Travel Tuesdays #6: Yosemite Valley, California

Yosemite Valley

"It is by far the grandest of all the special temples of Nature I was ever permitted to enter."

John Muir, Letters to a Friend, July 26, 1868

If you've ever been to Yosemite Valley you know those words to be true. I've been lucky in life to have traveled a lot. I've stood at the rim of the Grand Canyon, the base of Mt. Fuji, Oriase Gorge in Aomori, the beaches of Saipan, I've seen a lot, but nothing took my breath away quite like visiting Yosemite National Park for the first time.

Getting There

On my trip up the other week I took Rt. 395 up to the eastern entrance to Yosemite National Park. It takes about an hour longer than going to through the south entrance, but the scenery easily makes up for the extra time. I stayed the night in Bishop, California and left at 4:30 am the next morning hoping to get some morning shots and have a little more time to spend in the valley. Just before turning to go up the Tioga Pass, I pulled over to catch a sunrise over Mono Lake.

The climb in altitude from Rt. 395 to the Tioga pass is over 3000', from 6,781' at Lee Vining, to 9943' at the Tioga Pass. It is the highest highway pass in California, and one of the most majestic. As you make the climb you can see the transition from the eastern rocky side of the Sierra mountains to the solid granite western side. The majority of the Sierra Nevadas are a massive granite uplift, about 400 miles long. Glaciers sculpted the mountains over thousands of years and gave us the amazing peaks throughout the range.

As you enter the park from the eastern entrance you meander through peaks and alpine lakes until you reach Tuolomne Meadows, a beautiful, giant meadow surrounded by granite peaks. It's a great place to eat lunch, take a walk, or photograph the beauty of the area.

From Tuolomne it's about another 30min until you get into the valley. On the way you pass a viewpoint from which you can see Half Dome. It's a must to stop and take pictures at.

The Valley

As long as the weather is good, the entry into the valley is unforgettable. From either of the two roads into the valley there are look outs from where you can take pictures. From this vantage point you can begin to understand how unique Yosemite is.

Inside The Valley

Once inside the valley you are surrounded by 2000'+ high granite walls. The valley is 7.5 miles long and about 1 mile wide at it's widest point. It's covered in pine trees with an occasional meadow and the Merced river flowing down the middle of it.

Since there is so much to see and do in Yosemite Valley, I would recommend staying the night. There are campgrounds, as well as the formerly named Ahwanhee Hotel, and some cabins. All of these locations offer stunning views of the surrounding granite valley walls as well as walking distance to many hiking trails. There are plenty of nearby eateries and a general store to keep you supplied during your stay. Careful though, don't leave any scraps or trash out because the bears come out at night and raid what they can. You'll often hear the rangers chasing the bears away in the middle of the night.

The wildlife is everywhere and in the evening the deer come out, from where I have no idea. They are semi-friendly and seem to not care about the humans wandering around in their valley.

The real attraction though is Half Dome.

It's the equivalent of the Matterhorn in Switzerland. It has that unique shape to it that set's it apart from all the other amazing cliffs & peaks in Yosemite. Like some rock eating giant sliced it in half and had a snack. The face of Half Dome is over 2000' high. Hiking near the bottom of it is breathtaking. You climb over a river of broken granite that sheered off and fell in 2009 from Ahwiyah Point, which is just to the left of the Half Dome face. The slide was so big it registered an earthquake of 2.5 and the pressure leveled trees within the immediate area.

Then There's El Capitan & Yosemite Falls which are back towards the entrance of the valley. Yosemite Falls are shown in the first picture of this post, El Capitan below. I was in Yosemite to film a promotional video for Steemit Blogger Central, @steemitBC . However, the week after I filmed it we decided to move to discord so, I have to do some further editing, but here is one take.

Closing

If you've never been to Yosemite, get you bucket list out and add it right now, you will thank me. It's nature's cathedral and there is nothing like it on earth. Trust me, spend a day or two there and it will change you. Since that first time I went I have gone back almost every year. Each time I go back it's almost like visiting an old friend, it releases so much stress and humbles you to nature. It recharges me to go back out into the world and live life to the fullest.

Thank you for reading. Please tell us your stories of visiting Yosemite below in the comments or in your own post!