Yosemite - Finally

Correction: I attached the whirlygig to a CHAIR, not a CAR.

At 0-Dark-30 (actually 6:00 am) I was on the road to Yosemite. Cool and no traffic! Lots of traffic going the other direction, though!

I watched as I was driving at the sky turning pink over the foothills and into the mountains. Driving past the dry, barren flatlands up to the dry, barren rolling hills, I realized that part of the problem was that it was hot and getting close to winter and another part was the severe drought. Poor California!

I reached Yosemite fairly quickly, and made a stop at Inspiration Point. The valley was nestled in a covering of either mist or smog/smoke – either of which looked kind of pretty. Mist would burn off, smog/smoke would get worse. It got worse later on. Other than that, it was a gorgeous day – no clouds, kind of cool, at least in the morning.

I reached the valley an hour later and drove on the north side of the valley. I parked near Yosemite Village and took the shuttle to see where I should go. I decided the Mist Trail (or at least to the bridge) would be the trail I took.

A brief word here about Yosemite and the changes that had been made. The last time I was here (late 60’s?), National Park Service was giving a survey to every person who came through the valley to find out what they would like to see changed or remain the same in the Valley.

After a flood, earthquake and lots of rock slides, changes were made. Lots of changes. Roads were closed, parking limited and a shuttle is the best and easiest way to get around. Trails were rearranged and parking areas removed. It is no longer possible to drive to Happy Isles or Mirror Lake. Yosemite Falls has an entirely different arrangement now.

It used to have a huge parking lot at the end of the path to the falls. The path was a straight shot to the falls, so once you passed the canopy of trees, the falls opened up. Now, the parking lot is gone and the path has split into two, neither of which has the same open feeling it used to have. That is so sad. The fact that there is no water in the falls is even sadder.

The Rangers were saying that even Bridalveil Falls didn’t have water, but I took a picture early in the day that showed a small amount coming down. But you can see where the water was supposed to be, especially Yosemite Falls. This is a picture of Bridalveil Falls. Doesn't look like a bridal veil, does it!

So I rode the shuttle to Happy Isles, after stopping at my truck to get a walking stick and my small backpack. I went to the Happy Isles and ate a little lunch. Then I went up the trail to the bridge below Vernal Falls.

The .80 mile trail is .75 miles of up with .05 miles of down on the way to the bridge. It was hot and I did a lot of stopping on the trail, always trying to stay in the shade while sitting. There were a lot of sunny places and it was just too hot to sit in the sun.

I discovered that I am hideously out of shape. Disgustingly out of shape. Sorely out of shape. But by putting my treadmill on stroll, I was able to make it to the bridge. If you look closely on the left side of the granite between the trees you can see Vernal Falls, maybe an eighth of its normal size.

Then came the real problem. Going down. That .80 mile was .05 miles up and .75 down back to the road. My left knee isn’t well enough to support that much downhill, so I had to sit and try to work out the pain on the way down.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bitch and moan. I met a lady and her 70 year old sister who had just had two operations within the last year and she bravely made it to the bridge and back without complaint. I stopped complaining after talking to the two of them.

Although I was tired, hot and hurting, I tried to visit a couple of other places, but it was beginning to get to be too much. I did stop at Inspiration Point (now called Tunnel View) on the way out of the park and got some afternoon pictures to match my early morning shots. You can see the clouds in the distance just starting to come in.

Thus ended my first foray into my great adventure.