Yosemite National Park

We left El Dorado Hills a little after 7 am and headed south on Rt. 49 toward Yosemite National Park.  As usual when we travel, we like to avoid the four lane highways as much as possible.  Rt. 49 was perfect since traffic moved well at 55 mph and took us through some interesting small towns like San Andreas, Angel’s Camp and other small California mining and agricultural towns.  We especially enjoyed the towns in Calavaras County since both Mark Twain and Bret Hart have strong connections there.  When I get back home, I will have to read Twain’s Celebrated Bret Hart’s Angel’s Camp again.

We arrived in Yosemite around noon and stopped for the iconic photos of El Capitan and Half Dome among others.  At our first stop, we were pleased to see a young black bear walking along the edge of a wooded area.  We were able to get a snapshot of the bear before it reentered the woods.  We walked several short trails to vista points and to artifacts of the area’s rich history.  There were a number of people climbing El Capitan and some other rock faces.  There was also a cleanup event going on in which volunteers were picking up trash and giving the park a facelift.  Even though we were there on a weekday in the last week of September, the park was plenty crowded.  We walked out to Yosemite Falls (which weren’t falling because there had been no rain) and decided to catch the shuttle back to the parking area,  We were packed in like sardines!  Getting a parking space in some of the lots was a wild adventure as well.  I can’t imagine what the place would be like in peak tourism season.  We did notice that the great majority of visitors were European, many from Eastern Europe although many were from France too.

 

El Capitan

El Capitan

 

Half Dome

Half Dome

Cathedral Spires

 

Young black bear near El Capitan

On our way out of the park we stopped at the Mariposa Grove which has a stand of giant sequoia trees.  We took a hike of less than a mile up to a huge tree called Grizzley Giant as well as one called the California Tree that had a tunnel carved in many years ago through which a car could drive.  The tree is still living despite the tunnel and tourists can now walk through it.  The trees were massive and quite impressive.  Fires in the area were inhibited from around 1900 until about 1970 when forestry biologists that the nature of the forest was changing.  The National Park Service started controlled burns in 1970 and the health of the ecosystem was restored.

Mary in the California Tree

We drove to Fresno to spend the night before going to Sequoia National Park on Friday.  Dinner was at a local favorite, Don Pepe’s Taqueri.  The tacos were cheap ($1.89), filling and delicious.  The dining area was filled with customers and we were the only people there speaking English.  We got one each of pastor, chicken, asada and carnitas tacos that had soft wrappers and beans.  There was a bar with a variety of sauces although the tacos were great as the were.  We really enjoyed them.

We stayed at the Day’s Inn Fresno and will hope to leave fairly early for Sequoia on Friday morning.

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