Yosemite: Day 2

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

 

With a few clouds in the sky it seemed like a good day to take the hour long 30 mile drive to Glacier Point, where we were told we would have some of the best views of Yosemite Valley. Being such a mild winter the road opened early this year, as some years they don’t get the snow cleared off until June.There are numerous pullouts and overlooks along the way, and several hiking trails.

 

Not thinking about how much cooler it would be once we got out of the valley at 4,000’ up to 7,200’, we weren’t dressed warmly enough for hiking in the chilly 46 degree wind, so we decided to just enjoy the views and hike later in the afternoon when we got back.

And the views were incredible.

But then we always love the feeling of being on top of the world. These are Vernal and Nevada Falls from the Washburn Overlook just before you get to Glacier Point.

They would become our goal for the next day.

 

But we were more fascinated with staring into the face of the famous Half Dome.

I am in awe of anyone who makes it the eight to nine miles to the summit, especially climbing up the cables on the last 400 feet.  The cables went up early this year, May 2nd. Normally it is the Friday before Memorial Day until anyone can go up. With maximum zoom we could see at least six people up there. We will never be one of them.

  

From the end of the .3 mile trail out to Glacier Point you get a nice view of Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls.

 

And a peek down into the valley.

 

On our way back we stopped at the Tunnel View overlook, an iconic Yosemite scene just outside of the one mile Wawona tunnel.

Massive El Capitan on the left with Half Dome in the distance.

We could also see Bridal Veil Fall from there, but that was as close as we got to it, since we tried to stop and take the half mile hike to the base but there was no place to park. The crowds were beginning to get to Jim by this point. We tried to keep people out of our photos since that is not how I want to remember Yosemite.

After lunch we set out from our campsite to take a hike along Tenaya Creek and up the canyon past Mirror Lake.

 

 

One of the rangers told me it was his favorite hike because there was a good chance of seeing wildlife but we didn’t have much luck. In fact does this even count?

 Stay tuned as it gets better on our last day in the park.

One more thing I want to mention. When Jim was trying to connect to the internet from the campground he noticed our 5 month old Verizon Jetpack mifi device was no longer flat on the bottom, an indication that the battery inside had swollen. He contacted the seller who said they would send out a new one priority mail but we weren’t sure where we were going next and we needed to look up a post office to receive general delivery. We stopped at Yosemite Lodge on the way to Glacier Point and paid $5.95 for 24 hours of wifi access. Unfortunately it was so slow we could barely complete a search, but finally did figure out our next destination and a post office address. So be warned if you really have a need for internet in Yosemite it is less than ideal.