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Another wonderful day! Yosemite is an amazing place. It's difficult to find the words to describe it. The scenery is spectacular, like nothing you've seen before. Real wilderness country. It never ceases to amaze how the area has been opened up for all to see, yet still preserving its natural beauty. There are so many moments of awe and wonder!
Drove in over the Tioga Pass, which reaches a height of 9900ft. Sheer drops of hundreds of feet, inches from the edge of the road. At the summit the temperature was only 1C, but with brilliant sunshine. The water in all the lakes was crystal and so still that every leaf of every tree was reflected in all their glorious colours.
The views of Half Dome from Olmsted Point were tremendous. The rock formations fascinating, glittering in the sunlight, bent and twisted, eroded and folded.
The roads twist and turn, rise and fall in places are in dire need of repair, testament to the extremes of weather and the volume of traffic they experience.
Half Dome dominates the landscape from every angle, being almost at the centre of the park. At every turn you see it from another angle and it never ceases to make you gasp at its sheer size.
Dropping into Yosemite Valley, El Capitan comes into your vision. A massive cliff face rising 1000 metres from the valley floor. Looking up at it's sheer majesty, thinking that it is insurmountable, you suddenly become aware of red and orange dots on the wall of solid rock. Climbers? No! Nobody would contemplate climbing the 1000 metre wall of rock. But they do! In their hundreds they flock to El Capitan to test their climbing skills. Not my idea of fun.
Another long drive to another viewpoint to see Half Dome from another angle. Glacier Point is at the end of the road, but the 30mile drive was worth it. The views were unbelievable.
Time to set of home with one last check on the climbers who had made slow progress up El Capitan and were stating up camp for the night, suspended in hammocks or perched on rocky ledges in temperatures of -4C or less. Rather them than me!
One last view of Half Dome as the sun set on another amazing day! So much for getting out of the park before dark. Driving Tioga Pass at night is not a prospect I was looking forward to, when out of nowhere a white pick up truck appeared and led us over the pass and safely out of the park! Spooky!
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