We were off at 7:00 am this morning determined to get to Yosemite Village, the Visitor Center and Yosemite Falls before the place was filled up with people and cars. Made it!!!!!!!! It is about an hour and three quarters drive from our campground on very narrow winding hilly road so a lot of the drive is done at 25 to 35 miles an hour. It is beautiful but at times takes your breath away when you go around curves and the drop off of thousands of feet is right below.
Once we parked the car we depended on shuttle buses and our own two legs to get everywhere because the parking lot was filling very fast.
Our first stop was the visitor center (to the bottom right) with a view of the Upper Yosemite Falls (to the upper left)
We checked out the exhibits about the formation of the area as well as its history and the creation of the National Park. Then we watched two films about the park and its history with emphasis on this being the first area set aside for the public to enjoy. Abraham Lincoln signed that bill.
Here is Ken having a discussion with John Muir who is quoted as saying "It (Yosemite) is by far the grandest of all the special temples of Nature I was ever permitted to enter."
We then set off on our hike to the Lower Yosemite Falls which is really a continuation of the Upper Falls but appears when looking at it as a separate falls because of the shape of the granite. These falls are the fifth tallest falls in the world with a drop of 2,425 feet. However, we were lucky to even see water falling as they are usually dried up by now but there was not only a snow fall but rain this past week - enough to keep the water flowing though quite wispy.
The hike there was a beautiful one taking us through lots of very tall trees including a few sequoias though not nearly as large as the ones we saw at Sequoia National Park
There were plenty of rocks of varying size too
We were following the river bed that is filled with rapidly moving water when the falls are heavy with water - now it was almost a dry river bed
The face of the rock reminded me of the pictured rocks in Michigan with their stripes of color
On our way out we came across a bobcat busy checking things out along the trail
A shuttle bus ride took us to Yosemite Lodge where there was a cafe and we could get some lunch.
Then we decided to get back on the shuttle bus and just ride it around the entire loop to see what the valley area looks like including some of the campgrounds. There are all kinds of accommodations from lodge rooms to cabins to a type of tent built on a platform to cabins that you do your own housekeeping in and then of course regular campground with huge numbers of tents of all types and colors plus a few small trailers.
In addition, we could get views of the huge granite cliffs that make the park so unique. Once we got back to our car, Frank drove us to a couple of different points that we had seen so we could take pictures like this spot called the Royal Arches. The rock truly does appear to have arches carved into it.
This is a close up
To the left of it are more arches that aren't as prominent but tend to look like steps up the mountain
This stop gave us a better view of what are referred to as cathedral rocks. You can see what looks like a couple of turrets to the left
We then made a return stop to the "tunnel view" - the view you get when you come into the park from the south entrance and go through a long tunnel.
The valley stretches out in front of you with the huge cliffs on either side including El Capitan on the left and Half Dome on the right but way back. We could also see wisps of water coming down the Bridalveil falls but they would stop and start just as they were doing when we visited on Saturday. The water level is very low and the wind actually pushes the water off to the side or backwards so it looks like someone is turning the falls off and on.
At our backs is the tunnel exit
On our way out of the park we made one last stop just to soak up this last view of the cliffs
and this area where a burn had happened sometime in the past few years
According to signs in the Visitor Center area there are about 6 fires burning now in remote areas of the park started by the lightning from the storm several days ago. Two others they've just finished putting out.
On our drive to the park this morning we say a fire warning sign with the arrow that can point to low, medium etc --- it was pointing to catastrophic. They really are concerned about what could happen. Everything is very very dry. We noticed that at the campground every site has an extra hose hooked up and ready to be put to use immediately should fire come. I hope for their sake it never does.
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