After leaving Los Angeles, we bypassed King’s Canyon and Sequoia and went directly to Yosemite National Park. We had heard that the peak season would be something to avoid since it is one of the busiest parks, and it was to start in the next seven days. We were glad we made the decision to go early even though it meant backtracking to get to the other national parks in California.
The drive there was particularly interesting. To get to the west side of the park, you have to drive about eight miles of steep and incredibly curvy roads.
Scott handled it like a champ, but he was pretty worn out when we arrived.
We stayed at a fantastically cool RV park there (Yosemite Pines). We had a nice big open space, there was a nature walk, and we had a fire pit that we used every night.
Beautiful weather let us open all the windows and doors when we were at home.
Of course, if you ask Keali, she’ll tell you that the highlight was the petting zoo, complete with alpacas and goats and some hours old baby bunnies.
Petting zoo!!
At one point, she was taking the alpaca on a walk through the RV park. I’m still unsure how that happened
For the rest of us though, the highlights were in the park. Yosemite was stunning. I had expected some mountains and whatnot, but I was not expecting the pure size of the place. The granite domes and glacier-cut valleys were absolutely breathtaking. Every day we drove in, we were treated to the largest waterfall in North America. The place took me completely by surprise. I know now why it is one of the busier national parks!
We took some great hikes including one that took us on a several mile hike, part of which was alongside a waterfall. Featured as one of the ten most beautiful hikes in the country, the name of it was Mist Trail (Vernal Falls).
Whoever named it clearly did not hike it before naming it, or it would have been named something more appropriate, like Drenched Trail or perhaps Buckets-of-Water-Falling-On-Your-Head Trail. The kids loved it far more than my hamstrings. Still, it was extremely fun and challenging.
The last picture before we all got soaking wet in the “mist”.
That particular day, we were meant to go on another hike but after consulting one of the rangers, we decided to not go due to an incoming heavy thunderstorm. Later that same day, a young climber fell to his death climbing the Half Dome. I think people forget that nature is really just trying to kill us.
Yosemite treated us to our first giant sequoia trees. We had no idea that what we would later see at Sequoia National Park would dwarf the ones in Yosemite.
One of the smaller sequoias.
Another great memory of the visit to Yosemite was visiting the Miwok Native American museum. We were lucky that there was a member of the tribe there to share knowledge and information. We learned how to start fires, feed from pine cones, make arrowheads from the obsidian, and more. It was one of my favorite parts of the park.
Yosemite far outperformed my expectations. It’ll definitely be a contender for top five favorite parks.