Sunday 12th April: Yosemite

We decided to take an organised tour as the motorhome isn’t ideal for mountain roads, although we observed during the tour that some motorhomers didn’t share that view. They were to be found in the most narrow, twisty, high elevations, in spite of warning signs. Maybe we’re getting soft in our old age!

The tour picked us up from the campsite, a 25 mile picturesque run to the Yosemite Park entrance. We followed the Merced River in a steep canyon for much of the way. It was an area exploited for gold after the California goldrush of 1849. Gold is still panned from the river today, but not in quantity. Some of the old goldmining building were pointed out by our guide as we went alongside the river. The one in the photo would convert into a great McDonalds- just think how popular chicken McNuggets would be.

Entering Yosemite Valley is like entering a hidden world. It was unknown to Westerners until the 1849 goldrush and was occupied, on and off, by the Awaneechee tribe. They were forcibly removed after violent clashes with the goldminers who had commandeered their ancestral tribal lands. Haven’t we come across that scenario before?

The Valley is a wonderland of waterfallls and cliffs with the scenic Merced River meandering over the flat valley floor. The valley stretches for 7 miles with a one-way loop road for access. Following this road, the first major landmark is the El Capitan rock, a 7,500 mountain of solid granite sticking up 3,000 feet from the valley floor. 

It is acknowledged to be the world’s most difficult rock climbs due to its very smooth vertical face. Our guide, who was a climber himself, had spotted some heroes on the face, inching up the pitch. You can barely see the two dots which are the climbers. It can take many days to climb from base to top, and portable ledges (4ft by 7 ft) are taken up as part of the climbing equipment to sleep on. Don’t sleep walk whatever you do.

There was still some snow on the mountain tops from the fall a few days ago. As with the rest of California, in the last four years Yosemite has seen significantly less rain and snow so is not supplying water into the reservoirs. Here’s a sample of that lovely scenery.

We saw mule deer several times. These are common in the park, and looked particularly at home in the setting underneath on the banks of the Merced River. They’re the dots on the riverbank, on the right. 

This is the highest waterfall in America and one of the highest in the world: Yosemite Falls, 2,425 feet in three cascades. It’s an optical illusion, but it appears that Jane on the path is getting a soaking from the lower cascade.

There is only one hotel in Yosemite, the Ahwahnee Hotel, and it’s 5*+. US Presidents have stayed, as has our own QE2. We sneaked in and got this view from the garden. Wouldn’t swap it for our motorhome, though.

After leaving the Awahnee, the tour leaves the valley floor at 4,000 feet to climb to Glacier Point at 7,200 feet, to look down on the valley. Glacier Point is the lefthand peak in the photo above.

We start the climb. I’m now really pleased we weren’t tempted to take the motorhome.  Halfway up we stopped at a wonderful viewpoint that looks along the whole valley.

The minibus got way over the snowline at 8,000 feet and rewarded us with some views of mountain ranges feeding into Yosemite, like the Clark Range shown in the next photo.

We arrived at Glacier Point, and ate our packed lunches overlooking some staggering scenery. How many more waterfalls can you  handle?

For me the most striking view was the Half-Dome, an 8,800 foot granite pillar that is also a favourite of the climbing fraternity, but no performers today.

In this age of colour photography we tend to forget how dramatic black and white can be for certain shots, and I think this photo above is one of them so I’ve reproduced it as such below. It’s also reminiscent of the style of a famous American photographer called Ansel Adams. Must get the old box Brownie camera out of the loft.