Yosemite: The Valley

Today we drove into the Valley to see and explore that area.  It was nice, but so incredibly crowded.  There were TONS of people everywhere, and it wasn’t even a “crowded” day in the park! 

When we arrived we pulled into the Bridalveil Falls parking area, mostly to use the bathrooms, but we realized that it was pretty empty so we should check out the falls while we were there.  Then we went back to Tunnel View so Mom could see it, and then finally headed down into the valley itself. 

The Valley is the main area in Yosemite, it’s where most of the campgrounds and restaurants are as well as all the “things to do” – bike rentals, raft rentals, hikes etc.  There’s one road and it makes a loop – it’s one way most of the way around, but there are cross over points.  Yosemite is huge in terms of land, but the area that’s accessible by road is very small so all the people get concentrated in one area. 

Things started out pretty good – we came to a view of a meadow and Upper Yosemite Falls and there was a place to park so we did and got out and walked a little bit. 

We’d been planning on having lunch at The Awanahee Hotel, which is the premier hotel in the park – AAA rated 5 stars!  It’s very upscale, which is odd considering that it’s in the middle of the wilderness! We figured that lunch at the Awanahee wasn’t an original idea so we wanted to be there early. 

We found a parking spot right by the door very quickly and when we went in we discovered that they didn’t start serving until 11:30, so we made a reservation for 11:45!  We were one of the 1st people to get in! There was a line out the door when we left!  The food was pretty good – I had a grilled veggie sandwich that was more portabella mushroom than anything else!  It was a long lunch and it was after 1 before we were done! 

After lunch we decided to walk over to Yosemite Village and go to the Visitor Center and the shops over there.  When we got to the car though we discovered that Dad’s camelback had leaked all over and everything in the back of the jeep was soaking wet! This is the 2nd time this has happened, the 1st time was when dad laid the backpack on the bed and all the water leaked out on Mom’s side of the bed!

After we visited the Visitor Center, the Ansel Adams Gallery and the Sports Shop we decided to catch the shuttle bus back to the car.  This meant traveling most of the way around the park by bus, but that sounded ok.  We could also stop at the bike & raft rental place in Curry Village and see if we wanted to rent bikes or raft tomorrow or Thursday. 

I’d used the busses exclusively in Acadia and thought they were just about the greatest thing ever so was anxious to experience it again – it’s nice to to have to drive and to be able to walk, then catch the bus back! 

As we were walking across the street a bus pulled up to the stop, we couldn’t make it, but we were pretty much 1st for the next bus.  There were about 8-10 other folks who didn’t fit on the bus so we all stood there an waited about 10 minutes for the next bus to come.  Right before the bus pulled up a HUGE crowd of people formed at the bus stop. The bus pulled up and stopped and all the people who’d just gotten to the bus stop started getting on through the back “exit only” doors!!!!!  They were filling up the bus and there wasn’t going to be room for those of us who were standing in line!!!!!   I start, loudly, explaining how that’s not OK, and that it’s not fair for them to just come up and get on when we’d been standing there.  Finally I just jumped on through the back door also, because otherwise we never would have made it.  The bus was jammed packed, barely even standing room. 

We got off at Curry Village and checked out the bike and raft rental, then got right back on and headed to the car. 

By now it was 4:00 and we were heading out of the park to be back at the campground for dinner.  That is until we got stuck in a HUGE line of traffic and weren’t moving.  We were right by the trailhead for Lower Yosemite Falls so we pulled in and Dad and I walked the .6 mile loop.  While we were gone Mom did some investigating and discovered that the Lodge had a food court, so we went back and got sandwiches for dinner. 

Almost every evening Half Dome turns colors as the setting sun hits it – this is called Alpenglow.  We’d wanted to stay and watch one night and since it was already late and there was a ton of traffic, we decided to stay and wait out the Alpenglow.  We found a spot where we could see Half Dome and we set up our chairs and ate dinner and then watched as the mountain changed color.  It was pretty cool!

After the sun was gone we headed out of the park and got back to our campground around 9:30. My replacement Kindle was due to arrive today, but the office closed at 8 so I was planning on getting it tomorrow morning, but when I walked back from the bathroom Dad had it! Someone from the office had walked it up to our site when we saw that we’d come back in! :-)  Of course I can’t do anything with it until I can hook it up to the internet, but tomorrow AM we’ll go to the restaurant!

This afternoon as I was walking from the hotel to Yosemite Village I heard a bunch of sirens and I saw a Ranger cutting to traffic – bleeping his siren as needed to get people to move out of the way.  I figured something was going down, but you never have any idea what! Later I was checking Facebook and saw that Yosemite NP had posted that the Mist Trail was temporarily closed because of an unconfirmed report that 1 or more persons had gone over Vernal Falls.  Mom and Dad later talked to someone who’d been there (and had to hike the long way out because they closed the trail and no one could come through!) and they said that 1st one person slipped and then the husband or wife (I’m not sure which) grabbed them and they slipped and then a friend tried to grab them and the friend slipped.  So it sounded like 3 people when over the falls this afternoon.  I haven’t seen these falls up close, but considering how impressive they were from a distance above I’m guessing that one doesn’t go over the falls and live to tell.  :-(   While we were watching Half Dome I saw a news truck leaving the park, and then we saw another news truck leaving when we were leaving, so I’m guessing the story made the evening news around here.  I have no idea if it has hit the National news yet or if it will, but we were no where near the falls when it happened!  Dad and I were considering a hike up there either tomorrow or Thursday, but I have a feeling we won’t be going now!

Yosemite: The Valley