Beautiful Yosemite National Park (2 of 2)
Written by admin on June 28, 2009 – 5:17 pm -Go back to…
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DAY 2: Sunday
We checked out at the lodge and got to the main entrance (west gate) around 10am. Sunday really cleared up for us throughout the day. All sunshine and less clouds, perfect for our day hike to Vernal Fall!
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We also stopped by a chapel and out came a deer so close to the parking area.
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Our goal for the day was to hike to the top of Vernal Fall and to do more if we had the energy and time. We packed our bags with water, snacks, jackets, hats, etc; Tosh had the most with cooking gear and our ramen lunch!
We left the car at the lot and walked to the trail where we began our ascent!
The walk gets steeper and I’m starting to fall behind!
Just a bit more to go but it seemed like forever…
Then finally, a view of the waterfall…but look at those steps!!
It was very hard to take pictures with the mist coming down on the camera. Better move fast.
We’re still going to the top of the waterfall, remember??
Then finally, we made it to the top of Vernal Fall! Elevation from trailhead of 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) and elevation gain of 1,000 ft/300 m!
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Perfect time for a lunch break-fresh miso ramen with charshu pork, gourmet style!
After our much needed rest, we continued up the trail to an even higher elevation to see the entire Vernal Fall way down below where we just were.
A beautiful view from above! Also, Nevada Fall was flowing heavily as well in the distance to the right.
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The view from the top of the trail was amazing. However, because of time, we hurried back down the other side of the trail back to where we started. Hiking down still took around 1 hour at a moderate-fast pace!
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We finished off with a viewpoint at a stop called “Tunnel View.” This was an incredible spot to see what we had seen down in the valley, including: El Capitan, Half Dome, and Bridalveil Fall.
The scenic shot looks unreal. It is absolutely an astounding sight.
We will always have wonderful memories of Yosemite and hopefully get to experience it all at different seasons, trails, and sights that make Yosemite one of nature’s best places to visit.
And some day…I hope to share pictures from the top of Half Dome!
Many more pictures (106 total) of Yosemite can be found in the
Yosemite Gallery >>HERE<<!!
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Tags: hiking, waterfall, yosemite
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Beautiful Yosemite National Park (1 of 2)
Written by admin on June 28, 2009 – 2:15 pm -
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A few weeks ago, we took a weekend trip with Tosh and Michiko to Yosemite National Park. We stayed for one night at Yosemite VIew Lodge, located just outside of the park entrance. Overall, it was a quick trip but we were able to see so many amazing things in just 2 days. It was cloudy, it was rainy, it was sunny, and it was foggy; all in one weekend!
Highlights of our trip includes: seeing a bobcat and a bear almost at the same time; and cooking ramen at the top of a waterfall!
A few animals we saw:
- A black bear
- A fox
- A bobcat
- Mule deer
- Stellar’s Jay
- American robin
A few animals we saw too many of:
- Squirrels
- Humans
DAY 1: Saturday
We left for Yosemite early morning around 5:30am and got there before most of the crowds. We had the entire day and got to stop at a lot of good viewing spots.
4 shots below are from Bridalveil Fall and a creek at the bottom.
Almost opposite from Bridalveil Fall you will see Ribbon Fall and El Capitan. With our binoculars, we could see a group of rock climbers in midclimb on El Capitan, a 3,000-foot (910 m) vertical granite rock!
We continue in towards the center of Yosemite Valley.
5 shots below include Yosemite Falls and Half Dome.
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As it was starting to rain, we got right in to the famous Ahwahnee Hotel and toured the hotel a bit before it cleared up for us to do a little hike up to Lower Yosemite Fall.
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There were many people on the trail and at the base of Lower Yosemite Fall. This was where we saw the bobcat and also a black bear. The bobcat disappeared quickly. For the bear, unfortunately, many people started yelling to each other and running closer to it for better shots, scaring it away into the mountain. Sometimes, these are the people who deserve to be attacked by bears.
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Tosh was able to get a great shot of the bobcat from his camera!
We passed by many meadows and other wonderful spots before leaving the park for the night. The clouds moved in fast and the fog settled very quickly in the valley. We were able to get a few more great shots of the valley on the way out before it got dark.
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Tags: hiking, waterfall, yosemite
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