[Bloated Chipmunk]

DAY 1: The Long Awaited Departure "The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, make them." --George Bernard Shaw After 6.5 yrs. of fruitless attempts to make it to Yosemite, I finally managed a way to get there & perhaps the timing was perfect anyway--the drought had broke, the winter snow & rain had fallen, & the waterfalls were @ their peak. All the time & energy I spent struggling to inspire an apathetic partner were washed away in 'Nature's fountains' as I once again realized that the old sage advice is true: If you want to get something done you must do it yourself. Yosemite, bitch. Read it & weep. We left SD on a Sat. AM w/the intent of staying @ a motel the 1st night, since the drive is several hrs. long & there'd be no sense fumbling around in the dark looking for a campsite. After muscling our way through L.A., stopping for lunch, & sailing up the San Joaquin Valley, we arrived in Los Banos ("The Bathroom"??) where we had the motel reservation. We dumped off some of our things & headed to the closest restaurant that served margaritas. I did my usual photo text to friends, this time expressing my excitement & relief for a long-awaited dream coming true. I rec'd some confused reactions, mostly from those to whom I hadn't even mentioned I was about to go to Yosemite -- I feared I might jinx the whole thing & therefore waited until I was @ least a stone's throw away from it to reveal my plan.

Pre-Yosemite margarita

We enjoyed a nice dinner & drink & then headed back to the room & caught the newest episode of SNL before bed. It was the 1st time I'd watched TV in several months. DAY 2: B'fast @ the Courthouse, Finding Camp, Mirror Lk. Trail Upon recommendation, we checked out a diner in town for b'fast, where we had a good meal & each rec'd a flower for Mother's Day, even though it was a holiday that applied to neither one of us. From there, the search was on for a campsite. After looking around a bit, we found a nice spot along the Merced River about an hr. outside the Arch Rock entrance, @ McCabe Flat CG. We paid the fee for the week, set up the tents, & made a beeline to the park.

Mothers' Day OJ

Beach @ our campground along the Merced River

Time for the big reveal. I was finally gonna see this famous place! "...I know no single wonder of nature on earth which can claim superiority over Yosemite. Just dream yourself for one hour in a chasm nearly 10 miles long, with egress, save for birds and water, but at three points, up the face of precipices from three thousand to four thousand feet high, the chasm scarcely more than a mile wide at any point, & tapering to a mere gorge, or canyon, at either end, with walls of mainly naked and perpendicular white granite, from three thousand to five thousand feet high, so that looking up to the sky from it is like looking out of an unfathomable profound--and you will have some conception of Yosemite." -- Horace Greeley, "In California--The Yosemite", An Overland Journey from New York to San Francisco in the Summer of 1859 As we entered the park, sure enough it did indeed look like the pictures I'd been admiring for yrs. I will say, however, that El Capitan was even bigger than I'd imagined....a huge monolith of sheer granite cliff that is situated near the western end of the valley & one of the 1st opportunities for jaw-dropping awe. 1st, an obligatory shot of Yosemite Falls.

Yosemite Falls

With less than 1/2 a day for a hike, we chose the Mirror Lk. Trail which is @ the far end of the valley underneath 1/2 Dome. The day was kinda cloudy but I managed to get 1 pic of the dome before the clouds covered it.

Half Dome

Trail to Mirror Lk.

Tenaya Creek

Tenaya Creek

Tenaya Creek

Mirror Lk.

Tenaya Creek

North Dome(?) above

On the drive out, I pulled over as I noticed nice lighting on Bridalveil Falls.

Bridalveil Falls

Then, back to camp to cook dinner & relax by the river.

My tent

DAY 3: Vernal Falls, Nevada Falls Loop; Yosemite Lodge Dinner This day started out partly sunny, then turned to rain (& even a brief bit of hail) by the time we hiked past Nevada Falls. Appropriate I suppose, for doing the Mist Trail.

Merced River

Mist Trail TH

Another sign

That's a lot of water...

Lots of options

It was a good little climb despite the large amount of people; the views made up for that.

View back toward Yosemite Falls

Illilouette Gorge

To say that the Merced River was raging was an understatement. Having never been to Yosemite before, I had no sense of what was "normal" but from various people we talked to throughout the trip, I got the sense that things were flowing better than usual.

Merced River

Merced River

View of Vernal Fall

Merced River

Trail sign

We got to Vernal Fall & started up the wet, slippery granite staircase. I was glad I had full raingear, though my sunglasses got wet & made it hard to see. Maybe that was for the best, since parts of this trail are kinda sketchy.

Vernal Fall. I can see why they call this the Mist Trail.

Vernal Fall

Great, time to walk along a cliff edge

Top of Vernal Fall

Top of Vernal Fall

Then, on to Nevada Fall.

Liberty Cap. The light patch on left side was where rock broke loose in 1872 during the Owens Valley Earthquake, startling John Muir out of bed.

Merced River

Nevada Fall as seen from the side as we climb up

Top of Nevada Fall

Top of Nevada Fall

"If you go over the fall, you will die."

Looks relatively calm, but don't chance it...

Liberty Cap

Lip of Nevada Fall

Looking down

Lip of Nevada Fall

Liberty Cap & Nevada Fall

Liberty Cap & Nevada Fall

After Nevada Fall, the trail goes through a little misty section. I put my rain gear back on & made a run for it.

Gonna get wet...

Wet hikers

After the wet section, it started hailing a bit. @ least there was a nice view back toward Nevada Fall.

Nevada Fall

Mt. Broderick & Liberty Cap

The trail dropped down from here, & multiple switchbacks led us through forest cover back to hook up with the main trail.

Heading down a mossy section of the JMT

Trail sign

Low clouds

By the time we were done w/our hike it was raining fairly steadily, & neither of us felt like trying to cook something back @ camp. So, we opted for dinner @ Yosemite Lodge instead. I had a during dinner drink, & an after dinner drink. Yes, I ate in between but I usually don't take pics of the food.

Yosemite Glacier Martini

Hot Toddy

On the drive out, I noticed some deer grazing alongside the rd.

Deer grazing in Yosemite Valley

DAY 4: Bridalveil Fall, Lower Yosemite Fall, Mariposa shopping We took it easy on this day -- I woke up not feeling well (no, not hungover lol) so we got a tad later start...plus the weather forecast was iffy. Nevertheless it turned out to be a fairly productive day of short hikes & a little shopping, w/an afternoon relaxing back @ camp. 1st stop, Bridalveil Fall. We were still early enough to avoid most of the crowds, relatively speaking. This is Yosemite, afterall...

Bridalveil Fall TH

Bridalveil Creek

Bridalveil Fall

Bridalveil Fall

"Strong currents can batter you to death against the rocks."

Then, another stop @ the popular roadside view of Yosemite Falls.

BC w/Yosemite Falls

Yosemite Fall

Time to start up the Lower Yosemite Fall trail, a short & easy hike (unlike the one to the upper fall).

Leaving the village & heading up to Lower Yosemite Fall

1/2 Dome

Shady trail

Mossy rocks

BC w/Lower Yosemite Falls

Lower Yosemite Fall

We left the park & made a brief stop @ the pisser by the Briceburg bridge before continuing on to Mariposa.

The bridge @ Briceburg

We did a little strolling around the shops @ Mariposa, where I bought a "tiny dildo". They were advertising it as a "massager", of course, but we all know better. I also saw a sign about an upcoming prom for old people.

"Senior Citizen Prom"

Tiny dildo

We checked out "The Bug" hostel on the way back to camp, which turns out to be a very expensive place to stay considering you are sharing bathrooms & rooms. We lazed about camp reading books & enjoying the sound of the river, before cooking dinner & hitting the sack.

Merced River

Calm waters here

Our tents

My tent

Our campsite

The river as seen from a couple campsites over

Gushing

@ the water's edge

Our tents

DAY 5: Upper Yosemite Falls, Yosemite Point Today was the "big hike" day. Thankfully I was feeling fine in the AM so we got a nice early start for this longer, tougher hike. Actually, every day we were getting up @ 5:45 which was fine by me, since that's an hour later than what I have to do for work. The Upper Yosemite Fall trail is a great trail - very well built so it is never a lot of elevation gain in a short stretch. Plus, acrophobes like me appreciate the fact that the trail makes good use of the strip of trees snaking up the granite cliffs next to the fall, so there's never much exposure, or @ least for not very long. There are approximately a zillion granite steps, more so than I think I've ever seen on any other hike. & I've done a lot of hikes.

Sign along Upper Yosemite Fall trail

Trail sign

View near Columbia Rock

View near Columbia Rock

1/2 Dome in the clouds

Blooms along the trail

Shady section

Somewhere around Columbia Rock/Pt. is the 1st close-up view of the fall.

Upper Yosemite Falls

The trail steadily switchbacks up beside the fall & even though I wasn't super close to it, I could still feel some mist.

Cliff below Eagle Tower

Lots of water

View from near Columbia Rock

Side view

1/2 Dome outta the clouds now

Did I mention that there's a lot of stone steps on this trail?

I don't think I've ever hiked a trail with this many granite steps

Finally the junction high on the trail is reached, & I made my way over to the overlook to meet my trip companion. We rested there a moment before checking out the very sketchy trail that drops down a bit to the very brink of the upper fall.

Trail sign

Viewpoint above the falls

Pano

Upper Yosemite Falls just above the big drop

Narrow exposed trail that brings you to the overlook @ the brink

Upper Yosemite Falls overlook

Heading back up the steps

We continued on to Yosemite Point, well worth the extra 3/4 mi.

Yep, this would be bad. Really, really bad.

Yosemite Creek just above the falls

Looking upriver

The view from Yosemite Point is even better. Plus, much of the crowd thins out after the 1st overlook.

BC @ Yosemite Pt.

Section of trail we came up

Yosemite Pt. view

Yosemite Pt. view

Yosemite Pt. pano

Do I really need to label this photo??

Boot shot @ Yosemite Pt.

@ the brink of the 3,000' cliff

Peeps @ the fall overlook

Then, time to make the long hike back down to the valley. By the time I reached the bottom, my knees were feeling it.

Heading back down

Going through the gap

Looking back up @ the fall

I can still feel the mist

Upper Yosemite Fall in the afternoon

The upper end of the valley

Rainbow

Zoom of the top of Upper Yosemite Falls

Yosemite Point

1/2 Dome

On the dirt rd. back to camp, a snake caught my eye...

Snake on the rd. as we drove back to camp

DAY 6: Brunch @ The Majestic, Shopping, Tunnel View This was our one "day off" -- no hiking. A day to take it easy & check out the various shops & museums, etc. in the village. We had brunch @ the Majestic Hotel (where after a series of mishaps, my meal wound up being free), & I got some books & a hat @ the Visitor Center. Not sure if they make the Visitor Center purposely difficult to find, or if it was more due to there being some road work / re-routing going on in the village rt. now. In any case, you can't drive right up to the visitor center or many of the other bldgs...which maybe is a good thing. You just have to find some obscure place to park (best bet we found was tucked in between residential cabins) & walk the rest of the way.

Salamander

Like that's not vague...

The Majestic Hotel

The Majestic Hotel

The Majestic Hotel

View out the window from where we had brunch

The Majestic Hotel restaurant ceiling

The Majestic Hotel

Creek behind hotel

Outside the Indian Museum

Me & John Muir

Info about pikas

Deer outside the grocery store

Deer outside the grocery store

On the way to Tunnel View:

Bridleveil Falls

We made a stop @ the famous Tunnel View where there is a good photo opp of the valley length.

Tunnel View

BC @ Tunnel View

Bridalveil Fall

Tunnel View

Rainbow @ the base of Bridalveil Falls

Bridalveil Fall rainbow

Bridalveil Fall rainbow

DAY 7: Inspiration Point & beyond, Merced Grove Today, for our last hiking day, we opted to hike up to Inspiration Pt. & possibly on to Stanford Pt., depending on how much snow we encountered. This is a mostly woodsy trail that sees far less traffic than the other trails in the valley. I thought this might be our time to see a bear, but no such luck.

TH sign

Mossy rock

Trail sign

Woodsy trail

Gettin' snow-covered :-(

Hmmm

Sure enough, a ways up the trail got lost in the snow & I subsequently lost motivation to continue. I did my fair share of snowshoeing when I lived in WA & didn't feel the need to do anymore.

Nope. Kept losing trail & the motivation to trudge thru snow just wasn't there. Been there, done that.

I turned back & took a side trail which had a nice view.

Cliffs

Went further back down the trailhead & found this nice viewpoint instead to take my break.

Viewpoint along the trail

This is definitely a trail that is not as well maintained as the others. I encountered multiple blowdowns.

Lots of blowdowns along this trail

Bark

Lizard

Just above Tunnel View, w/o the crowds

Tourists

Next up, Merced Grove, located outside the valley. This short hike goes downhill on a forest rd. to a couple groves of sequoias. Since the Mariposa Grove was still closed for renovation, this was our next closest thing.

Sign @ Merced Grove TH

Junction

Sequoias @ Merced Grove

Sequoias @ Merced Grove

Sequoias @ Merced Grove

Treehugger

Sequoias @ Merced Grove

Sequoias @ Merced Grove

Sequoias @ Merced Grove

Sequoias @ Merced Grove

Cabin

Cabin

Sequoias @ Merced Grove

Cabin

Sequoias @ Merced Grove

DAY 8: Glacier Pt., The Long Drive Home Waking up 30 minutes earlier so we could pack in one more sightseeing adventure, we entered the park one last time & drove up to Glacier Pt. While it was the wrong time of day for the best photographs, it was still a stunner. We arrived there pretty early in the morning, but not too early to prevent a crowd. I'd hate to see what it's like in the late afternoon...

The most stuffed my car has ever been

Sign @ Glacier Pt.

Yosemite Falls as seen from Glacier Pt.

Glacier Pt. view

North Dome, Basket Dome

Nevada Fall

1/2 Dome

Glacier Pt. pano

Glacier Pt. pano

Looking up the valley

Glacier Pt. view

Yosemite Valley far below

Still snowy in the high country

Nevada & Vernal Falls

We then drove back up the hill to Washburn Pt., where you can get a sharp angle of 1/2 Dome.

Half Dome as seen from Washburn Pt.

Half Dome as seen from Washburn Pt.

Liberty Cap w/Nevada & Vernal Falls

Half Dome as seen from Washburn Pt.

Then, the long ass drive home. Uneventful, except for a brief stall on the 210 in L.A. during heat & stop 'n go traffic. Back in town, my companion was uninterested in finishing off the trip right, so I had to go by myself.

Post "Yosemite, bitch!" marg

"No words will ever describe the exquisite beauty and charm of this mountain park--Nature's landscape garden at once tenderly beautiful and sublime. No wonder it draws nature-lovers from all over the world." --John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra

[wildernessed]

Lots of water this year, great photos, one of my best memories after a day of hiking was swimming with the kids in the Merced River when it was over a 100 degrees late season.

[Magellan]

Very, very cool. Thanks for sharing BC

[Ski]

[Mesahchie Mark]

Awesome - great pics! Been 11 years since I've been there - gotta go back now!

[Gimpilator]

Thanks for all that you put into this report. I enjoyed it. Have not been to Yosemite yet, myself.

[Bloated Chipmunk]

Thanks everyone!! Glad y'all enjoyed the report. This one took awhile to write...or more specifically, it took a long time to do the photo part.

[zephyr]

Great report. I appreciate all the info and details. Great photos too. This one was a little nerve-wracking. Vertigo anyone?

[Frodo Barefoot]

Very nice! Nothing more fulfilling than a realized dream, especially one this long in the making!

[olderthanIusedtobe]

[olderthanIusedtobe]

Looks like a great trip. Yosemite is one of a kind. Next time ya gotta check out Tuolumne Meadow part of the Park...

[olderthanIusedtobe]

Did you see California ground squirrels? They were everywhere in the Valley when I was there. Cute as can be, but shameless beggars I think. I'm pretty sure they've figured out how cute they are.

[Bloated Chipmunk]

I saw some squirrels, & even got a pic of one, but for some reason even though it shows on my flickr pg., when I go post the pic here it doesn't even show up in the batch/album or photostream. For whatever reason that appears to be the only uncooperative photo. Anyway, it was too busy munching on a plant to beg anything from me. I watched the cutie for a bit until it lost its footing & slipped off the rock it was on, exposing its fat belly while it tumbled down & then scampered off. Yep, Tuolumne Meadows is a possibility for this fall. Yes, hwy. 140 is the one we took back 'n forth into the park everyday. I knew of a couple sections that historically are known to slide, but this sounds like maybe a slightly different spot. Sure thankful that we weren't caught in that!

[zephyr]

[Bloated Chipmunk]