I had last week off, and it was unfortunate that our kids' spring break was two weeks earlier than my week off. I wrote earlier about our trip to Las Vegas which came about because of bad weather in the Sierra Nevadas, forcing us to cancel our three-day trip to Yosemite National Park.During the 1990s, I probably visited Yosemite about once a year on average. I just can't get enough of the grandeur and majesty of the valley, the scenic hiking, and being in the outdoors. My favorite season is the spring, when the melting snow results in rushing streams and powerful waterfalls. But my last visit was in 2002 (just after my wife and I were married), and I have been wanting to return ever since then.
I booked the reservations at the last minute because my mom agreed to go with me. She will be having a friend visit from overseas in about a month, and they have planned a trip to Yosemite and Las Vegas, and I convinced my mother to go so that I could show her some of the highlights of the park, and she could plan better for her trip with her friend.
I picked up my mom at around 7:30 in the morning, and we headed north on Interstate 5, over the mountains into the San Joaquin Valley. We branched off onto California Highway 99, and drove through Bakersfield and other smaller cities until Fresno, the largest city in the Central Valley. The shortest way from Los Angeles to Yosemite is along Highway 41, which travels northward from Fresno and enters Yosemite along its southwestern border. The drive along Highway 41 was especially scenic this year because of the spring rains, and the countryside was filled with green meadows and spring flowers. Occasionally we saw herds of cows right alongside the highway. I was also surprised to see billboards for a large Indian casino along the way, which apparently opened in 1983.
We arrived at the entrance to Yosemite National Park around 12:30 pm. Last week was National Park Week across the nation's federal parks, which meant that the normal $20 fee per car to enter Yosemite was waived (there were also a number of special activities going on in the park, which also coincided with Earth Day on Friday and John Muir's birthday on Thursday). There were, however, volunteers from a Yosemite nonprofit organization soliciting donations where cars normally stop at the park entrance to pay the park fee. (I appreciate the work that the Yosemite Fund does, but it seems to defeat the purpose of free admission when people who look like they work for the park service are asking for a contribution.)
Once you enter the park, the short two-mile drive to the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias is to the immediate right, while turning left leads you northward to Yosemite Valley and other points in the park. From California's large cities on the Pacific Coast, there are two other entrances to the main park, from Highway 140, which generally follows the Merced River from the city of Merced, and from Highway 120, which I remember as being more mountainous and passing through some scenic Gold Rush-era towns. One can also enter Yosemite Park from the east, climbing from the desert below the Sierra Nevada Mountains, near Mono Lake and the Mammoth Lakes resort area. This road is closed through the winter.
The drive along Highway 41 inside the park was filled with rushing streams along the side of the road from the melting snow in the Sierras. A month earlier, the park had been closed and electrical power was lost for about three days due to heavy snowfall. This was the reason why we canceled our family trip in early April-- we were afraid of unsafe road conditions, perhaps requiring snow chains, and limited activities and hiking because of the snow. Last week, although skies were clear as we drove through the Central Valley, light rain began falling as we entered the mountains.
It took about one hour from the southern park entrance to the Valley, passing the historic Wawona Hotel and the (closed) road leading to the Badger Pass ski area and Glacier Point, where one can look out across the valley from above. Driving on Highway 41, one passes through a long tunnel through the mountain and one arrives at Tunnel View, with a magnificent view of the Valley.
When we first arrived, there was a light drizzle, and mist across the front of the valley. Half Dome, on the far end of the valley, was mostly obscured. But after about ten or fifteen minutes, the skies cleared somewhat.After that, we continued into the valley toward the waterfall visible from Tunnel View. This waterfall, named Bridalveil Falls, is 620 feet high. A short trail from the parking lot leads you past a raging stream (in the springtime) toward the base of the falls, where the falling mist is more like a light rain. Experienced visitors were wearing rain jackets to avoid getting drenched by the spray.
After a couple of more stops, we arrived at our accommodations for the next two nights, Curry Village. Although the complex has both wooden cabins and canvas tent cabins, the wood cabins were all sold out. We checked in to our cabins, which are raised up on wood platforms and covered with canvas. There are two to four cots in each cabin, along with blankets, sheets, and pillows. As you might guess, there is no restroom in the tent cabin--there are several communal restroom buildings, with separate men's and women's rooms, throughout the complex, some with showers. It's kind of like camping, but without the bother of having to bring and pitch your own tent, and with some amenities included. It's a lot cheaper than a wooden cabin as well, with the cheapest price for the tent cabins about $40 for one or two persons, depending on the season and demand.
Unfortunately, when you are "roughing it," you also have to worry about wild animals. In Yosemite, that means bears (although I've also had my trail mix ripped open and eaten by raccoons many years ago when I left it underneath the car in a parking lot while I had locked myself out). The lodging company is very strict about food or other items like coolers, sunblock, and baby wipes which might attract bears. You are required to sign an agreement when you check in that you will not keep any such items in your vehicle or in the tent cabin (each cabin now has its own bear-proof food locker next to the door in front).
