Last Day in Yosemite

Just as I got up on the last day, Jess ran by the tent and yelled "there's a bear!" Running outside I saw the bear ambling down the paved sidewalk by the bathroom. Just moseying through...The night before, the video shown in the ranger program was about The Ahwahnee Hotel. I learned a lot about its history and was glad when we stopped by on our way out of the Valley. Even though I had been there 2 days ago, I really paid attention this time to the architectural details that the video pointed out.The main dining hall was impressive.
Since we still had time to kill we walked along the Lower Yosemite Falls trail again to see the falls in the morning sun.
I liked this exhibit that showed the flow in different seasons. I think we came at the absolute perfect time when everything is raging.
Below is one of my favorite pictures of the trip. I was trying to take pictures of the flora and Jess felt the need to just jump in front of my shot. It actually ended up looking really cool.
Continuing with our nature sighting, there was a deer in the meadow by the falls.We then began the long drive back to the airport. We got there around 3:30 and my flight didn't leave until 11:00pm. It was my first red eye and it was exhausting. I got to Atlanta at 6:00am and could barely stay awake on my 3 hour layover. I finally arrived at 11:00am in Buffalo. The journey was long but at least everything was on time so I can't complain.
I had such an amazing time in Yosemite and I'm very thankful to Jess's family for having me along. I got to see a ton of stuff but the pace was very relaxing. Another major national park is now crossed off my list!

More of Yosemite Valley

After reviving myself with a quick lunch, I decided to take advantage of the parks shuttle system and go explore some more of the Valley.I went to the Visitor Center and read over the exhibits explaining Yosemite's history and also caught the park's movie "Spirit of Yosemite". I loved the video because it showed the park in the different seasons. I think winter would be so calm and peaceful (mostly because of the lack of people). I also caught sight of John Muir the founding father of Yosemite.Right by the Visitor Center is the Indian Village. Yosemite Valley was called "awahni" by the Southern Miwok. While this word has been the subject of many fanciful translations, Southern Miwok speakers contend it means "place like a gaping mouth," likening the shape of Yosemite Valley to that of a huge mouth. I also learned that the name "Yosemite" means literally "among them are killers" or "there are killers among them" and is a corrupted form of an American Indian word used to describe the Ahwahneechee people. Also nearby was the Pioneer Cemetery.I moseyed on down the valley floor past Yosemite Falls.I grabbed some souvenirs at Yosemite Lodge and then walked over to Camp 4.Camp 4 is a campground in Yosemite National Park. It became notable after World War II as the hangout for rock climbers with many spending months there (not necessarily legally). Physically unimpressive, Camp 4 was nevertheless a center of rock climbing development during the middle of the 20th century. Dozens of the most famous climbers in the world would congregate at Camp 4, learning from each other and trying out new ideas on Yosemite's walls. I wanted to check it out because it also featured in my Anna Pigeon book.
I once again hopped on the shuttle and went over to see Yosemite Chapel-the oldest structure in the park. The large meadow in front of the chapel used to be the hub of Yosemite Valley but it is now restored to just meadows. These are prone to flooding and I saw a fascinating exhibit on historic flood levels. The top of the marker in the picture below is as tall as me!! I cannot even fathom a flood that high.I then had to make my way back to meet up for dinner. After dinner we strolled by Yosemite Falls. There's a nice short trail to the base of them and you can get a nice mist off of them.

Mist and John Muir Trail

Well the original goal of this trip was to hike the Half Dome. However, it is only accessible when the cables are up and because of the nearly 200% snow pack this year, the cables were not up (until exactly a week after we hiked it I found out). Regardless we still decided to hike the trail because it still has a lot going for it.
Hidden Falls

The Mist Trail is one of the most popular short hikes in Yosemite. The hike follows the Merced River, starting at Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley, past Vernal Fall, Emerald Pool, to Nevada Fall. And boy was that river raging! It is called the Mist Trail for a reason and in the spring you are guaranteed to get soaked. After awhile you can barely see for all the mist and the trail is basically covered by running water.

I did manage to get shot of the falls when I finally emerged from the mist. The viewpoint at the top is gorgeous though because of the rainbow. It looks magical!

The river is raging up top and even spilling over the barriers!

Next up was Nevada Fall and you could see the mist from this one coming from a long ways away. This is one of my favorite shots.

I actually liked the side view of Nevada Fall better because you could actually see really well without a lot of mist obstructing the view.I have never seen a waterfall with such concentrated power (and I grew up by Niagara!). The water was literally shooting down from the mountain tops. All the falls and rivers were just roiling white.
Past Nevada Fall we stopped at the Emerald Pool for a snack break.
We finally reached the top where the trail splits off to Half Dome. There was a mule train passing through that was so cool! How awesome would that job be? After looking down from atop Nevada Fall we started our descent down the John Muir trail.
There were amazing viewpoints of Nevada Fall. Check out the sky-literally not a cloud in it.
I had so much trepidation about hiking Half Dome but after hiking the majority of the trail I am eager to come back and finally conquer it. I was expecting myself to be completely out of breath all the time from the elevation and altitude but I never once felt exerted. California's climate certainly agrees with me :)

Four Mile Trail

At the Visitor Center the day before we were looking over a relief map of the entire park and noticed there was a trail leading down from Glacier Point. A girl standing nearby heard us point it out and mentioned that she’d done it that morning and that the views were great and it took about 3 hours. With that ringing endorsement Jess, her dad, Daniel and I decided to descend. We got to see Half Dome:Many different angles of Yosemite Falls:

Cathedral Spires: and many different views of the Valley. We were picked up at the end of the trail by the rest of our party, exhausted but exhilarated. The trail is 4.7 miles with an elevation drop of 3,200 feet all downhill. The views were really great because there's such a different take on things than you get from driving along the valley floor. It was nice to get out of the car and get on a trail without a ton of other people around.

That night Jess and I walked through some employee housing and over to the LeConte Memorial Lodge. The LeConte Memorial Lodge was built by the Sierra Club in 1903 in memory of Joseph LeConte, one of the founding members of the Sierra Club, who died in 1901.

We also checked out housekeeping camp which is more rustic lodging area. Half of the tents were closed due to flooding though.

Mariposa Grove and Glacier Point Road

The next morning we drove down to Mariposa Grove. We stopped at the Tunnel View Overlook, which is said to be one of the most photographed vistas in the world. It was early morning so there was a mist to the Valley and it was just gorgeous. Arriving in Mariposa Grove, the parking lot was a welcome attraction as it was filled with many of the giant sequoias that make this section of the park so famous. We hiked out on a short trail to see:

Fallen tree:

Grizzly Giant: Most of the limbs on this thing are bigger than the majority of normal trees!!

Bachelor and 3 Sisters:

Tunnel Tree:It's so hard to take pictures of these trees because their scale is so immense and that's hard to capture in a picture. Here's us kids showing that the 4 of us only go about half way around the base!I thought this was such a unique section to the park and really showcased its diversity. It reminded me of Yellowstone where there’s a huge attraction of the thermal activity but there’s also Yellowstone Lake and Yellowstone Canyon with 2 waterfalls. This is why I love National Parks!

Driving back from Mariposa Grove we took the Glacier Point road out to a spectacular overlook. Glacier Point sits right above Curry Village and 3600 feet down from the viewpoint was our tents! You can basically look Half Dome in the eye and get a fantastic view of Yosemite Falls. It was my favorite viewing area in the park.