I don’t know about you all but I am sick of writing about Yosemite by now! So, here is the last post about Yosemite before we move west to the Bay Area for the next phase of our vacation. We actually look forward to getting back to civilization!

One thing about bus trips in Yosemite is that you can almost chat with anyone. People are so friendly, especially people with cameras … and I find that Canon users are friendlier to me than Nikonians. LOL! So, there I was on the bus and there was this friendly guy with some kick-ass “L” lens who also spotted mine. We chatted about photography and he told me he had been travelling from one national park to another for the past 4 months. Some people are so lucky.

Well. he told me I must get to Glacier Point. To him it was the most beautiful place he had ever seen. I just gotta share with you that one panoramic photo from Glacier Point first … click on the picture below but I gotta warn you that it’s a 2.7MB file. I hope you like it … it certainly made my jaw drop when I first saw the view. If there is only one place you visit in Yosemite, you must make your way to Glacier Point … and don’t forget your camera.

There are two ways to get to Glacier Point from the Yosemite Village. You can either do a 4 mile major hike or you can take an almost 1.5 hours drive. At our fitness level, driving is certainly faster. Moreover, we’re just gonna drive to Glacier Point and then move on to Santa Clara immediately. We had a stop by a waterfall … can’t remember the name now.

We also drove past the tunnels one last time …

… and although we pass by this spot several times already, we always stop and just gawk at the majestic view.

Although it’s quite a long drive, the view is beyond description. Glacier Point basically overlooks the Yosemite Valley below. From this point, we can make out …

… the high-class Ahwahneechee Hotel — the best money could buy … and …

… Curry Village … the dump I stayed in for two nights. Oh yeah, I can never get over the fact that I need to make my own bed and pay $120 a night for that privilege. It sure looked pretty from the top though.

Suanne sure had a great time on her own. I could never get so close to the edge … and the rocks sure looked slippery. This is exactly the kind of place I could just sit there and just enjoy God’s creation.

You can see on one side meadows …

… in another part, waterfalls … and …

… the one rock that Arkensen and I vowed to return someday to climb the Half-Dome. We just gotta earn that privilege to wear that “I Made It To The Top” T-Shirts that we saw some people struts around in Yosemite. Some day …

So, this is it … a whirlwind two days at the Yosemite National Park. I sure wished I had known a bit more about Yosemite and planned a bit better. When we come back to Yosemite again someday, we’ll make it a lot more longer trip.

We are not even half-way done on our vacation … we are moving on to Santa Clara next.

We certainly cramped a lot into the second day in Yosemite. One of the places we wanted to go see is the giant Sequoias at the Mariposa Groove. It’s located at the very south western side of the park and involves over an hour drive from the Yosemite Village. By the time we got there it was already quite late.

It is here in Mariposa that you will see two of the largest 50 Sequoias in the world.

Just slightly off the car park area was the Fallen Monarch. This tree fell over 300 years ago and even despite all these years, it is still pretty much intact. Almost everyone who walked through here will take a picture with the upturned roots.

A bit about Sequoias that we learned. Sequoias are the largest trees in the world in terms of volume but not in height. These are the trees that are so large that people have bored holes into the trunk large enough for a car to get through. There was one such tree in Mariposa but fell due to heavy snow back in the 1960s. Are there any such trees in the world right now that is still standing?

The reason why they are so bulky and large is that they are extremely resistant to fires and disease. The oldest known Sequoias is about 3200 years old. The oldest here in Mariposa is the Grizzly Giant.

Note that large fire scar on the base of the Grizzly Giant. Despite that large scar, it did not kill off the tree.

It was quite a long uphill walk to reach this point. We had enough and decided to turn back.

As hardy as the Sequoias are, the one weakest link is their roots. Their roots does not grow deep and is as shallow as inches from the ground surface. So, they are susceptible to root damages that brings them down. Most of the trees here are now protected by fences so people do not go right up to the base of the tree.

The best place to see the Giant Sequoias is the Sequoias National Park not too far from Yosemite … well, at least it’s not too far looking at the map. This is where the 5 of the 10 largest Sequoias in the world are located, including General Sherman. That I would want to see … some day.

We arrived back at the Yosemite Village at 7:30PM and decided to go to the food centre at the Yosemite Lodge. We were pleasantly surprised to see a deer (is that right?) just outside the food centre. That surely got a lot of people excited!

This place seems like a very popular place judging by the number of people there. For us, it wasn’t great what they serve here but certainly enough to fill the stomach.

We had Pasta with Meatballs … that’s $8.95

We also had a Reuben Sandwich for $5.75.

This one is not too bad. We like it.

The Philly Sandwich costs $6.25. It was a mess eating this because everything fell apart. We ended up eating this with fork and knife.

The Cheeseburger Meal was OK although a bit too dry … this is $7.50.

So, here it is … end of our second day.

Some of the best thing in Yosemite is actually free. There are photography walks organized by the national park several times a week. Unfortunately, they don’t have one during the days we were there.

So, Arkensen and I decided to make our own photography walk. For once, he took over the camera and made shots on his own. He wanted to share these pictures on chowtimes … and so here it is … the Yosemite Valley through Arkensen’s lenses.

We walked and discuss each shot before they are made … about the composition, the angles, the colours, the shadows and the subject.

I bet he would love some comments and said that he don’t mind criticism. For the shot below, he went down lower than usual so that he can catch some blades of grass. This gives a bit more interested view of the valley.

For this, he went down on his bellies. The reason why he did so is because it’s an angle that most people do not see which makes it a bit different. Moreover, he attempted to focus on only one flower rather than to take a lot of it. Notice that the flower is off centre too.

Plain waterfall shots are boring because what you only see is grey rocks and white water. In order to put some colour and perspective to it, he framed the waterfall with the surrounding trees.

This is another greyish rock face. It is hard to also picture. What he did was to use a background blue skies and another background rock face with some greens and waterfall at the bottom. This makes it a bit more busier.

Arkensen and I had wanted to climb the Half Dome. You could never miss the Half Dome because of its unique shape. Initially we thought we wake up at 5AM and try to complete it in 4 hours — just Arkensen and I while Suanne and Nanzaro does other less strenuous activity. But we later found out that despite it seem near, it is actually one of the toughest hikes around — it will take approximately 10-12 hours for the 17 miles hike!! We are determined … we shall return one day!

Again, the composition of the half dome is deliberately set off centered and framed with the surrounding trees with one nearby one on the right.

This is an interesting shot because of the slow river which meanders its way across the picture at the bottom.

A close up shot of pine cones. He selected two of different colours to show the contrast between them. He also arranged it in such a way that you see a bit of a overhanging branch of the fallen tree it was set on. He also angled it so that you get green trees as the background.

This one did not come across as well as intended. He intended to capture the dramatic solid granite rock face against the softer green and water. It looked better with our eyes but this one turned out not so good.

The El Capitan has perhaps the most dramatic rock face. It’s also a very popular rock climbing site. The record time taken is 3 hours … amazing!! When we were there, people were pointing out where the climbers are. They are so small, I just can’t see them … either that or I’m getting old.

Again, the thoughts for this picture is … the overhanging branch and trees below which frames up the shot. The blue skies behind is perfect … or else it will be quite plain.

The mountain tapers from the left to the right above the wide expanse of the meadows below. We hoped that the shadows were not there but it was quite OK. Alternatively, we could sit here and wait 6 hours for the sun to hit the rock surface.

So, how was that? We had a good time taking pictures and Arkensen wished he had a set of camera of his own. I think he has a good eye for good pictures.

I always have a fixed sequence when visiting new, unknown places like Yosemite. Obviously, the first thing is to get orientated, decide on what you want to do and find out how to get around. Food is secondary in this case. There are no better way than to get to the centre … in this case, the Visitor Center in the Yosemite Village.

Despite the immense size of Yosemite, most people would only see the few square kilometers within the Yosemite Village. Yosemite Village is like a small town and is the most developed part of the National Park with its own bus service, fire station, post office, clinic, stores, restaurants, and even a court! This is also where the park HQ is located.

Like all other national parks, there is an auditorium where you can catch a film about the area. It was showing an award winning documentary called The Spirit of Yosemite which described the stunning splendor of the park.

There is a scale model of the valley in the Visitor Center which give an excellent overview of the valley and the high sierra. Until now, I have only seen the view of Yosemite from the valley floor.

BTW, do you know that Yosemite is an Indian word that translates to “they are killers”? Apparently there were a lot of bloody disputes for control of the valley and the surrounding areas many many years ago.

Just next to the visitor center is the Ansel Adams Gallery. I am a fan of Ansel Adams work. Wanted to buy a few prints but I knew they will not survive the rest of the vacation.

Behind the Visitor Center is a reconstructed village of Ahwahneechee tribe. We spent some time walking around the small village. We always enjoyed learning about how people lived in this area. The indigenous people lived in tepee-like huts made of wood.

The ceremonial hut is the largest building in the demonstration village.

There are very limited parking spots around the Yosemite Valley. It’s good that they do it or else this place will be teeming with cars. There are two bus routes — one that services that places in and around the valley and the other less frequent one that goes to the slightly outlying El Capitan. It was quite frequent and used this a lot to get around.

It could get very packed on certain routes at certain times. i.e. right about morning many people would head to the Yosemite Falls and about dinner time, the Yosemite Lodge is a popular stop. They are comfortable for sure.

Back to normal programming …

We had a rough night in those tents in Curry Village. It was so bloody cold. Moreover, me being such a hero, did not bring along even a light jacket for this trip. Suanne insisted everyone bring one but I thought, well, it’s summer … why would I need a jacket right? The blanket was so thin and SHORT … does not help a bit at all. I decided to wake up at 5AM and took a walk to warm myself up.

Everyone else woke up at 7AM. Decided that since this place is so rough, we let the boys go without brushing their teeth for today! I was amazed that Suanne allowed that. Well, considering we had to take a long cold walk to the bear lockers to grab our toiletries and then endure a long wait to use the limited washrooms, I guess it’s quite OK to skip brushing their teeth for once. They were happy.

About the only warm place that morning was the Curry Village Buffet. We did not plan on having another buffet since we had so many already in Las Vegas. It was either this or we take a bus to the Yosemite Lodge.

Service was atrocious even though it was a buffet. The people who worked there are obviously seasonal workers who does not care to give us a fake smile or a fake greeting. No eye contact … mono-syllable communication … in another words, just plain rude, if you ask me. After a rough night, I admit I am quite cranky … but these kind of attitude will not bring these workers far in life. Sorry for being so judgmental! I had already decided then and there … no tip whatsoever for you guys … sorry.

The good part is this place is warm.

There were lots of food though. Count on this as standard American breakfast fare. It was quite good and we enjoyed it.

I remember we took a long time having this breakfast. I guess we were waiting for the sun to warm up the morning air.

Since we wanted to spend more time outdoors, we had only planned to have a sit down dinner. So, we loaded up and eat to our fill.

The total bill came up to $36.64 … the beauty of it is I did not leave any tip … and I actually felt good about it! I am not complaining about the bill … considering the amount of food, it was quite OK … it’s not cheap but at least I don’t feel ripped off price-wise.

Yosemite is beyond what I could imagine. Click on the picture below and see what I mean. I did not plan on doing much in Yosemite because I initially thought it’s just a big park. The more I learn about it, the more I wished that I had planned for more than two nights here.

We stayed in a place called Curry Village which is located just right smack in the middle of the Yosemite Valley. I only started looking into booking accommodation just a week prior … I’m just a big procrastinator. By the time I started looking for a booking, the only available place is Curry Village and it’s a tented accommodation. I guess I had no choice and being so close to the vacation dates, I had a lot more planning to do. I placed my booking and hoped for the best.

You know, after coming from Las Vegas, it was pretty depressing — we simply hated the place. Although we knew it was a tented accommodation, we had no idea how rough it was. It was not that we cannot deal with this but it’s just that we’re so ill-prepared.

Firstly, by the time we got to Curry Village and checked in, it was already dark — and I meant pitch dark (that picture below was taken the day after). We can hardly see anything.

Then we were made to sign papers saying that we will not have a single morsel of food or drinks (even bottled water!!) in our tents and cars. You see, we were told that this is bear country and food draws bear. I am a cynical person — I think they’re doing that more because they wanted us to buy food from them … and they are not cheap.

It was pitch dark right? Well, we had to walk all the way back to our car, bring all the food & drinks to the lockers (below) only to find that it was so dark we cannot see which is ours. Anyway, over the course of the two nights there, I have learned how to count the location of ours … I can still remember … count nine from the left and ours is the bottom one.

By the time we settled down, we were quite hungry but also very tired. So, the best thing for us was to grab a pizza and call it a day. There’s a Pizza Patio in Curry Village — it was quite packed with people with a long line up to order. The boys were already grumbling but what can I do right? We still got to line up.

After placing our order, it was still another wait. They gave us a beeper to let us know once our order is ready. That means one thing … it’s gonna take even longer before we can sink our teeth into the pizza. It was pure torture!

The pizza, while OK, is overpriced if you ask me. A simple pepperoni pizza is 19 bucks.

Well, just hours ago, we had a buffet in Las Vegas and now what we have is only pizzas.

We stayed in tents like below. There must be something like 300 tents in all in Curry Village. It is not horrible but you know … it was just last night we were sleeping in nice big comfy rooms in Las Vegas and what do we have now …

One light bulb for lighting. No heating and it was freezing cold here in Yosemite even in summer. The blankets smells dusty and very thin that it did not help at all. I did not have even a jacket to keep myself warm. The beds were not made … we had to take the sheets and blankets and make it ourselves. The washrooms is something like a 5 minute walk away.

And guess what … the kicker is that this costs about $120 per night. Las Vegas’ rooms are only $90!!

OK, I admit … I am complaining. I do that when I am tired and hungry. A good night rest and it’ll be all behind me.

This is so, so amazing. Just an hour outside of Death Valley, we are confronted with scenery like these. I wanted so much to make stop every 30 minutes or so to take pictures but we are running quite late already. I had planned to get to Yosemite before 5PM but by 6PM I was still miles from Yosemite.

Most people would get into the Yosemite National Park through the western and southern entrances. There is only one way to get into Yosemite from the east. That is the Tioga Pass.

Because of the high elevation, the Tioga Pass is closed during winter months. Some years, it could be closed for up to 9 months. If you plan on taking this entrance into Yosemite, especially in spring or early summer, you better check if it is open to traffic.

At the entrance to Yosemite, I was somewhat shocked to find out that it will take another 1.5 hours to get to the Yosemite Village. I had no idea how big Yosemite was and frankly, I was ill-planned for Yosemite.

The Tioga Pass is a mountain pass that winds through the Sierra Nevada mountains. The elevation is almost 10,000 feet from the sea level. To think of it, we were just hours ago in the Death Valley of which some parts were below sea level.

I lost track of the distance along the Tioga Pass but I think it is about 10km or so of winding roads. Although the road is generally clear, there were quite a bit of rocky debris on the sides of the road.

The view along the Tioga Pass Road is simply breathtaking. We pulled over where we can to have a closer look but we know we’re running out of sunlight. If we had more time, we would have at least planned a stop for picnic. This was simply spectacular.

Equally amazing is the meadows along the way. We gave ourselves 15 minutes for a stop at the beautiful Toulumne Meadows. Gosh, I was beginning to think that spending two nights in Yosemite is not going to be enough … I mean, I had not even gotten anywhere near the Yosemite Village.

I read that you’re very near Yosemite when you get to the tunnels. That’s where you’ll get a glimpse of the grand Yosemite Valley for the first time.

It was a jaw-dropping view. Even though I had never been there, I could make out the El Capitan and the Half-Dome from where we were. I had goose-pimples! I am on a race against the clock … I need to get to the Village before it gets too dark. Moreover, we are getting quite hungry.

For the next week, we will be blogging about Yosemite. The boys were jealous … that we don’t have as many places like these in Canada.