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We got up quite early this morning as we've got quite a bit of driving to do to get to Yosemite and out of the other side today. We first grabbed some breakfast once we'd checked out and then went to a supermarket called Food Maxx to get some bits we could have for lunch as a picnic in the park today. After we'd got a few bits and stopped off for petrol we got on our way. It was quite a drive to the edge of the park and once we'd paid the $20 fee and got on the road through the park we still had quite a drive to the place we wanted to stop. We drove for another hour or so and reached a place called Sentinal Beach. There were picnic benches there so we used one to have some of our picnic seen as it was now lunchtime. Whilst having our food we were joined by some very brave squirrels which would come so close to try to get food. Plus there were two beautiful birds, one with electric blue wings and the other with a red belly. There was a beach at this stop too so we went to have a look, it was lovely here. There were lots of families who had set up for the day here with the children playing in the lake. We had a paddle and a sit on the stones before back to the car. Next we drove to Yosemite village, we got parked but only just because this place was packed! We decided to make this just a toilet stop and move away from the crowds. We made quite a few photo stops along the way but eventually made it to Tuolume Meadows where they had a visitors center where we asked about walks. There was a short hour walk to a place called Soda Springs which sounded good so we opted for there. The walk was stunning with rocks and green meadows surrounding them. We got up to the Soda Springs which was boggy water on the ground with some spots making bubbles, a little like the mud pools in New Zealand. We made our way back, on the way we saw a guy riding a horse pulling three more horses behind him, all the horses were carrying things in bags either side of them. We walked a little more and there was another guy going past us the same way, with four horses. He looked like a cowboy and when James said Hi he replied with Howdy, he must be a cowboy then! We then walked past yet another with four more horses. We left here and made a stop at Gaylor Lakes, we had a lovely walk around the meadows and lakes. We then headed onto Tioga Pass in order to get to the other side of Yosemite. Driving here we reached a height of over 9000ft, so high! Coming out of the pass the air was hazy and when we opened a window to take a photograph of the sunset, the air smelled of fire. We thought there must have been a forest fire somewhere. We got to Mammoth Lakes and checked into our hotel, the guy had mentioned the smoke and said there had been a forest fire near Fresno, that's where we set off from this morning. It had been caused by a lightning strike and been burning for 22 hours so far, also 16 campsites have been evacuated. Sounds awful! We went out for something to eat then got to bed.
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