I have lived in the Sacramento area for nearly 15 years and I have never been to the Yosemite valley. I could kick myself! Walt has been to Yosemite a couple times when he was in his 20s. I'm sure it hasn't changed much (right?), so I scooped the kids up and took them on a day trip to Yosemite.
Seriously, if you haven't been before then GO! To me it was more amazing than Yellowstone, although it's not fair to compare the complete different areas.
All I have to say is UH-MAZE-ING.
Okay. That's not really all I have to say. So here's another really long photo post of a absolutely beautiful National Park. By the way, my photos don't do it justice.
El Capitan was just awesome. It was Josh's favorite. After dark, when we were leaving the park, you could see little lights on the rock from where the climbers were sleeping. They looked like little stars.
This tree, on the trail to Bridalveil Fall, was so worn from years of visitors sitting on it that it was like a smooth piece of furniture.
The vista point for Bridalveil Fall is covered in water. We got our feet soaked.
Turns out stopping at Bridalveil first thing was not the best idea. The sun was behind the fall so this was our view.
We had fun in the cold mist anyway.
Ribbon Fall, in the crook of Carley's arm, is to the left of El Capitan. It seemed like everywhere we turned we could see a waterfall.
Swinging Bridge, which does not swing, crosses the Merced River in a wide, lazy spot....
... and gives a beautiful view of Yosemite Falls. Yosemite Falls has an upper and lower fall with a middle area too. The total fall is over 2000 feet!
The path beyond Swinging Bridge was flooded from the swollen river. The kids wanted to take off their shoes and follow the trail a little way. The water was so cold!
We walked to Lower Yosemite Fall.
Lower Yosemite Fall is 320 feet.
The pounding water creates a ton of mist and lots of wind. We had fun walking back and forth over the bridge that crosses the creek beyond the fall.
Taking the free shuttle around the park ended up being easier than trying to find parking on the crowded summer day.
Sometimes the shuttle bus was super crowded though!
After having an early dinner, the kids and I walked out to Mirror Lake, aptly named for it's beautiful reflections of the amazing scenery. Now if only peope would stop rippling the water!
The shuttle back from Mirror Lake was quite empty. Josh asked if he could honk the bus horn and the driver agreed if he could be in photo. This is Mark, the shuttle bus driver. He let both Josh and Carley honk the horn. Carley said it was her second favorite part of our trip!
As the sun was heading down, we were heading up to Glacier Point for views of the valley.
This is not taken from Glacier Point; I stopped at Tunnel View to get a better photo of Bridalveil Fall. Across from the fall is El Capitan and in the far distance you can see Half Dome.
This is not from Glacier Point either. This from a different vista on the way to Glacier Point. I love this view of Half Dome.
We're almost to Glacier Point.
These photos of the kids "leaning on" Half Dome look to me like they were taken against a paper backdrop. The views were absolutely stunning.
Another view of Yosemite Falls. This time we're actually at Glacier Point. We watch the mountain peaks change colors as the sun set. Once the sun was gone, we headed back to the car to drive back down to the valley and up the other side to head towards home.
Josh's "my sister is really ticking me off" face. The kids got tired and irritated with each other only a few times throughout the day.
For the most part, the day was full of smiles.
It was such a long day. We left home at 6:45 am and got home at 1:30 am but it was so incredibly worth it. We're already planning a several day family trip to Yosemite next summer. I'm looking forward to spending more time there.
1 comment:
You picked a good year to go with all the "exta" water to make the falls beautiful! Last year when we went the falls were very thin and not so spectacular.
Love your pictures!
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