Yosemite National Park

We were up before dawn to get to our pick up point in the city and at this time of morning around 6:30ish it was quite chilly. As we got under way the day turned out to be an absolute beauty, perfect blue sky with not a cloud to be seen.

The trip takes about 4 to 5 hours, including stops each each way, so I was hoping that this would be worth it. We were on a mini bus that had the maximum on board of 13 passengers. I probably slept for at least a couple of hours on the way there.

The first hour or so was on a 10 lane highway that went into 8 before we eventually got down to single lane each way. Not a lot to see for the first 3/4 of the trip but the last quarter as we got closer to Yosemite, the landscape changed from featureless and treeless paddocks to more mountainous countryside with different kinds of pine trees. Apparently, in this area as in the Park itself there are brown bears, which are not overly dangerous unless you get between a cub and mother bear. We didn't see a one at all, which is quite surprising as they are generally around.

We also got lucky with the fact that there had been several thunderstorms the day before and the waterfalls were flowing well which is not always the case at this time of year.

Once we got to the Park the bus headed to Bridal Veil Falls, and we had a good look around this area walking up the base of the falls.

After this we headed to the main car park where we were dropped off and had the next three hours to explore Yosemite which in reality is not a lot of time. Next trip I would like to stay over for at least one night and do some of the walks, and a few of these look quite challenging.

First things first, however, as it was now about 26-28 degrees C, which was a far cry from the low temperature when we started out, I headed to the gift shop which is unheard of for me, and bought a T-shirt, to replace the thermal and long sleeve T that I had been wearing up to then.

After a bight to eat and a nice friendly chat with some Americans that were visiting from Houston, we headed for Yosemite Falls. By this time several larger buses had turned up and the sightseers increased dramatically.

Bridal Veil Falls

Yosemite Falls - upper and lower falls. The falls in the sunlight are the upper falls and in the shadow toward the bottom are the lower falls.

Some of the beautiful scenery in the park, in the foreground as well.

And I just could not resist taking a shot of this sign on the park (there are residents who live in Yosemite) which was beside the road leading to the local school.