To get to Yosemite National Park from here in Lee Vining, we need to get over the mountains. There are several passes to do this, the closest one being Tioga Pass. Its a mere 12 miles to the gates of Yosemite that route. However, ALL of the passes have been closed for snow cleanup since we've been here.
We had been watching the status of the passes daily, and when we learned that Sonora Pass would be open last Wed, we were excited to think we actually could get to Yosemite, though it would take 6 hours instead of 2. That's ok! So, I frantically looked for a hotel for one night, but it seemed there was nothing available under $250! WOW! Then, the thought occurred to us....let's try a cabin at a campground! That worked, and we got a reservation for Thursday night. Perfect! We were so happy. We would go to Yosemite Thursday, stay over Thursday night, and head back home on Friday. On Wednesday, we double-checked that Sonora Pass would be open, and guess what? Tioga Pass was opening Wed. at noon!!!! That meant that we would be able to go over Tioga Pass (just 2 hours to Yosemite Valley!) to explore Yosemite. We were ecstatic! Are we lucky or what? (P.S. We weren't so lucky with the weather though, as storms were predicted to affect the passes by 11am on Friday! We planned to leave first thing Friday morning...just in case...those roads are scary when they are dry. Anyway, update: These passes all closed on Friday evening and have been closed now for days and we would have been stuck for days! Its Monday, and the passes are still closed! We were happy that we paid attention to the weather, and made the executive decision to leave first thing Friday morning.)
So...Thursday we got up at dark o'clock, and left at sunrise for Yosemite! The drive over Tioga Pass was just beautiful. Lots of snow in parts, but the road was just fine. We passed Tuolumne Meadows, which was filled with snow and water. The snow melt was in full force and there was water everywhere! The lakes were stunning, especially Tenaya Lake, which was so calm that the beautiful surroundings were mirrored in the lake. We weren't going to stop on Tioga Pass, since we had a full day planned in Yosemite, but we just couldn't resist.
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| Tuolumne Meadows |
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| Tuolumne Meadows |
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| Tuolumne Meadows |
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| Tioga Lake |
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| a marmot busy in the early morning here |
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| Tioga Lake...the sun just coming up over it |
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| Tenaya Lake (from left) |
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| Tenaya Lake (to right) |
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| Tenaya Lake (wish I had the "stitching" app so I could give you a panoramic shot of this beauty) |
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| Tenaya Lake (the far right end) |
Another stop we made along Tioga Pass was Olmsted Point, from which you can see some of the granite spires in Yosemite Valley. Just gorgeous views. The drive was a bit of a white-knuckler for me near this point, but the views lowered my blood pressure:)
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| note all the water along the side of the road...snow in various stages of melt! Everywhere! |
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| heading to Olmsted Point |
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| view of the granite spires of Yosemite Valley |
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| the views all around are stunning (oh, and its freezing up here!) |
Tom had to really pay attention on the drive, what with the water pouring off the mountains and leaving icy spots to deal with. The temperature was below freezing as we traveled, since it was still pretty early. Of course, there is always wildlife to be aware of too!
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| a common scene along the road...water rushing down over the rocks |
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| where the water pools |
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| heading back into the woods |
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| the only bear we saw was unfortunately along the side of the road, in a heap....looked like a big stuffed animal....very sad |
After just about 2 hours, we started heading down into Yosemite Valley. We spotted several waterfalls, and of course the beautiful granite spires. The Merced River was flowing like gangbusters. Woah! The scenery was just breathtaking!
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| heading down into Yosemite Valley...lost of waterfalls along the way |
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| Merced River flowing down with the Half Dome and Ribbon Falls in the back |
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| Ribbon Falls???? |
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| the rapidly flowing Merced River |
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| El Capitan...straight ahead |
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| Horsetail Falls????? |
Our first stop was the Visitor Center, as always, and though we were prepared to hike, the hikes here are either really easy, or really strenuous. The area is either flat valley, or soaring granite a few thousand feet above the valley floor. Knowing that we only had one day to explore, due to the incoming bad weather the next day, we opted for some of the short walks in the valley, and a trip up to Glacier Point. (Like I would have climbed up the Half Dome!!)
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| Upper Yosemite Falls |
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| beautiful granite spires |
We headed out first to the Lower Yosemite Falls, which was a lovely stroll through the woods and roaring streams to get to the base. The view of the Upper Falls and Lower Falls together was awesome. The pictures just cannot capture the sound and fury of the raging waterfalls. Unbelievable!
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| view along the way to the trail |
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| so powerful....the Upper Yosemite Falls |
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| there is a shuttle that can take you around the park, but we walked...this is a shuttle stop |
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| nice and shady! |
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| so much water in this park!! |
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| the money shot...Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls |
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| awesome! |
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| the Lower Yosemite Falls |
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| you can feel the spray from the mighty falls |
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| feel the spray on the bridge too....overlooking the ravaging stream from the waterfall |
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| beautiful |
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| so much water rushing downstream |
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| Tom taking a shower...hahahha...quite a heavy spray from the falls! |
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| powerful! |
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| the walk was really pleasant...lots of trees and water |
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| water everywhere...though the stream has slowed down a bit here |
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| the trees are so tall |
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| very tall! |
We then walked the trail along Cook's Meadow, and were awed by some fabulous views of the Valley, surrounded by the granite spires and waterfalls. Everything was so green too! We still aren't used to that yet, being that our "home" is still in high desert.
We enjoyed our little nature walk, checking out the tadpoles in the water-filled areas of the meadow. The beauty of the valley is indescribable. Hence, the millions of pictures.
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| walking around the meadow with stunning views everywhere |
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| pretty |
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| the Merced River....raging! |
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| looks like a lot of water this year |
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| not sure of the name of this waterfall |
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| see the three tadpoles? |
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| Upper Yosemite Falls again |
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| we could see so much from this meadow walk |
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| lots and lots of water...thankful for the boardwalk in some places |
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| another view of the Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls |
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| this place is gorgeous |
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| pretty tall! |
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| amazing place! |
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| the views area all incredible |
We both really enjoy nature, so bear with us for the unusual (to us) pinecones and of course, the young deer we spotted during our walk.
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| ranger-led tours are available to see the sights |
On our way out of the valley stood El Capitan. We of course got out of our car to view it from the field across the street, and we chatted a bit with a couple sitting in their lawn chairs watching climbers. They said they do that frequently, and come back at various times to check on the progress of the climbers since it takes THREE DAYS to climb El Capitan! The views of the other side of the field were just as beautiful as well. Not sure if there are names to those "faces" of granite, but they are just beautiful.
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| El Capitan - there are climbers there but I couldn't see them |
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| across the meadow from El Capitan.....the views are equally great |
On our way up to Glacier Point, we stopped at the pullout for the Tunnel View of the valley. I have no words! See the pictures below.
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| breath-taking, isn't it? |
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| view down the valley |
Still farther along Glacier Point Road, we viewed across the other side of the mountains, which is also magnificent. It is so beautiful here.
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| the views along the other side of the mountain |
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| the brown trees are due to the drought! |
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| driving through the forest |
After about a half hour, we were at Washburn Point, for more fantastic views. The Nevada and Vernal waterfalls were just across the way, and just gorgeous. Flowing full force! If we had more time, we would have hiked to the lower bridge near Vernal Falls (the easy hike), but we were thrilled with the views we had from Washburn Point. The view of Half Dome was pretty incredible as well! All the views.....just amazing! We saw another waterfall, not sure which one or if it even has a name or is just snow melt. Who cares? The views are just spectacular.
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| View from Washburn Point-Nevada and Vernal Falls across the way |
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| it looks like a painting, doesn't it? |
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| Half Dome |
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| see the waterfall in the middle? |
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| driving to Glacier Point...there is Half Dome straight ahead |
Glacier Point is at the end of the road....and the parking reminded me of the mall in NJ at Christmas time. People just sit in the car and block all traffic waiting for a spot near the walkway. Arg! Eventually, we scored a parking space and were rewarded with the most stunning views of Yosemite Valley...I really am speechless. It takes your breath away...really...and its not because of the altitude. Hopefully, some of the many pictures will tell the tale of natural beauty found here.
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| lots of lookout areas |
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| Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls |
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| closeup |
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| stunning |
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| view of the valley from Glacier Point |
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| takes your breath away! |
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| more |
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| Half Dome and more |
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| the geological viewing point....I'm not going farther than this tree....its pretty scary...and I can see just fine from here...ahhaha |
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| An amazing place! Glacier Point! |
We had one more stop on our whirlwind tour of Yosemite, and that was Bridalveil Falls. We could walk up close to the base, and feel the heavy mist from the downpour. It was like being out in the rain....hahahah. Loved it! Next to the path, the water rages down the creek over lots of rocks. It quite a view, but pretty dangerous to climb out on the slippery rocks alongside the creek to get pictures. There are always a few fearless visitors doing the unthinkable. We walked down to the bridge and took some pics from there :)
As I'm looking at my pictures, I have no idea what that tall, thin waterfall is...maybe Ribbon Falls? It was near Bridalveil Falls. I really don't know the name of it...it just doesn't matter to me...but I sure do admire the beauty of it. An awe-inspiring place to be sure!
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| Bridalveil Falls...another misty spot! |
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| The falls are really "falling"...so much water! |
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| Ribbon Falls??? |
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| the runoff from Bridalveil Falls |
Heading back out of the park to our next adventure (the cabin!), we passed Cascade Creek and the Falls along the side of the road. We stopped again for a few minutes to view the falls. The power of water! Wow!
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| Cascade Falls |
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| Cascade Creek...and another awesome view |
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| close up |
We were sad to pass through a burned area, always disconcerting to me even though I know the naturally occurring fires are actually good for the forest. Not long after that, we were at the Yosemite Lakes Campground, where we had a reservation for just one night. We weren't sure what we would find with the cabin, but we were so happy with it! Very nice! (I think it was brand new!!!) The only really bad thing was NO WIFI and NO CELL services. Incommunicado....and we don't really like that at all! Especially when I neglected to leave the landline phone number of the place with those near and dear to us!
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| forest fire from 3 years ago |
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| no wifi, no cell service, but there is TV! |
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| "the great room" |
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| Tom will appreciate the taller shower!! |
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| the kids would have loved this (back in the day...like 20 years ago...hahahah) |
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| even a TV here too! |
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| heading out to the lodge to see if I can get wifi (ummmm, NO!) |
Though we had no bad weather on the two hour drive back over the mountain, it was still very stressful worrying about it. The weather changes on a dime in the mountains, and a clear, sunny day can turn ugly really quickly. Being that the drive is two hours, and weather forecasting is not an exact science, we were a little tense. The thought of driving on that road when its wet (or worse, icy or snowy) made my hair stand on end and my eyes twitch...hahaha. So though the storm was expected to begin at 11am, we were just arriving back home and were happy to be safe and sound. As we neared "home", the view of Mono Lake was shocking to us....the high winds blowing dust and creating whitecaps in the placid lake we've been watching for the past few weeks. Mother Nature....
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| check out the waves in the lake and the blowing dust! |
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| this is a close up....we are still pretty far away! |
