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| Yosemite Valley from Glacier point. |
3 days at
the spectacular Yosemite National Park brought some firsts for the trip:
·
First pair of stilettos seen on a walk. We
decided that they could be quite useful as they would ease the stretch on your
calf muscles as you go uphill. Different matter coming down though.
·
First sighting of a predator – a coyote.
·
First National Park traffic jams (those bl**dy
tourists again!)
·
First experience of freaking out about driving
on steep winding mountain roads – plenty more of that to come.
Yosemite Valley is an extraordinary place, with massive cliff faces,
incredible waterfalls and beautiful meadows. We did several shortish walks to Vernal
Falls, Yosemite Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. We walked to Mirror Lake and had
to walk across the river in water so cold that it hurt. I’m sure there were
icebergs hiding in there. Apart from the scenic wonders, we continued to be
amazed at the sight of ill-prepared folk – including our stiletto wearer. What
are they thinking?
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| Deirdre Crosses the Merced River in front of Half Dome |
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| Vernal Falls |
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| Yosemite Falls |
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| Upper Yosemite Falls |
Yosemite is such a popular place that accommodation is hard to get. We
had to stay in the south part of the park at the historic Wawona Hotel,
necessitating driving 20 miles of winding road to get to and from the Valley
each day. You drive along a cliff edge with virtually no road shoulder, no
guard rails or kerbs winding around sharp curves with drop-offs of thousands of
feet to the valley floor – terrifying! I found it slightly less terrifying
doing the driving as I wasn’t closest to the edge. It also helped to drive with
my eyes closed. (I’m joking!) But I did have to get Mike to prise my hands off
the steering wheel with a crowbar. On our way back one day we decided to take a
short detour to Glacier Point which has a spectacular view of the valley and
views to the snow-covered High Sierra Mountains above the valley. The last bit
of this road was super-terrifying with hair-pin bends right next to the huge
drop. As I crept around the last bit some loony tail-gated me with his hand on
the horn and waving his fist out of the window – not sure what he was holding
the steering wheel with?
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| The last hair pin bend to Glacier Point. Half Dome to the R, and 3,000 ft drop off the edge. Don't look at the scenery or you will become part of it. |
On the last day we did a long walk from the valley floor to Glacier
Point with a climb of 3300 ft and return distance of 16 km. Much less scary
than driving, but more effort - we certainly earned our ice-cream that day! On
the way up Mike was constantly distracted by a helicopter practicing hovering
next to the giant El Capitan cliff face – we agreed that the pilot must have
steel cojones!
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| Deirdre summits Glacier Point. Everyone else drove. |
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| Lower Yosemite Valley with El Capitan on R. More drop offs to make you concentrate |
We hired an inflatable raft and took at short trip down the Merced
River, which had a couple of small rapids – so small we should really call them
“quicklies” not rapids. It was a beautiful day and we had some great views of
Yosemite Falls and Half Dome.
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| Rafting / floating down the Merced River. Yosemite Falls in background. |
The Wawona Hotel is a gracious old hotel from the grand old days of the
1890’s. They did use that as a bit of an excuse for things not working – “we’re
a historic hotel you know” – not sure how that explains why the toaster didn’t
work?? Still, it had loads of character and charm so
we shall overlook these things.
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| Wawona Hotel |
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| Thomas Hill was a famous landscape painter of the 1890's who lived at Wawona |
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