The Great Cathedral

"It was like lying in a great solemn cathedral, far vaster and more beautiful than any built by the hand of man." -- Teddy Roosevelt on camping in Yosemite Valley

Our morning began in stark contrast to the clime of the previous evening. I [Cristy] arose at 7 am because our tent had turned into a sauna and it was really too bright to ignore the sun. Allowing Mark to sleep just a little while longer I set about getting ready for the day's journey by tidying up the campsite and packing up the truck. Once Mark got up and we took down the tent we were off for Yosemite Valley. We had to get going so early because the drive across Tioga Pass, through Tuolomne Meadow, and into the Valley takes approximately an hour and a half. Now, we did have to stop at Tuolomne not only because it has a fabulous name that is fun to say /twal-oh-mee/ but also because we had been told it is one of the prettiest areas of the park. Since we weren't planning on using our second night at Oh Ridge we figured this would be our last change to heed this advice. It certainly was pretty and had we more time to spend in Yosemite we probably would have walked a trail or two and really taken it in. However, we had more exciting parts of the park to see. 

The drive into the valley is very much like the other drives I have so far described. The only difference is that we are at 9,000', it's 55 degrees outside and there's still snow on the ground. All in all slightly interesting when coupled with a barren area that had recently been part of a prescribed burn.

Upon entering the Yosemite Valley the view is spectacular! Every bit the awe-inspiring spectacle we had been expecting. Our first glimpse includes Bridalveil Falls to the right, Half Dome immediately in front of you, and El Capitan to the left. These three crowning jewels of the park invite you to explore further into the valley on the promise of better things to come. The closer you get to El Capitan, the more incredible this gigantic rock becomes. Once past this sentinel of Yosemite you catch a glimpse of the highest waterfall in the world, Yosemite Falls.

The park was not nearly as crowded as we expected for the Thursday before a holiday weekend. We were able to find a spot in the day use parking lot and walk to the visitor center. One of the great things about this park is that they have really figured out how to manage the crowds and maximize ease for visitors on foot. There is a bus system that loops the entire valley and many of the roads are closed off to general traffic allowing only official buses and pedestrians or bikes access. 

Our first waypoint was the Visitor Center for a quick preview and some souvenirs. We made it quick as our stomachs were reminding us that our only breakfast had been some tiny store bought muffins. The sandwiches were thoroughly satisfying and a terrific way to begin our day's activities. 

There are so many sights to see at Yosemite that we had to choose carefully given the amount of time we'd given ourselves in the park. It would be extremely easy to spend a week or more in the park, but we only had the rest of the day. We decided that El Capitan and Half Dome were a little more strenuous than we were prepared for and settled on visiting Yosemite Falls and Vernal Falls with a quick stop at the Ahwanee Hotel before leaving.

Yosemite Falls was breathtaking. There is a bridge that takes you to the foot of the falls. You're close enough to feel some of mist coming off of the falls, but far enough away that you won't get soaked. Those that know me well will know that this was not enough for me, especially since I could see others scaling the rocks in a bid to get closer to the foot of the falling water. It didn't take much to convince Mark and we quickly found the path the others were following and made our way across the jagged granite. It was AMAZING. To feel the awesome power of the thundering water and be cleansed by nature was just incredible. I loved it! Mark got cold, but he enjoyed it too.

We though about taking the trail up to the upper falls, but decided that since we had one more waterfall to visit we would come back if we had time. So, boarding the shuttle we made our way to the trailhead at Happy Isles. From here there are several routes you can take that lead you through various parts of the park, but we were on a quest to make it to the Vernal Falls. It is a 3 mile round trip from the beginning of the trail to the top of the falls and back. The change in elevation is 1,000 feet with most of the vertical climb occurring on the Mist Trail. This is easily the most famous trail and hiking it will result in your clothes getting wet. We're not talking damp or "misty" here, we're talking "I just jumped in the ocean for a swim" wet. It was glorious. Again, Mark got cold, but he got over it when we reached the top and lounged like lizards on the hot granite to get dried off. 

I'm not going to lie, it was a tough climb. I kept seeing these "less in shape" tourists [I'm trying to be nice] coming down from top as we were huffing and puffing our way up and thought to myself am I really in such bad shape? Then it was our turn to come down and I realized that given enough at the top to recuperate, anyone can look like they're in the best shape of their lives as they descend. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad that Mark and I pushed ourselves to go the extra .3 miles to reach the top. Yeah, close to 600 feet in .3 miles.  Just as challenging as it sounds.

Pleased with ourselves at having completed the trail we happily plopped ourselves in seats on the shuttle so that we could see the famed Ahwanee Hotel. We could see the attraction the moment we pulled up. It was very pretty and historic looking. I understand why people love staying there and are willing to spend hundreds of dollars a night to stay there. The hotel has history, it is well taken care of, and the location cannot be beat. Just beautiful. Maybe someday...

Having seen what we wanted to see it was time to bid the majesty of Yosemite adieu. Since we had already decided [at approximately 8:30 the previous night as we were lost en route to Oh Ridge] that we would not be using our second reserved night at Oh Ridge, we headed west toward an acceptable midpoint between Yosemite and Healdsburg. That midpoint ended up being Manteca, CA. Yeah, you read right...Lard, CA. Not as bad as it sounds actually. We found a Holiday Inn Express, ordered a pizza, and enjoyed our first hot showers in several nights. It was nice and we appreciated that it probably would not be a pattern that would be followed for larger chunks of our trip later on. 

We went to bed with full tummies and clean hair ready to head the next morning to Healdsburg, CA. Healdsburg is heaven on earth and happens to be the sight of Mark's parents' home. We're spending the holiday weekend with them before continuing north to Redwoods and then on to Seattle. Pacific Northwest, here we come!