Vacation Day 9 A walk through the valley of Yosemite


 Rich woke up again today!

The guys tried to sleep in again today, but we had things to go and do.  We might be on vacation, but we have limited time that we are here to see the sites.  Up, up with you two.

We went to the restaurant here as usual for breakfast.  Lately, we’ve been having Michael serve us.  He doesn’t seem all that interested in serving, but he seemed to like the tips.  I had the blueberry pancakes, while Rich got an omelet.  Rick got the biscuits and gravy.  The gravy was really good.

We headed out of the lodge and up the winding road that took us to another winding road into Yosemite National Park.  Yesterday, we had scouted what we wanted to do and how to get around.  We headed directly to the visitor’s parking at the valley floor.  From there, we rode the park bus to the different stops that we wanted to make.

First up, we headed to Mirror Lake trail.  Rich had done some reading and found that you should really go up the back and come down the front.  The back was an actual trail of dust, rock, and horses to get up to Mirror Lake.  The vistas along the way were worth it.  We got to see Half Dome several times and get some great shots.

A pack from a horse tour came down the mountain.  Some of the horses definitely had mule in them.  Probably so that they are better to handle on the mountain.  Less exciting for a rider than getting thrown from a horse onto the rocky path.

We shared the path with several other hikers.  One guy was hiking his way across the U.S.  He started out from Florida.  At the Pacific Ocean, he would be done.  Not far now.  Another hiker turned out to be a British guy touring Yosemite for a few days before his conference in San Francisco.  Rich figured it was the Oracle conference.

Mirror Lake turned out to be a little disappointing.  It had been a very warm and dry winter out here.  Several of the falls weren’t running.  We had heard that Yosemite Falls would probably stop running in a month so since there was so little water.  The lake was narrow and not very deep.  It definitely wasn’t the lake that the tourists had boated on in the 1870s. 

The carriage terminal was still there where the carriages stopped to let out the tourists.  The boat house and the ice house for winter harvesting were gone.  The lake was very reflective of Half Dome and North Dome.

Going down the front was an easy downhill on a paved road.  It almost felt like cheating.  Of course, we still had to get down the 200 feet incline and then to the bus stop.  It was hot out there.  Turned out to be 94 where we were.  Before we left the park, the temp was reading 97.  Thank goodness for camel paks.  You need a ton of water on a day like this.

We hopped the bus again for the trip around to Yosemite Falls.  We were only going to hike the Lower Falls.  With the heat, it was a good idea.  The trail was pretty full of people coming and going.  We ran into a group of elementary school kids on a trip with their teacher and parental chaperones.  Didn’t look like anyone was keeping them under control.

We got to the lower falls and could see a bunch of people making their way up the rocks along side the falls.  This was not the designated way to get to the top.  With the spray from the falls, it was definitely a lot cooler. We headed back down the other side of the trail.  We could hear music playing from the lodge at the falls.  Later, we saw a middle aged couple dressed up riding the bus.  Figured they must have gotten married and that’s what we heard.

Most of the tourists were actually British, Japanese, or a smattering of others, such as French or German.  Not too many Americans yet.  We heard in conversation around us that the schools weren’t out until mid June around here.  Probably explained why so few Americans here.

We stopped at the deli in the village for lunch.  Some nice sandwiches and cold drinks.  The ground squirrels came by to visit a few times.  They tried very hard to get something to eat.  We heard several different languages and conversations around us. 

From here, we drove back out of Yosemite to Evergreen Lodge.  Just beyond the lodge, we headed to the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir.  This is a valley very similar to Yosemite that the city of San Francisco dammed up to make a reservoir for their drinking water.  Back in the day, John Muir fought the politicians to keep this from happening.  However, no one thought of preservation back then and only to exploit the resources.  That wouldn’t happen now!  So they lost what would have been the sister half of Yosemite to progress.

The drive out there was a little harrowing.  The road was narrow and very steep.  You can start seeing the dam from far away.  We arrived and parked.  A ranger appeared to be patrolling the dam for anyone trying to do anything to the water supply.  There is no swimming or anything that touches that water.

At the other end of the dam, there was a tunnel used for the train to bring in supplies and provide access to that side of the dam.  We walked through it to the other side of the dam.  You could see one of the water falls that supplied water.  The other one was dry at the time.  We hiked a ways over to the waterfall, but the elevation was pretty high and we came back. 

We came back to the Evergreen Lodge after that.  It was only a few miles up the road.  Rick and I took a swim in the pool that was right outside of our door.  After sitting in the hot tub, we got dressed and went to dinner.  Rich had the half chicken and I got the salmon with smoky grits.  It was wonderful.  Rick got the muffaletta sandwich. 

After dinner, we wondered up to the Recreation Building to log on to WiFi.  The doors were all open, so the mosquitoes were everywhere.  Right off the back of the building, the kids were enjoying S’mores in the fireplace.  Sounded like a lot of fun.  I finished up and headed back to the cabin.  Time for some rest before another big day tomorrow.

 

Rick and Rich waiting for the park bus to take us to Mirror Lake.

 

 

 

One of the many great views we had of Half Dome from the Mirror Lake Trail.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This is the path we came down to reach Mirror Lake.This is Mirror Lake with North Dome in the background and reflected.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rick was standing on the old carriage terminus where the passengers disembarked in the 1870s.
 
Thank goodness for camel baks! We had plenty of water for our hikes in the 97 degree heat.
 
We hiked to Lower Yosemite Falls. That was far enough in the heat.