out of
Tioga Lake
Tioga Lake the Lee Vining Canyon before it was dark, as the road winds around a lot, and there is a steep decent.
Our friend, "Yosemite Bob", told us that our breath would be taken away at the sight of the Lee Vining Canyon. He was right. We didn't post any pictures from the canyon, as they just don't do it justice!
We decended through the beautiful canyon, noting waterfalls and breathtaking scenery. The scent of people burning their brakes was also in the air! Apparently, a lot of people don't realize they can ride downhill in a lower gear and save their brakes from overheating.
After leaving the canyon, we arrived at the Mono Lake area in the town of Lee Vining, CA (population 398). We made a quick stop at a Mono Lake overlook by the Mobil gas station/restaurant. Mono Lake is a very large salt water lake, and it contains several tufas that have emerged from the water. We'll explain more about what those are on the day we visit the lake.
Finally, we checked into our hotel, the Yosemite Gateway Motel. It's a decent little place, no frills, and is across the street from
Ellery Lake
The sun setting at Ellery Lake the two main restaurants in town. We ate at Bodie Mike's Restaurant - a good meal of BBQ chicken for Lynne, a huge burger for Mark, and a nice cold Mammoth Beer (somewhat local brew). It was a fun day!
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