Blogs from Yosemite National Park, California, United States, North America

My best and only travel buddy sent me an excerpt from an article he read in the Wall Street Journal. He said it applies perfectly to me. Wanderlust is a beautiful state of being! WSJ: One section explains "in many ways having traveled is far superior to actual traveling. Most of us travel in search of a story , but the pleasure of shaping the narrative comes only in retrospect -- usually within some quiet place back home, The helps explain why so many of the world's best travel writers have, paradoxically , also embraced long sessions off the road".So, yes, I agree, it does apply to me. And I do write daily blogs about our trips. But the greatest joy comes from family and friends who ask about our trips, past and ... read more

This was going to be my first vacation in two years. I usually like to plan my trips, but this one wasn't. My flight to San Jose was supposed to take off at five in the morning. I fell asleep while seated and woke up more than an hour later only to find the plane still grounded. The flight was delayed by more than two hours. By the time I got to San Jose, I was under-slept and tired. I just had some food and went to sleep. The next day was going to be exciting. The next morning, I had a freak accident. I sneezed not very violently, but somehow managed to pull my back muscle - very badly - so bad that I had trouble moving initially. I struggled to get dressed and saw ... read more

Vorgestern habe ich in Bakersfield mal wieder Pancakes zum Frühstück gegessen, bevor ich mich auf den Weg nach Yosemite gemacht habe. Unterwegs habe ich mal wieder getankt und die Preise waren wie so oft bei ca. 4 Dollar pro Gallone (knapp 4 Liter). Davon kann man in Deutschland bei den hohen Steuern für die Fleißigen nur träumen. Den Yosemite Park habe ich gut erreicht. Teilweise gibt es Spuren von Waldbränden, was bei der langen Zeit, die ein Baum zum wachsen braucht, natürlich sehr schade ist. Das eigentlich Yosemite Valley ist sehr schön und hat mehrere Wasserfälle. Es herrschte ziemlicher Betrieb. Zum Glück habe ich einen ordentlichen Parkplatz an der Lodge gefunden. Nach dem Einchecken habe ich die Bilder für den 15. Juni an einem PC an der Rezeption hochgeladen. Danach habe ich im Starbucks des Komplexes ... read more

Spent half the day trying to find parking spots so we could get out and see the beautiful landscape. Many tourists just hung out their car windows taking photos without stopping. ... read more

The morning dawned clear & bright, Glacier Point road was still closed when we drove past se we decided to walk there instead. We drove into Yosemite Valley & parked up at Four-Mile Trailhead. This was down as one of the more strenuous day hikes in the Yosemite, but the other one we were looking at, up Yosemite falls, was described as a "Stairmaster workout" so we opted for this one instead! It turned out to be less bad than we feared, most of the trail isn't too steep, despite going up a very steep mountain side, as it zip-zags so much. Plus we stopped loads to admire the stunning views that greeted us with every turn. We took so many photos of the vally, of Yosemite Falls, and of Half Dome all fromslightly different angles ... read more