Month: October 2010

We arrived late on Friday for Labor Day weekend. The campgrounds close to the valley were full and it was almost midnight when we found a spot at Yosemite Creek, down a 4-mile dirt road. We were relieved.

The next morning:

We planned to do the tourist circuit in the valley, see the major sights and do some easy hiking. We slept in and took our time on Saturday, and after a hour of driving, arrived in the valley around noon.

First stop: Bridalveil Falls with a trickle of water left, but just enough.

We played around on the rocks below, but they were too slippery, having been polished by millions of tourist shoes.

So Leilani got her wish, and we stopped to play in the stream further back along the “trail.” You have to look closely at this picture:

We found parking near Curry village and got supplies (the only things we didn’t have in our well-packed car were chocolate ice cream and firewood). Nearby were some very unafraid deer–our first Yosemite “wildlife:”

Andy looked at a map and found an easy afternoon hike to Mirror lake. First we took a shuttle bus (which Leilani loved), then we walked on the old road. As soon as we could, we got on a trail. In the background to the left here is North Dome, but before we knew the name, Leilani said it looked like a volcano (which it did) so Andy called it Volcano Dome. But then Leilani said it looked like a birthday cake (which it didn’t) so she called it Birthday Cake Dome.

Mirror Lake, with the Watkins Pinnacle (I think):

Next to Mirror lake was a garden of cairns, I suppose so people can satisfy their urge to leave a cairn in Yosemite, without having stacked rocks all over the park. Some were really impressive:

Next to Mirror Lake, which was starting to look like a mud puddle in places, there was a wide spot in the river which was perfect for Leilani to swim. She had been looking forward to this all day, no matter how cold the water was.

Nearby was a beach, too. She was very happy to spread out her towel and lay in the sun:

And all around was a spectacular view of the valley, here looking up at Half Dome:

By the time we got back to the road, the sun was getting low, creating beautiful colors:

Driving out of the valley, we had to stop to look at El Capitan. Andy spotted the climbers, and Sonja’s new zoom lens got the picture:

The second image is a separate zoomed photo, not an enlargement of the first. But the rectangle shows where the climbers are located. They have a porta-ledge tied to the rock for sleeping on. This being a popular weekend, there were other climbers on the cliff as well.

On our 2nd day we decided to get an early start so we could do an all-day hike. We drove to the valley at 8am and had a picnic breakfast and coffee at Curry Village. Then we took the shuttle bus and started on the John Muir Trail. This picture is later, at the junction to the Mist trail to Vernal Falls:

We really tried to encourage Leilani to keep hiking, with stories about John Muir, the John Muir trail, and where she could go swimming later. But she still wanted to take “breaks” so she could climb on the rocks near the trail. She is really a good climber, finding the right hand and foot holds.

This was a crowded weekend in Yosemite. The campgrounds were full, the parking lots were full, the shuttle buses were full, and we chose the most popular hike. So it was rather strange for us, who usually avoid crowds, and we were amazed by the number of hikers more than a mile from the trailhead:

Leilani loved hiking on the stairs: hiking and climbing on the same trail. Soon we reached the bottom of the waterfall:

We left the trail to explore, and soon found a big flat rock at the bottom of the falls, with almost nobody else (except someone to take our picture):

The rocks and the water are fascinating to watch, we stopped at several places on the way up to take more pictures.

And the rainbow was amazing:

Leilani continued to climb the steep steps up the side of the waterfall. This was Leilani’s first hike of 1000 feet (300m) of elevation gain and she really surprised us with her strength and stamina:

At the top of the waterfall:

We stopped for a picnic and a splash in Vernal Pool, a small lake above the waterfall. Swimming in the lake is actually forbidden, and we taught her never to swim above a waterfall, so she was happy to just splash in the water.

On the way down, we stopped for more pictures of the waterfall and rainbow:

By the end of the hike (a little over 4 miles), Leilani was tired but we talked her into finishing the hike on her own, so that she could say she did the whole hike “on her own.” This may sound patronizing, but I (Andy) wanted her to really feel the sense of accomplishment instead of being carried. And I was really proud of her for doing the whole hike, especially the 1000 feet. Her reward was another shuttle bus ride and a trip to the Yosemite swimming pool.

Waiting for the bus, what a great view (“Volcano Dome” again):

The swimming pool was more of a disappointment. Sonja and Leilani spent most of the time waiting for a shower in the locker room, and the water felt cold because it was in the shade of the big cliffs already. And then we got stuck in the 5 o’clock traffic jam in Yosemite Valley.

But we made it back to our campsite plenty before dark, and made a nice fire and cooked potatoes and veggies wrapped in foil on the coals (thanks to Lisa for showing us that recipe).

Monday, third and final day of the long weekend. We woke up early and got moving (well, some of us) before it got warm:

Before we packed away the tent, Lelani decorated it with a flower. This was an idea I (Andy) had last year: why not count the number of camping nights with fabric markers on the tent. Sonja and Leilani decided to decorate it instead with two flowers for each for night (they each draw one):

After all was packed, we hiked to some rocks right near the campground. It was the typical glacial boulders on granite outcroppings, which are always fun to climb on and around. Guess who climbed the highest one:

Before leaving, we drove around the campground and realized it was really big, and probably really full. There were some really nice spots by the stream, but we were happy to be on the edge away from the crowds. And we were also glad we didn’t have a camping spot in Yosemite valley. It would’ve saved us some driving, but they were really packed in, right by roads, and looking really dusty.

On the road down, we saw the sign for the grove of giant sequoias (is that redundant?) and decided at the last minute to go hiking here instead of up at Glacier point.

There were even some wildflowers:

Leilani turned some lichen into a fashion bracelet:

After a mile walk on the old road to Yosemite, we reached the sequoia. They always take your breath away. Sequoia are the largest living single stem organisms in the world. This picture is a composite of 2, because the trees never fit into one picture.

Close up:

This one was already dead when they cut the tunnel through it so that stage-coaches on the old road could drive through.

We didn’t see much wildlife so we resorted to photographing chipmunks:

Back at the trailhead, Leilani sits on the reproduction of a trunk, showing tree rings going back to Roman times BC (the trees live over 2000 years).

We stopped for lunch with a view on the road to Glacier point, made famous by Ansel Adams’s photos:

Further along the road, we finally saw a bear. It crossed the road with some food in it’s mouth (you don’t want to know what it was eating), and went down into the forest to eat. We found a spot to park and were fortunate to have a safe spot to watch it. It must be a small juvenile, probably from last year now on his own:

We finally made it to Glacier point in the afternoon, none of us had ever been there. The views were spectacular. Mt Starr King(actually from the road before Glacier point):

And Half Dome with Vernal falls below it to the right in the forest:

Leilani spotted this grouse:

We climbed around on the rocks and enjoyed the views for a long time:

I tried to take Leilani “on top of” Half Dome:

While we were sitting here, Leilani ran off and played with the boy, daring him to climb as high as she did. I had to go make sure she was safe:

There were lots of people gathering to watch the sunset, but we left early to go back down. We decided to stop back in the valley for pizza before the drive home. Unfortunately, that was really slow and it was 9 o’clock by the time we got in the car to drive home.