Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park, about four hours’ drive east from San Francisco, is internationally recognized for its spectacular granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, Giant Sequoia groves and biological diversity.

In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln created the Yosemite Grant, the first instance of park land being set aside specifically for preservation and public use. 

The public are certainly encouraged to use it, and they do.  You can visit as a day tripper, or stay in hotels, lodges, luxury hired tents, campgrounds or hike tents.  You can travel around there by stretch limo, coach tour, shuttle bus. private car, bike, horse, mule, canoe or on foot.

 

Laura had booked us a very well appointed alpine chalet, Eagle’s Nest, about 30 minutes’ drive from the main visitor centre, which at this holiday time of year was very crowded.  We had the top floor.

 

A spectacular view of the park can be seen from the Tunnel View Vista Point, located directly east of the Wawona Tunnel as we entered Yosemite Valley from the south.  The view includes, from the left, the southwest face of El Capitan, Half Dome, and the Bridalveil Falls.

 

While we (and many other people) were enjoying the scenery at Tunnel View Vista Point, along came one of the many tour vehicles.  So cute!

 

The granite crest of Half Dome, rising 1,444 metres above the valley floor, is possibly Yosemite's most familiar rock formation.

 

Half Dome and the Nevada Falls.

 

Yosemite Falls, at 739 metres, is the highest measured waterfall in North America, and the seventh highest in the world. 

This is a picture of the Upper Falls.

 

This is a picture of the Lower Falls.

Pat moved in for a much closer view, but as my camera and I had already been saturated by a waterfall the day before, I stayed further away for a drier view.

 

 

This is a picture of the Upper and Lower Falls together.

 

Bridalveil Falls.  Not the sort of thing I’d be wanting to wear on my head.

Not surprisingly, Yosemite is full of people walking around photographing waterfalls, mountains and everything else.

 

Yosemite is also the home of the magnificent Giant Sequoias.

Extreme Adventure: Yosemite National Park

Well, this was an extreme adventure for us, anyway.

Laura and Arend suggested a walk to the top of Vernal Falls, so off we set.  We took a shuttle bus to the beginning of the walk, then walked over a bridge which crossed the Merced River where it hurtles along after having plunged down the Vernal Falls.


The track that led along beside the river was as wide as a city street, wheel chair accessible and full of people.  So far so good.


Arend pointed out the procedure in case you encounter a bear.  Apparently you scare it away by yelling, clapping your hands and “acting aggressive” towards it.


Squirrels scampered fetchingly around us.


We crossed over the river again, which hurtled along, frothing and foaming after plunging down the waterfall, still out of sight at this point.

From here, the track became much steeper, as we began to climb up beside the waterfall.
After about an hour of this, Laura mentioned casually, in her typically understated way:  “Up a bit further, the waterfall can blow a bit across the track, and you can get a bit damp.”

Damp?  As we rounded a bend in the track, it was more like driving rain. 
By this stage, the track had become steep, roughly-cut steps into the cliff face on one side and a sheer drop into the waterfall on the other (with no hand rail.)
Out of respect for my camera and my life, I didn’t take any pictures during this extreme adventure bit.  I had to take my glasses off as they were too wet to see through, so most of my attention was focussed on my feet, occasionally glancing up to check that Pat hadn’t been swept into the abyss..  The track itself had become a waterfall in its own right, as water swept off the waterfall gushed down it.  My camera was tucked into my spray jacket (read “spray jacket”, not “deluge jacket”, and I could feel the water penetrating my elasticised wrist bands and coursing down my arms.
After about half an hour of this, the driving deluge abated to a stinging mist and I risked the picture above.
I have since read that since 1924, around 13 people have died being swept away by these falls.


Finally, we hauled ourselves up to the top of the waterfall, from where Laura and Arend had been charting our progress.  Can you see the jubilation (and relief) on our faces?


Top of the waterfall, from where the river drops vertically over 100 metres to the valley below.
All of these people were wet too.


Over the edge.


No swimming at the top of the waterfall?  Prudent idea.


Pat squeezed the water out of his hat, we hung our jackets in a tree to dry and enjoyed a well-earned lunch at the top of the waterfall.


We went down by a higher and longer – but drier – way, with stunning views all the way.


At one point we could look down on the waterfall we had just scaled, with a great feeling of achievement.  See the little wet people at the top.

Elephant Seals, San Simeon, California.

 

These seals come onto the beach here to moult from April until August.  They endure what is called a “çatastrophic moult” which means that they shed all of their fur within a few weeks.

 

The male elephant seals have a proboscis, which is what gives them their name, and can weigh up to 5,000 lbs.

 

Females don’t have a proboscis, and weigh up to 1,600 lbs.

 

The seals have thick rolls of blubber to insulate themselves against icy water temperatures.  So in seals, fat rolls are a desirable attribute.

 

The males would occasionally indulge in some half-hearted tussles, keeping in practice I suppose.

 

The females were singularly unimpressed by these macho displays, perhaps because the breeding season was over.

 

This young black male put on an impressive show of teeth…..

 

….then he snuggled down between his large brown moulting opponent and the other seals.

 

This little birds were hopping in and out of the moulting seals.  Feathering their nests?

Carmel-by-the-Sea to Hearst Castle

 

We drove from Carmel to Hearst Castle near San Simeon, which is about halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

 

We took the famous Highway 1, which follows the coast, where the fog rolls in from the sea.

 

The scenery was quite spectacular.

 

The little splash between the two rocks on the left was made by a sea otter.

 

Looking for sea otters.

 

Fog rolling in.

 

White poppy.

 

Lots of white poppies.

 

More fog.

 

Surf beach near San Simeon.  From there, we went to visit Hearst Castle.

 

Hearst Castle, about half way between San Francisco and Los Angeles, is in the middle of a very sparsely populated section of the Californian coastline, yet about a million people visit it each year.  Consequently, San Simeon, the nearest town, has become a strip of huge motels and cheap and cheerful diners.  Our motel had 72 rooms and was typical of the area.  Here is Laura with a burger and Arend with ribs.

Carmel-by-the-Sea: Clint Eastwood’s Mission Ranch

Clint Eastwood lives here, and owns the Mission Ranch bar and restaurant, where we popped in for a drink.

 

The sign is mounted on one of the many eucalypts which here grow taller and fatter, of course, than they do in Australia.

Can you see Laura and Arend dwarfed in the background?

 

The Mission Ranch farmhouse, 1850.

 

I tried to persuade everyone that this was Clint coming out of the side door of the farmhouse, but no one would believe me.

 

Pat walking into Clint’s Mission Ranch dining room.

 

Arend, Laura and Pat at Clint’s bar.

 

Jan, Laura and Pat at Clint’s bar.

 

Jan, Laura and Arend at Clint’s bar.  He obviously didn’t know we were coming as he didn’t come down to say hello.

 

Clint’s sheep.