Yosemite

A dry start to the day, but with potential rain forecast for later on.  Weather forecasting is problematic in Yosemite as the altitude and the mountains create microclimates that can be difficult to predict.

We drove in through El Portal (the west entrance), a route I took a few years ago one Thanksgiving after a work trip to San Francisco.  It was interesting to be in the passenger seat rather than driving - I could pay attention to a lot more. There are still roadworks on it.

There has been no rain in the park for 4 or 5 months now, and everything was dry, including most of the waterfalls unfortunately. We saw a number of burnt areas, a result of wildfires this year. The rangers don't just put the fires out now as they have been found to be critical to the lifecycle of some of the trees, and the regeneration that happens after the fires is important for the ecosystem.  Very odd burn patterns in some places (in my opinion), with the tree trunks charred, but the leaves higher up still seemingly fine. When the areas apparently burned for several months, I'm still not totally sure I understand how it works.

First stop in the park was the 'Tunnel Viewpoint' on the way up to Glacier Point.  I'd not seen the view from here on my last trip as the road to Glacier Point had been closed by the weather by then, and it was pretty spectacular (I may be using that word a lot in this post!). It's definitely a 'glaciated 'U'-shaped valley!

Next, on up to Glacier Point, some 3000 feet above the valley floor. It had clouded over somewhat, and I was a tiny bit disappointed we didn't quite have the views that Claire had a day or two before (Claire was on the previous trip to Yellowstone, and was seeing Yosemite herself.  I saw her photo on Facebook and had been mightily impressed), but it was still pretty darn 'spectacular'.

4 of us decided to walk down into the valley (Carolyn, Martin, Ian and myself), rather than taking the minibus back down. It was to be a 2-3 hour hike down on a good trail.  We were hoping for some nice views on the way, and being downhill, nothing too strenuous! We had a spot or two of rain, which cleared, came back, and cleared again.  We did hear rumbling of thunder in the distance, and saw one or two flashes of lightning, but it wasn't close. We must have been about 3/4 of the way down and stopped for second lunch, and by the time we had gotten going again, the rain set in for the rest of the way down, pretty heavy at times, but we had already seen many magnificent views that we wouldn't have seen otherwise so spirits were high despite the dampness.

At the bottom we paused for a quick photo, and were discussing how lovely it would be in Matt, our guide, happened to turn up in the bus to save us the mile or so walk along the valley floor in the rain to our rendezvous. Miraculously, he did.  His timing could not have been better!

By the time we were all back together for the journey home, news reached us that the road we had come in on had been blocked by a mud slide, so we had to take the long way home, back past the Mariposa Grove.  Thank goodness we did.  When we went back past the Tunnel Viewpoint, the views were even more spectacular, now with the clouds above and inside the valley, and the Bridal Veil waterfall was now gushing!

Further up the road there was a minor traffic jam, which Matt correctly sussed meant something interesting to look at, and it was black bears!  A mamma bear and 2 cubs up trees by the side of the road!  We never thought we would be so lucky.

The extra views with the waterfall and clouds, and the bears, definitely made the soggy end to our hike, and the extra hour or so detour to get home very worth while.

Deciding I didn't want the hassle of eating out preferring to get into the room and put my feet up (and go through my photos and write this!) I opted for takeaway pizza.  The results are below, and half of it is left over for tomorrow's lunch!