Day 34: Yosemite National Park

Oh wow wow wow – words and pics cannot describe the magnitude and beauty of Yosemite.

Back to the best start to the best day. We woke at 5am, a beautiful sun rise, with the view to an early start. My only regret about visiting the majestic Lake Tahoe was that we had not seen the black bears, local to the area. Then, Wayne, who had been packing the car, ran in and shouted ‘bear’ – we all flew out the house and found the bears up the road. We were not only treated to mama bear but also baby bear. What a treat, no regrets!!!

With all the excitement, we left later than planned but we ‘bearly’ noticed it. We wound our way around the north eastern side of the lake before taking the road at a rapid descent down the Sierra Nevada mountains to Carson City, a city of Casinos and RV’s. Then we headed into cowboy and Indian territory, the setting for many old Clint Eastwood films.

Listening to Johnny Clegg vibes, we drove through scenic countryside with the vegetation ranging from Karoo type scrub to pine forests, snow capped mountains and the Mono and Topaz lakes.

It took us around 3 ½ hours to reach the park entrance. The drive up was breathtaking and a snippet of what was to come. The natural beauty of this World Heritage Site Park can be found in all things, gigantic and tiny. From the towering granite cliffs, pine and sequoia (found in the southern section and unfortunately we didn’t see them) forests to the beautiful wild flowers, squirrels and birds.

The diversity, moods, sights, smells and sounds make up the many facets of this phenomenal area.

The summer day was hot, it’s hard to believe that in winter the park is closed in many places due to snow fall. Near Porcupine Flat we stopped at a picnic spot next to a bubbling, cold stream. We were visited by a little chipmunk waiting for crumbs.

We then drove through massive pine forests, at places opening up to lakes or meadows of tiny wild flowers. Our next stop was the impressive Bridalveil falls, the water looks like it is evaporating as it cascades over the high cliffs. An impressive sight from near and far.

Then it was a steep drive, again through magnificent pine forests to Glacier Point and stupendous views of the famous Half Dome. The beauty was mind blowing with areas of double waterfalls, waferfalls below waterfalls.

Of the parks, 3000 square km, we barely scratched the surface, you could get lost here for weeks exploring this magnificent park. I echo the words of John Muir, “it is by far the grandest of all the special temples of Nature I was ever permitted to enter”.

Our descent out the park was a seriously windy, pine forested, road down to Mariposa. We bought braai meat at the North Fork Suprmarket and headed to our house at the Ponderosa. It sounds like we are in a series of Dallas clashing with Little House on the Prairie. Our house for the night was delightful, comfortable and well stocked, set on a large property, reminiscent of our highveld back home. We were on high alert for a while as there was a fire in the area and the vegetation was really dry but with fire engines, planes and helicopters dowsing the flames, the fire was quickly contained.