Yosemite National Park

Here we are at the sign by the front gate at Yosemite. Melody had never been there, so we decided to spend a couple of days camping and hiking some of the scenic trails.

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I'll get the unpleasantness out of the way first. There were no camp sites available in any of the park camps. Even the one I had planned on using (figuring it was so far away from the valley floor that it surely would have a few sites empty). No such luck. We spent 8 hours in the car the first day driving to Yosemite, looking for sites, and driving back outside the park to get a spot in the closest campground we could find. Below you see my cute wife beside our new tent.

Okay, better things happened the next day. We got several GREAT photos of all the must see sights, including El Capitan (looking East on the left and looking West on the right). No climbers were on the face that day.

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This is Bridal Veil Falls, our first mini-hike which was very nice. Later, on our way to the foot of Yosemite Falls, I snapped this photo of Half Dome, which from this angle looks very similar to Old Man Mountain. In reality, what you see from this view is mostly the face of the cliff. The dome itself is very thin - almost like it should be named 1/10 Dome instead of 1/2 Dome.

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You've seen (and maybe been through) drive-through trees - this is a drive through rock near a southern entrance to that park. Very picturesque. We would have enjoyed it much more had we not already been in the car for 7 hours looking for a place to camp... At right you see me outstanding in my field. Actually, the meadow that is Yosemite Valley.

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Below is a far-away view of Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls, and the other one is also taken from a distance with me standing up close to the falls with my arms spread and getting wet.

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Probably my favorite part of the day was when Melody let me hike all the way up to Vernal Falls. It's a short 1.5 miles one way - and a 1,000' gain in elevation. It's really not bad until the last 2/10th of a mile. Then it becomes very steep stair steps - and very wet. That's why they call it the Mist Trail. I got soaked through. Anyway, here's couple of shots of Vernal Falls. On the left 'm at the top of the falls looking over the edge, on the right is just below the falls. Beautiful.

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While I was moving up the trail, taking pics at the top, and running back down, Mom made it much of the way up. I was impressed. It turned out to be easier to head up at that elevation (6,000'-7,000') than I thought it would be. I'm grimacing in the photo below because I'm holding the camera while having the mist from the falls blow right into my face. Did I mention that I got very wet?

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We visited the museum, saw the exhibits, hiked to the falls, and did pretty much everything we wanted. There's a lot to do, but we didn't want to stay outside the park again for a second night, so we drove home. Maybe we'll have to do it with you guys some time.

And finally, for those who were camping at the coast several years ago (sorry Chris, you were in Boston) here's a special feature I know you'll appreciate.