Yosemite National Park, CA 5/11- 5/14/00

The drive today took us from 260 ft. above sea level to over 2600 feet. Most of that was in the last 20 miles. We also had a pretty stiff cross-wind. Needless to say I was ready for a glass of wine when we arrived at the campground. We are staying at the KOA Yosemite located in Midpines, CA. It is very close to the entrance to Yosemite.

Saturday 5/12. This was our first view of Yosemite Valley. We just came out of a long tunnel and the first turnout had this view waiting for us. El Capitan is on the left, Bridalveil Fall is right of center and Half-Dome is barely visible in the center.

Here's a closer look at Bridalveil Fall. We were able to walk up to the base of the fall, however we didn't stay long due to the spray. It makes you appreciate evaporative cooling; the temperature must drop 10 degrees as you approach it.

This is a view of Yosemite Fall from a bridge over the Merced river. The visitor center and Yosemite Village is located just below the fall.

We returned on Saturday and did a little hiking. On the left is Mirror Lake with a reflection of Half Dome on its surface. This is one of the more popular hikes. The hike is about two miles round-trip on a fairly level grade.

A trip to Yosemite wouldn't be complete without a pictue of El Capitan. If you look closely, you may be able to see the tent hanging about 3/4 way up the sheer face of this rock.

The other hike we did was to get closer to Yosemite Fall which is one of the predominate sites in the valley, however most of the views in the valley only allow you to see the upper fall. We had to take a short hike to see the lower fall. The first time we were able to see both falls at the same time was when we walked up the path. It was one of those "gee wiz" moments. .

The pictures below show each of them separately.

The picture on the left is the upper fall with the lower fall on the right.

Our visit was pretty much limited to Yosemite Valley because two of the main roads inside the park are still closed due to the snow. The good news is all the waterfalls were running very strong so they were far more spectacular then if we had come in the late Summer or Fall.