Running away from home

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Yosemite - Views from above the valley

We took the tunnel view road to Glacier point and Washburn point to see Yosemite from above. It was again almost beyond belief, I think because of the familiarity of the sites but then again the beauty and majesty of it all. From both points you look down into the valley and see upper and lower Yosemite falls, Vernal and Nevada falls, the faces of Half Dome and the arches as well as the lodges and campsites.

We also hiked to Sentinel Dome giving us 360 degree views at 8100 feet. The altitude definitely takes a day or two to get used to.

Firefall: Shows you how things have changed. They used to tip burning timbers off the rim of the canyon at night for a "display". The park stopped it in the 1950's. Now you can go and see the stars from a night dark spot. Google it - lots of good images. Here is a link:
http://yosemitefirefall.com/the-manmade-firefall-glacier-point/

Yosemite

10 days ago Tom and I flew into San Jose and drove to Yosemite. We also went to Kings Canyon and Sequoia. Definitely the waterfall, big granite rock tour.
First Yosemite. So many iconic images of the valley make it easy to recognize El Capitan and Half Dome Ansel Adams made so famous with his black and white photos. We were not disappointed.
We started with Bridalveil falls and El Cap. (Looking, not climbing) We had read the crowds could be heavy and they were in the valley. Yosemite is definitely two worlds: tourists and hikers, and climbers. The granite walls there boggle the mind when I think about climbing. I don't know where they find the courage/guts/steel.

We used the Lonely Planet book Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National parks for reference and found it excellent.

The other hike of the day was to Vernal Falls. A steep stair climb but worth every bit of it.

Also proud to say I am 8 weeks out of knee surgery and did my PT proud today. Tom climbed the last narrow steps and turned around because of the crowds. We enjoyed the view.