We have visited our “last” Nat. Park of this trip: Yosemite. And what a beautiful final it was! Not that our trip is over: we have more than 2 weeks to go and plan to drive by some interesting places along the long way to the East Coast but as far as camping in Nat. Parks and hiking, it looks like this is it.
Yosemite, some 150 miles east of San Francisco, is one of the oldest, most famous and beautiful Nat. Parks in the US; it’s also the most visited. It deserves its reputation as the photos below will - I hope - testify. We explored 3 different areas: coming in from the southwest side and leaving the Park in the northeast. Yosemite is in the Sierra Nevada mountains and the most popular area consists of two mountain ranges with a beautiful, wide valley in between. We camped at relatively high altitudes. The valley itself is at about 1300m. Our first camp, close to Glacier Point was at 2200m, the second one was at 2000m and the last one was above 2600m. The air is getting thinner at these altitudes which - despite all the hiking we have under our belts - you notice when you go uphill.
After Yosemite, we drove north, passing by Mono Lake, to Carson City, Nevada, where my (Dutch) friend Pia is living. We spent a night at her beautiful house. On Sept. 27, we started our big trek east, but stopped for an hour in Virginia City, Nevada, a famous (and touristy) western town known for its silver mines, with lots of bars and saloons. Mark Twain immortalized it in “Roughing It”, in which he gives a hilarious account of his attempts at silver mining the area of Virginia City.
Below photos of our hikes in Yosemite and of the places we visited….
We bought new camping chairs (the previous set “disappeared" during a day of hiking while in Sequoia NP). They are pretty colorful and were the last ones available in a RiteAid drugstore, so we got at a 25% discount. Also, Betsie, healthy-looking, preparing a stir-fried dish in our little kitchen.
From Bridalveil Creek campground, we hiked to Ostrander Lake: 20.3km roundtrip. We ascended 640m. Highest point: 2685m. It took us 7 hours, one of the longest hikes we did during this tip
The hut by the lake is used only in winter by X-country skiers and hikers on snow shoes.
Betsie cooling her feet in the lake after 4 hours of hiking uphill.
A friendly young female park ranger who was solo-camping by the lake and picking up trash, was so kind to take our photo
Several vistas from the trail on our way down. Here you see the Clark mountain range
And here is the rear side of “Half Dome” (a famous rock you will see several more times below from different angles; it’s THE signature rock of Yosemite)
Shelf mushrooms, compared to Betsie’s hiking shoes
To identify these fungi, we will have to await my friend Phils’s expert opinion…..
Glacier Point it the best-known viewpoint in Yosemite; we drove up there on a beautiful morning and took a bunch pictures, see below
Here is Half Dome as seen from Glacier Point
You can actually climb it but it involves an overnight camping trip for which we were not really prepared. Using my optical plus digital zoom for the close-up photo on the left, you can actually see some people standing on top of Half Dome
Several photos of Yosemite Valley from Glacier Point. When you see smooth rock walls and round peaks, you know that during the ice age glaciers have chiseled these rocks smooth
Betsie at Glacier Point with Half Dome in the background; the top of Half Dome is about 2700m above sea level.
If you look closely at this telephoto of the top of Half Dome, you might be able to see some people (on the left side)
We hiked to Taft Point, another nice viewpoint
Looking down in the valley from Taft Point
Views of Half Dome as we were driving out of the valley
To the left is El Capitan (2300m), another one of the well-known Yosemite rock formations
El Capitan as seen from the valley
Yosemite Falls (Upper and Lower) are famous, except they were completely dry in September, so no picture (we’ll have to come back in Spring…..) Only Bridalveil Fall had water, see below
More tele-shots of Half Dome; the second one just when the setting sun was on it.
In the evening Betsie was working on her blog in the smoke of our campfire
El Capitan again, as seen in the morning during our bike ride in Yosemite Valley
And….. a bear in a tree above the bike path; it’s picking and eating apples
I also shot a Flip video of this bear in the apple tree. If you copy the link below in your browser, you should be able to see it. (You might be able to simply click on the link….) It’s not the greatest film making but it gives you a “live” experience of all the excitement about having a bear in a tree just above the bike path……
http://sharing.theflip.com/session/72e8e4eb4ec727ed03aabd9a829f1875/video/6415492
Our ride destination was Mirror Lake. In the past, you could see the reflection of Half Dome. However, there was no water, just dry sand: the bottom of the former lake….
And here is the third well-know rock feature in Yosemite: the Royal Arches…… (4 different views)
Famous photographer, Ansel Adams, worked a lot in Yosemite in the 1930s. We stopped by a gallery dedicated to his work and did some early Xmas shopping……
At altitudes above 2000m, it’s getting pretty cool at night, so we made a big campfire (one of the fun things you can do while camping; otherwise fires are a no no).
On our way to the third campground we stayed at in Yosemite, Tuolumne Meadows, you pass by Olmsted Point. Here some views….
We see our old friend Half Dome again from yet another angle…
We hiked to Elizabeth Lake; a pretty lake, almost 3000m above sea level
Trying to capture the red colors of this ground cover: bill berries
Elizabeth Lake; we followed the trail around it before hiking back to the campground
A doe (a female deer….. remember Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music?) with two fawns (baby deer)
And a hike to another lake; this one much longer (6 1/2 hours roundtrip). Destination: Cathedral Lake at 2900+ meters above sea level.
The “Cathedral” in the background
……and close up
……..and with 2 weary hikers in front…..
Cathedral Lake is the botton of a “Cirque” which is formed by glaciers. It is surrounded by a beautiful circular rock cliff (for which you really need a fish eye lens; or take a panoramic shot which I have not mastered yet). The circular shape is the result of wear and tear caused by glaciers. The cathedral itself was never covered by any glaciers as can by seen from its jagged peaks.
Other rock walls that were smoothed by glaciers
As we were leaving Yosemite, driving northeast on the Tioga Road, you pass by Tioga Lake; it comes just after the highest point on the road: Tioga Pass at 3031m)
Just outside Yosemite, you run into yet another natural wonder: Mono Lake; it’s like the Dead Sea in that it has a salt concentration that is 2.5 times that of the ocean. It’s the result of water coming in from various creeks over 1000s of years and then evaporating, thus gradually increasing the mineral contents of the lake water. Here you see the beautiful visitor center and a couple of photos of the lake
Calcium carbonate deposits in Mono Lake “grow” these jagged protrusions
Well, we finally left all these natural wonders behind us and descended on my Dutch friend Pia in Carson City, Nevada (close to Reno). She has a beautiful and very large home looking out over the hills. See some photos below……
Very close to Carson City, you find Virginia City, famous for its silver mines (also gold was found here). In the second half of the 19th century, many prospectors tried their luck here, including Mark Twain. The town, although touristy, is a beautiful example of the old West with covered wooden side walks and plenty of saloons. There were also lots of Harleys parked in the main street, belonging to tattooded guys with bandanas and motorcycle-babes. Reason: a motorcycle rally in Reno that was taken place the same weekend.
Betsie with some 19th century characters….
My last shot for this blog: driving on Interstate 80 going east at 60mph, just as the sun is setting, you can see the shadow of our camper projected on the shoulder.
Well, from now on, most likely, no more photos and reports of hikes, but mainly shots of sights we are seeing as we are driving east in the coming 2 weeks. (Today, we made good progress going east on Interstate 80: we left Nevada early this morning, passed through Utah (went by Salt Lake City) and are now in Wyoming on our way to Cheyenne. We did 473 miles today, 9-28. The weather is beautiful.)
All the best,
Henk and Betsie
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Haha, I like that apple picking bear. The flip video is bit shaky, but the link works fine for me.
ReplyDeleteCan't believe Yosemite was already your last NP, enjoy the last weeks and your trip back home!
looks like it's almost time to start planning the next adventure. xa
ReplyDelete