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After Napa we drove to Mariposa, our base for Yosemite National Park. I opted to drive today And actually quite enjoyed it once I got used to the freeways. There is no lane discipline at all and people over and undertake at will. Anyway, you just have to go with the flow and, so far so good.
We arrived in Mariposa early afternoon. It's an old Gold rush sort of town, some of the guys are walking around in cowboy hats, very Pioneer like. You almost expect a saloon door to open and a gun fight to erupt!
After checking into the hotel we wandered around for a bit, checking out some of the souvenir shops and restaurants, in which it was sadly lacking.
We eventually found a Mexican for that evening and I had some vegetarian burritos which were not too bad.
The next morning we left early for Yosemite, about an hours drive away. It wasn't long before we started to climb and the roads became narrower and more windy. The scenery, already pretty nice just got better and better. Mountains got closer, large boulders were overhanging the road, the river was fast flowing and full of rapids and we edged closer to the Sierra Nevada. Eventually we reached the park and all I can say is, wow....
I literally didn't know where to look first. They say that Spring is a good time to visit due to the snow melt and all the waterfalls and they are right. There were loads of huge waterfalls cascading down the various mountains. Yosemite falls was particularly impressive as were Bridalveil falls. We headed to the valley floor for our first day since this is where you can see a large number of the sights in one go. Unfortunately this also means lots of tourists and bus trips.
After taking the obligatory photographs of the falls, half dome and El Capitan we decided to lose the crowds by taking a hike to Mirror lake via Yosemite falls. This was a nice hike through the forest initially which provided some welcome shade on what was turning into a surprisingly warm day give the altitude.
We then ended up back on the valley floor for a while and eventually joined another track which took us up an incline and clambering over rocks before eventually bringing us out into the clearing that was Mirror lake. It's a nice spot as not so touristy and the lake is very reflective, hence it's name. After hiking back we called it a day and headed back to our hotel.
The following morning we drove back to the park. Rather than following the same route through the park we decided to head towards Wawona which would take us out of the park via a different exit.
Our first stop was Tunnel view which afforded spectacular views of the valley below and El Capitan and Half Dome. A gay man wearing fetching earrings kindly took a couple of photographs or is and we returned the favour before we reluctantly got back in the car and headed through the tunnel. There was a lot of driving today with plenty of opportunity to stop for photographs. However our next destination was Mariposa grove as Stephen has a mild obsession with trees of most varieties. The trees in the grove are particularly large specimens of Redwood so you can imagine his excitement. He was like a child on Christmas day eagerly waiting to open the biggest present under the tree. Whilst I could also appreciate the splendour of these trees, they are trees and don't hold my attention for quite as long!
We parked up in Wawona and caught the shuttle bus to the grove where we embarked on a 2 hour hike brought the forest to admire some of the giants close up. Many of them are over 1000 years old so that was impressive. They are also pretty resilient against fire and insects etc adding to their longevity.
Half way up the incline we had to clamber over a dead tree blocking our path. Unfortunately for me, I lost my footing and was stabbed in the back of the leg by one of it's branches which has left me with a sore bruise and some missing skin. I soldiered on however and we made it to the museum at the top of the grove which was closed, as was the cafe and all the facilities-great. However, there was snow and quite a lot of it. Again, picture Stephen very excited and insisting upon numerous photo opportunities of him wearing shorts in the snow-simple pleasures!
After ticking off the various trees along the route we headed back down the trail and made our way back to the car.
For some unknown reason we decided to retrace our steps and exit the park via the Mariposa exit rather than sticking to our original plan and exiting at Wawona. Foolish idea. We hit road works-tree cutting and found ourselves in a traffic jam for the best part of an hour. In the end we decided to make a u turn and head out the Wawona exit afterall!
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