Yosemite National Park

Once more onwards, this time I am heading for Oakhurst, the nearest site to Yosemite National Park. Oakhurst nestles in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada range of mountains, Yosemite being part of them. A small but very busy site, close to town, lots of tourists, log built buildings and shops, hotels and restaurants everywhere, on my first visit to town I discovered the tourist office, a place I look for everywhere I go, I walked in and discovered guided tours of the park, decided at once that was for me, and booked one for the following day. Next morning, right on time, the van arrived, (a van in America is a mini bus to us) and off we set for the unknown.

Yosemite National Park covers an area of 761,266 acres, it is part of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain, it is internationally recognized for its spectacular granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams and Giant Sequoia groves, almost 95% of the park is designated wilderness. About 1 million years ago, snow and ice accumulated, forming glaciers at the higher alpine meadows that moved down the river valleys. Ice thickness in Yosemite Valley may have reached 4,000 feet during the early glacial period. The down slope movement of the ice masses cut and sculpted the valley. 

Yosemite is quite an amazing area, it is an area that was shaped by glacier action, the most obvious visible part being "half dome," what was once a huge granite dome, was split in half by the action of a glacier, leaving a vertical, smooth granite face which is a magnet for rock climbers, they often have to spend the night sleeping in a small hammock nailed to the sheer cliff, don’t look for me there!

Apart from the mountains, the other very memorable thing is the giant Sequoia trees, forests of them, tall and straight, walking among them in a noticeable silence, underfoot is like a soft carpet, the beautiful perfume of damp Sequoia everywhere, a memorable experience.

Being my first “National Park” I was expecting and or hoping to see some wildlife, I probably mentioned earlier, a favorite hobby of mine, observing wildlife, on this score, I was rather disappointed, not as much as a rabbit, although there are Black Bears in the area, invisible ones.

At this stage of my travels I now felt I had entered a different world, away from the fast glitz of Southern California, now in a quiet, beautiful natural world. This was more what I had pictured travel around the Western States would be like, easy, slow and interesting always sunny and warm.Due to the nature of the terrain there are a number of spectacular waterfalls, Yosemite Falls, Bridalveil Falls, Waterwheel Falls and many more.

Yosemite is almost exactly due East of San Francisco, so you can see I have not progressed very far, but then, what is the hurry?

I enjoyed my visit to Yosemite, I was disappointed not to see any wildlife, but my neighbours on site made up for that, between us we managed to empty quite a few cans of beer and do justice to a number of steaks cooked to perfection on the bar-b-q. I arranged to look them up in Apple Valley on my return to California.