Monday 9 November 2015

Yosemite National Park – Yosemite Valley

The day after we drove Tioga Pass Road to Tenaya Lake a winter storm blew in from Alaska and dropped 18 inches of snow on the High Sierra closing the road for the season.
 
Down in Coarsegold we got a day of quite heavy rain, so our campsite changed from this.
 
To this!   California is suffering from an extreme drought and is desperate for rain so everyone was very happy about this.   As for us, well it was just like being at home!

Once the storm cleared, we headed back to Yosemite and on our way stopped at Wawona General Store for some hot chocolate.   Nearby is the gorgeous Wawona Hotel, it reminds me of the one in Dirty Dancing.   As you can see I took this before the storm.

Driving into Yosemite Valley we stopped at Tunnel View and were treated to gorgeous views of snow covered El Capitan and Half Dome.

Down in the valley we found a car park and set off to walk to the Visitor Centre, where we watched one of the informational films.   Once that was over, and I have to it wasn’t the best park film ever we’ve seen, we followed the trail to Yosemite Falls. 

Yosemite Falls is one of the worlds tallest waterfalls, dropping 2,425 ft into the valley. 

Upper Yosemite Falls.
 
Lower Yosemite Falls.

Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls

A marker commemorates the fact that in 1869 John Muir built a sugar pine cabin here and made it his home for two years. 

Our last stop for the day was Bridalveil Falls.   The Ahwahneechee called the area ‘Pohono’ or ‘Spirit of the Puffing Wind’.   The falls drop 620 feet into the valley and the wind sometimes pulls the water away from th cliff making it sway from side to side.
 
Often at this time of the year there is very little water flowing over the cliffs, but with all the rain and snow the day before it was flowing well when we got there.
 
Have fun, we are!

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