Another one of our 3-day weekends has come and gone. This time we went to Yosemite, which was a must-do on our California list.

We stayed in Oakhurst, which is about 15 miles from the closest entrance of Yosemite. We were a little shocked when 15 miles from the entrance meant it took almost 1.5 hours to get where we needed to go.  In Yosemite, the really stunning views (AKA where you want to be) seem to be right in the middle of the park, with lots of woods and mountains surrounding.

The first afternoon, we just walked around Yosemite Village area on some paved paths. It was packed with people and very busy. We were lucky to find a space to park in, and it wasn't even a real parking space. (One of the many benefits of the Prius!) It was also surprisingly hot. My phone's weather app clearly got the weather in Yosemite wrong - I was expecting highs in the 80's and lows in the high 30's, and it was close to 100 each day! It was much hotter than Livermore has been. We were reminded of how thankful we are to be skipping the extreme Columbia heat, at least for the time being.

The hike we did took us to the top of one of Yosemite's famous waterfalls, Vernal Falls. Above is our first peek of the falls. The color of the water was gorgeous.

The Mist Trail is, well, misty. The mist creates a rainbow, which was really cool to see. Part of the trail was pretty wet and cold due to the mist, but it was refreshing during the hot, uphill hike. We weren't sure if the waterfall would be going full force because of the drought, but it seemed strong to me.



Once we got to the top of the falls, we had lunch overlooking the "Emerald Pool," which is what Vernal Falls is generated from. There is another waterfall further above that makes its way to the pool.


The squirrels in Yosemite are NOT shy and will approach fearlessly. Too many people have given them food, and they're not afraid to ask for more! There were 2 that wouldn't leave us alone during our lunch. I love animals, but the squirrels did lose their appeal after a couple of minutes. They kept coming up from behind and they were getting so close, I was genuinely worried one would crawl up my back. Luckily, this didn't happen!

We also couldn't leave before taking a look down the waterfall. Apparently 200 people per summer have to be taken out on a stretcher from the hike we did. After hearing this, I was cautious about getting too close, but they had a railing near the edge, so it seemed much safer than I thought it would be up there.




Later on Saturday, we headed up to Glacier Point to see sunset overlooking Half Dome.


A little later:

Visiting Yosemite was a lot of fun. It was great to be back in the wilderness. William and I both miss that from our Jackson days. Yosemite is gorgeous and the views are surreal, but Grand Teton still takes the cake for me. A lot of that is due to its remoteness and fewer crowds. I think Yosemite is so crowded because there are so many people living within easy driving distance that can get to Yosemite just for a day or weekend, which I can't blame them for doing. This isn't quite as feasible in GTNP and Yellowstone, which is a good thing, in my opinion!