This morning we headed up to Yosemite National Park to show the girls one of the many scenic wonders we’re fortunate to have in our backyard. We left at 8:00am and made good time getting up to the park, but spent an hour driving the last two miles getting to the gate. We didn’t have a choice, but you should try to avoid going to Yosemite on a weekend in the middle of summer.
Once we got into the park it wasn’t so bad. The roads were moving along fine, but the parking lots at some of the stops were pretty full. Rather than fight the crowds to get a parking spot close to what we wanted to see we opted for parking up the road a bit and going for a walk. It was a nice day, so why not?
We went out to Glacier Point first. I’d never been to this spot before even though I frequent the park pretty regularly. The view was awesome! We spent a while taking photos before finding a spot to eat our lunch that we brought with us. Down in the Valley temps were up in the high 80’s, but up at Glacier Point it was a comfortable 65 degrees.
After finishing up our lunch we headed back down towards the Valley. We stopped at the Tunnel View to get the obligatory shot of the Valley and then proceeded down to Bridalveil Falls. The water levels were low as expected for this time of year, but the falls were still spectacular. We then took our time driving the loop with a stop here and there for a photo op. The girls seemed really impressed with the granite cliffs. Can’t find scenery like this in Japan.
After several hours of driving the loop we decided it was time to head back home. On our way out we saw a young buck strolling through a dry creek bed looking for food. It was the only wildlife we saw today. Usually there are quite a few deer and some other animals. I guess they stayed back in the shade due to the heat.
We had a great time and are all looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.
