We’re leaving Lone Pine around 5am to get to Death Valley. After letting the kids romp around the Mesquite sand dunes and be Jawas in the Golden Canyon, other places seem to be “jump out of the car to see”. After those, I don’t imagine we’ll linger at Badwater or Zabriskie Point too long.
In that case, late afternoon at Glacier is the right call. You might even want to save it for the second day, so there’s no pressure to find your way to Groveland before dark.
Bump…
…so how was the trip?
Bump… I finally got the pictures ready!
I made a Picasa Album, because I like the captioning and maps. There’s a lot to look through, but I try to make the most of my mainland trips (I live in Hawaii). You’ll see Sequoia and Grand Canyon, among other places, but there are five albums dedicated just to Yosemite.
The first day, we got up early from Fresno and took Route 41 in. We skipped Mariposa Grove, as it was closed for renovations. Besides, we just marveled at those giants at Sequoia and Kings Canyon. After a quick stop at the Tunnel View, we parked and found our Tram.
We rode the open-air tram around Yosemite Valley. It was my parents-in-law idea, and I balked at taking a guided tour. What’s the point of going abroad if you’re just another tourist carted around in buses surrounded by sweaty mindless oafs from Kettering and Boventry in their cloth caps and their cardigans and their transistor radios and their Sunday Mirrors, bomplaining about the tea -
Anyway, I totally enjoyed it, as it went all the places I wanted to see, the narration by the ranger was fascinating, and I got plenty of pictures from the open-air tram. No parking hassles as we went to El Capitan, Half Dome, the waterfalls, plus stops at Tunnel View and Valley View.
After that, it was the Junior Ranger tour at Happy Valley. It was okay, I thought we’d do more hiking down the Muir trail. We crossed the fens and sat around a campfire circle where the ranger told us about the Ahwahnechee Indian games and customs. The kids did like it, so there’s that. The Junior Ranger awards included patches and spiffy wooden badges.
The next day was a thunderstorm, so we stayed at our Groveland cabin for the day. So nice to have a little flexibility, as Groveland got none of that rain. So, we swam and boated in the lake. Then I didn’t feel pressured to find a swimming hole at Yosemite.
After that, we went back to the Valley and noticed the benefits of the rain: Yosemite Falls was roaring! We took our hike there, which had the forest-bam-rock wall. We frolicked around the meadow then drove up to Glacier Point. It was overcast, so I didn’t want to risk being on Sentinel Point in the rain/lightning. but that didn’t stop us from being overwhelmed at the view. That was something else!
The next morning, we checked out of our cabin and drove on Tioga Road, passing Olmstead Point and Lake Tenaya. I have to say, even though the Valley is more famous, this part of Yosemite would be a remarkable park on its own. We made the climb up Pothole Dome on the remarkably sunny day. That was fun, especially since my daughter got the idea to do a free solo climb on El Capitan.
Then my son Grant, born and raised in Hawaii, got a totally unexpected surprise as we headed up Tioga Pass. In July, no less.
And yes, after we left Yosemite, I did have a lobster taquito at Whoa Nellie Deli.
Pretend you’re in a dark basement with the Kodak slideshow clicking: Photo Albums.
What an awesome looking road trip! Thanks for sharing all of those pics. Hail Storm in Bodie…hah!
Albums were great!
“ooh, they don’t make it properly here, not like at home.”
Somebody had to.
Looks like a great trip!