Dave & Karen's Travels

Yosemite National Park is now checked off our bucket list. What a beautiful place of God’s creation. I had been checking the weather and info on the park and our timing was just right. There was a large amount of people in the park which made parking our dually a challenge but we managed OK. The waterfalls were just past peak and wonderful as was the day with mostly clear skies and comfortable temperatures. We drove about 85 miles from our campground in Chowchilla, CA and arrived about 9 AM and with our senior pass we were just waived on through the entrance station. Our first stop was Bridalveil Fall which was a short walk from the parking area and a nice start to our visit even though it was a little chilly yet and the sun was not on the falls but still impressive. As we made our way into the valley we soon got a glimpse of Upper Yosemite Fall with clear skies and in full sun. Many years ago, when I was younger maybe in my 50s I hiked to the top of the upper fall and had always wanted Karen to see it and here we are. We traveled slowly looking for spot to park and we did and spent some time walking on the board walks and enjoying the beauty. We then lucked out with a parking spot a distance from the visitor’s center and as we walked about a quarter mile through full parking lots we arrived to a closed for the day visitors center due to a power outage, very disappointing. We wanted to visit the Half Dome Village and have lunch but could not find a place to park so we moved on. We were also hoping to hike to Mirror Lake and Lower Yosemite Fall but no available parking so we drove to El Capitan picnic area and got the last parking space there. We had packed lunches incase we needed them so we had our lunch at the base of El Capitan and that was nice and peaceful. Tunnel view was a place I remembered and Karen loved it looking into the valley with El Capitan, Half Dome and Bridelveil Fall in one spectacular view. Our last stop was Glacier Point and that road just opened last week so our timing was good. It was about a 25-mile winding road up to 7,200 feet. Traffic was not bad and a lot of cars were coming down so we thought parking should not be bad, wrong. About one half mile from the parking lot the traffic came to a stop and go, we had a good view and no time frame finally we reached the parking area and as we creeped along we stopped for people walking across the road and one guy motioned that he was leaving so we waited and got a great parking space large enough for the truck and a short walk to the viewing area and much needed restrooms. Wow is all I can say about the views, the time of day and the weather. I believe God had his hand on our visit. We picked up a cup of coffee and a large pretzel at the visitors shop and enjoyed them while looking across the valley at Half Dome before making the 95 miles back to camp. In a few days we will be in Oregon along the coast.