20/05/10

(on the 21st)

After a peaceful night we headed back into the park for another day of walking. We planned to to the 4-mile trail as the guides say that it has some of the best views in America. When we got to the trailhead the bus driver was unsure how far we were likely to get due to snow at the top. We gave it a go anyway and headed up the windy path. The trailhead is at about 4000ft and in about 3 miles gets up to about 7000ft. The path initially gives views west at El Capitan and then towards the top looks north-east towards the Half Dome. We managed to get pretty near the top before the path was closed. We spoke to other people who had tried and given up, they said that you were walking on ice near the top, so we gave it a miss as we didn't really have the right equipment for that.


When we got down we had a bit of food and went to the cinema to see their 20 minute documentary on the park. If you like geography and geology Yosemite really is a treat. Everywhere you look there are great examples of the geological processes that sculpted the valley. After the film we set off to do another walk, this time we were walking to the bottom of Yosemite Fall. Interestingly, the girl at the info centre said that it would take us 4 hours but we did it in an hour and a half, some people really do take their time at this walking lark. Another odd note; at this park I was wearing a 49ers cap, whereas at the Grand Canyon I was wearing a Yankees one. There is a real difference in reaction from other walkers. In the Yankee cap if people said anything it was usually something like “oh no! Not another Yankee fan”, whereas a few people saw the 49ers hat and yelled “go 9ers!” :) Anyway, the walk was great again. This one gave a view of the valley from a third angle and obviously a nice close view of the Yosemite Fall.


After the walk and a shower we headed out of the park and made our way west and back on the road towards Seattle.

Cube out