First, follow- up from yesterday. I forgot to mention that we got the car repaired, by a completely nice guy in Bootjack, CA, for a mere $20. Nice, huh?
Also, the water around here is really high for this time of year. The mechanic said that we were visiting on a good year- normally everything is very brown and dry. Due to the late and long winter, the snow melt is giving the valley loads of greenery. It is also making the river high and causing flooding that very slowly is easing off. One of the trails that we were walking, across the Swinging Bridge (which is on rails that are attached to concrete blocks set into the river, and sways back and forth- not enough to really feel, though) had a flood area- not very deep- maybe 5 or 6 inches at the deepest, so we took off our shoes to walk across, just to see what was on the other side. (We didn't realize that we were in the back of Yosemite Lodge- which would have saved us at least an hour later- sigh.) But anyway, back to the water- it was very refreshing... at first... and then SOOOO cold! Koen was about to cry- and I wasn't much better, I have to say. That water was ICE melting- my ankles ached so badly that they were on the verge of collapsing. I ended up running back across, hoping that it would make the ache better. It DID cool off my body temp, but holy moly, it was COLD!
Okay- so on to today. I read in one of the pamphlets that if you only had one day, you should drive to Glacier Point and to Mariposa Grove. So, we did. Glacier Point- phenomenal! The drive was long- about an hour each way at 35 mph or less. I drove, so I could concentrate on the road, not on the cliff that was just inches from the side of the road. Plus I didn't get car sick from the curves. But the views were amazing. Half Dome, plus Yosemite Falls from the top, Nevada Falls into Vernal Falls, and mountains 180 degrees around. One of things we really appreciate about Yosemite is that they didn't charge for every service. In fact, they have many amenities, all for free: shuttles to everything, no fees into anything, free telescopes- which we used to see climbers on top of Half Dome. Of course, if you want food or momentos- that is another situation. :o)
We planned ahead and ate lunch out of our cooler. Then we headed out for Mariposa Grove. Another long drive, 35 mph, and then a shuttle to see what was advertised as an amazing grove of HUGE Sequoia trees. Well, there were a few- scattered all over the area- but nothing like the Avenue of the Giants. We took a couple of shots of us hugging Redwoods, to go with the ones from last trip, but not nearly as impressive. (The Grizzly Giant- which had been burned in a forest fire, had one branch that was 7 feet in diameter- that was pretty amazing.) They have fenced all of the trees to protect them, so we couldn't get up close to any, either. Just a bit of a disappointment, for all that driving.
Trying to decide if we should hit Yosemite one more time, before heading for Anaheim Harbor tomorrow. If we get going early enough, traffic should be lighter, which would mean easier access to everything. We were pretty tired by the time we left the valley floor yesterday, so didn't go to the base of the falls at all. I would kind of like to see that before we head out- plus there is an Ansel Adams gallery that we thought about getting some cards/prints for displaying. Don't know what time things open up on Sunday, which could change all of our ideas.
Will let you know what we decide to do!
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