Yosemite National Park
March 18, 2019
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As I was planning our trip through the early summer months, knowing we wanted to make the drive through Yosemite,our luck would have it that 2018 was a year of massive wild fires in California, the worst on record. The Ferguson fire burned over 96,000 acres of the Sierra’s and Yosemite Park. Yosemite was closed to visitors for a time while firefighters raced to contain and control the fire
By the time we hit Yosemite in early September the fires had all but extinguished in most of the park. However, many tourists did not realize the park was back open or feared it would be all but devastated and we had no lines to deal with. The skies were clear, crowds were small and parking was available wherever we went. From what we had read parking can be quite a challenge in Yosemite and they recommend that once you find a spot, stay there and take the shuttles though the park. Luckily we didn’t have to worry about that and had a amazing time driving through and puling off for photo after photo. You may not get as lucky as we did, so plan ahead just in case.
The drive through is just breathtaking. I felt as like we were driving through a National Geographic magazine. The amazing views over crystal clear lakes and streams is indescribable. The first stops as we drove in from the Eastern entrance were Ellery and Tioga Lakes, you can stop for pictures of course! Then plan to spend some time in the gorgeous Tuolumne (pronounced Two-wall-a-me)Meadows and Lembert Dome. Next stop is Olmsted Point for your first look at Half Dome! Amazing! Continue to wind your way along Tioga Road and turn onto Big Oak Flat Road to head into the Park center. You’ll drive down along the mountain, and as you pass through the tunnels be ready to capture another great shot of Half Dome and El Capitan. When you get to the end the visitor center is there, along with places to eat, camp and relax. There are plenty of hiking trails that head out from here and if you can spend a couple days I would recommend it. You’ll also want to check out The Majestic Yosemite Hotel, which is a step back in time and beautiful.
On our way back out we took a side stop to see the giant redwoods, so we headed off to Mariposa Grove. Since we keep trying to cram in as much as we can, we arrived at the parking lot with about an hour and a half to spare of daylight. Yup, once again, we were hustling to get this stop in. We opted for the Grizzly Giant Loop Trail, which is a moderately difficult trail and you should allow about 1.5 to 2 hours to complete it (did i mention we had maybe an hour and a half…. ha!) There is along winding downhill trail that takes you past many of the giants. Sadly due to the fires, along the way we say many of these ancient wonders had been burned, but were still standing and still incredible. As we started to head back up the trail before it got dark, we heard another group talking and being what we thought was kind of obnoxious. When we reached the parking lot, after dark, we came across this group again and learned that they were in fact not being obnoxious at all, but were yelling and making noise to scare away a large bear and her cub that they had come across. We learned that said giant bear was just on the other side of the trees that we were climbing on to take pictures!!! Thankfully we didnt know this at the time or I likely would have freaked out and been bear dinner. Note to self, plan ahead and don’t venture into the wilderness at twilight, a.k.a. dinner hour.
We will definitely be planning a longer trip here to hike and explore this beautiful park.
Next stop… wine country and pampering!
