Our lodge is one of several small (about four units each) Alpine-style buildings tucked back into a forested area around a cluster of service lodges. The Upper Yosemite Falls is visible (and audible) from the area, but due to the heavy forest you would not even suspect there is a Lower Falls. The Lower Falls are only a 30 minute walk from our lodge, so that was our first morning jaunt.
It was cool and crisp as we began the walk. The first view of the entire falls system was incredible, framed between tall Sequoias.
There was a professional photographer taking pictures on the path at that point. I wondered if the photographer was taking "collector art" kinds of shots or pictures for post cards or like ilk. He didn’t look like he wanted to answer any questions, and I thought that would be kind of insulting to ask anyway. He had an assistant who ran back and forth with the film packs from a parking lot quite a ways off, so we knew he was important.Of course everyone we saw had at least one camera and was clicking away like mad. It is amazing how courteous everyone seems to be about staying back out of others’ shots and also taking pictures for total strangers. We had people volunteer to take a picture of the two of us when they saw us posing for each other. Then of course Tom reciprocates. At times he also volunteers first.
I did notice that amateur photographers seem to gravitate to Tom with his fancier camera get up (especially with the long lens). They seem not to ask me after glimpsing my tiny point and click camera. As a matter of fact, they sort of smile indulgently, like one does interacting with a child. I don’t care. I love my little user friendly camera. If I want a picture, I just take it and then stand back and enjoy the surroundings while Tom is still adjusting and fussing. I’m seeing a lot more than he is, but he is happy as a clam. We both win.
We walked back along the trail to a wooden bridge that crosses the creek just a few yards beyond where the Lower Yosemite Falls thunders onto the rocks and enters the creek. You could feel the spray from the falls as a fine mist in the air. There are huge boulders at the base of the falls and in the creek bed—very picturesque, so we took lots of pictures.
Upper Yosemite Falls (from the base of the Lower Falls):
One elderly Oriental gentleman had pantomimed his request for Tom to take his picture along the path at the point where the whole falls is first visible. He seemed to have no English, but was interacting with all he encountered. After we had been at the Lower Falls for awhile, he appeared again and “asked” an older couple to take his picture in front of the falling water. They did so, then courteously posed for him when he wanted to take one of them with their camera. His hands shook so badly that I am sure it did not come out, but that was not the point. He brought a smile to each face he passed. I hope he had a wonderful visit, as he added to ours. We couldn’t help but smile each time we saw him.
We shuttled to Sentinel Bridge, where both Half Dome and North Dome pose for all. There is a Miwok Native American legend about the creation of both peaks. It seems that many years ago a Native American couple entered the area we now know as Yosemite Park for the first time. The woman, Tis-Se’-Yak, was tired and bent over with the burdens she carried. Her husband (who remains nameless in every version I could find) followed with a light pack and walking stick. As they entered the valley, Tis-Se’-Yak filled her basket with lake water from Lake Awaia and drank. She was so thirsty that she drank the lake dry. Her husband was enraged and beat her with his walking stick. She ran, weeping, but he caught up to her and beat her again. Tis-Se’-Yak threw her basket at him just as the two of them were turned to stone. The round bottom of her basket can be seen in the dome of the rock, and her face in the flat side of Half Dome. The dark streaks down the face of Half Dome are stains from her tears.
Her husband became North Dome.
Half Dome is 8,842 feet high and 87 million years old. It looks like a dome-shaped mountain split into two parts and half of it fell off. But geologists insist the rock never had “another half”. The peak is complete as it stands. The flat side was ground down and polished by glacier activity. I like the Miwok version better. I especially like that Tis-Se’-Yak has been immortalized in the stone and in the story, and her wicked husband is just “her husband”.We saw the meadows and Sequoia (coastal redwood) forests and the area where the two transition, which we discovered is an ecotone. There is an active effort to restore crowd damaged places in the Park and allow the ecosystem to repair itself. There are wooden walkways through areas like the meadows so one can observe without damaging.
On the shuttle we passed by the other lodging places in Yosemite Valley. Curry Village was originally the center of activity in the Park, with entertainment and nightly campfires. It consists of fairly large white (originally) canvas tents on wooden platforms. There is electricity, so you can have lights in the tents. There are communal bath and rest room facilities, and bear boxes to store the bear-tempting things. Another area is the housekeeping cabins, which look like plywood tents—bare-bones wooden structures in which to sleep, also with communal bath and rest room facilities, and bear boxes.
Awahnee is a luxurious lodge with a fine dining restaurant which we only saw from the outside. It is a dress-for-dinner place in the middle of the park. Rates are NOT reasonable for rooms or meals.
There are also campgrounds for tenting and RV camping. So there is something for all tastes and budgets.
We toured the visitors’ center and learned all about how the granite peaks were formed. I found it interesting that they are still in formation and pushing upward. They “grow” about one foot per thousand years.
We also went through the Ansel Adams Gallery. They do have Ansel Adams’ originals on display and reproductions for sale. There were original prints for a reasonable $40,000.00. We decided it would be too difficult to carry one with us, with all the packing and unpacking. I have seen reproductions of his work my whole life and it was a thrill to see the real thing. He had such a unique sense of light and shadow. The images pop out at you. There were also pictures of him taking pictures, which were kind of fun.
We knew we would pass El Capitan, Bridal Veil Falls, and Cathedral Peaks on the way out of the Park, so decided to wait to see them then.
I am glad we saw Yosemite before the summer hordes of visitors. It was so beautiful and peaceful. I hated to leave the Park, for that reason and because I knew what the drive out was like!
El Capitan is 3,593 feet tall from base to summit. We couldn’t see anyone climbing it that day, but did see rock climbers elsewhere in the park. El Capitan is the only landmark I recognized without reading a sign or being told, although they say Half Dome is the most distinctive monument.
El Capitan, side view:
El Capitan, traditional view:
Somehow both of us missed seeing the closer up view of Bridal Veil Falls on the way into the Park. I think because we were gawking at El Capitan on the other side of the road. It is beautiful, but I think Yosemite Falls (at least in the Spring) are more impressive, and you can get much closer to them.
Cathedral Peaks were visible, but quite far off. The road nearer them was still snow-bound. I think Tom took a good shot with his telephoto lens.
On the road to the Park we had passed a vista viewpoint I wanted to see, and Tom promised we would check it out on the way back. It was neat, but somewhat dwarfed by what we had just experienced. It is called the Rim of the World. It did have restrooms, however, and that made it a great stop!
The weather forecast was for a 70% chance of rain, but we didn’t see a drop until the last hour of the trip back. We were very fortunate.
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