RATING: ♦♦♦♦♦
It was just a day trip, but wow! Our campground was in the foothills of the Sierras, with Yosemite just up the mountain. I say just up the mountain, but it was a 3 hour bus trip each way. Well worth it!
The bus dropped us off at the Yosemite Visitors’ Center in Yosemite Valley, which is the main place for tourists like us. The valley represents only 1% of the park area, but this is where most visitors arrive and stay.
The valley is 7.5 miles long, 1 mile wide, and 3000-3500 feet deep, surrounded by high granite summits such as well-known Half Dome and El Capitan. The valley is drained by the Merced River that is fed by a multitude of streams and waterfalls, including Yosemite Falls, the highest waterfall in North America.
We picked up some maps at the visitors center, then headed out to hike through nearby Cook’s Meadow. We were blown away by the majesty of the valley walls. Just spectacular! The meadow itself was beautiful, filled with wildflowers and milkweed plants that provide for the monarch butterflies that pass through the area.
We could see the Upper Yosemite Falls from the meadow, and not far away was a path to Lower Yosemite Falls. These are really the same waterfall, separated by a series of four smaller plunges collectively referred to as the Middle Cascades. There is relatively little water trickling over the falls in autumn. The best time to view the falls is, of course, late spring and early summer, but we were thrilled nonetheless.
Because we are old and cannot hike for long distances, we booked a 2-hour guided tram tour to see more of the valley. We love this sort of thing. If you get a good guide, you can learn so much about a place. We had a seasoned park ranger as our guide, and he was the best. Knowledgeable, engaged, and funny.
In addition to pointing out the highlights of what we were seeing, he explained how the valley was formed (glaciers). We learned to spot the difference between Red Cedar and Sequoia trees. We stopped to wade in the Merced River. And he taught us to yodel. The time went by way to fast. It was all so fun.
The most memorable part of the tour was what is known as Tunnel View. This is a large viewpoint area that looks eastward into Yosemite Valley. From this spot, you can see El Capitan, Half Dome, and Bridalveil Falls. I’ve run out of words to describe the awesomeness of this park, especially this view (picture at top of this post). It brought tears to my eyes.
We ended our day back at Yosemite Visitors Center. We watched a video about John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt and the creation of Yosemite National Park. These guys had a vision! Big thanks to them.