Talj’s Blog

Yosemite National Park, California

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Yosemite National Park is located in the central Sierra Nevada of California and lies 150 miles east of San Francisco.

The 750,000-acre, 1,200 square-mile park contains thousands of lakes and ponds, 1600 miles of streams, 800 miles of hiking trails, and 350 miles of roads. Two federally designated wild and scenic rivers, the Merced and Tuolumne, begin within Yosemite’s borders and flow west into California’s Central Valley.

Must see…

Bridalveil FallsBridalveil Falls is the second most accessible waterfall in Yosemite. Although it appears small when viewed against the surrounding canyon walls, it actually has a 620ft drop.

When we arrived at the ‘observation area’ although the view was stunning we decided to take a walk up the rocks to get a little closer. The park does not recommend this but I have to say it is well worth doing. The small waterfalls and pools of water as you get further up and the view across the park just took my breath away.

Half Dome

Half Dome stands at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley and rises to an elevation of 8,842 feet. It dominates most Valley views and there are plenty of opportunities to pull in and photograph Yosemite’s most distinctive monument throughout the park. Half Dome’s missing half is presumed to have fallen off when the Ice Age glaciers passed through.

Yosemite National Park-Half Dome hike is an approximately 17 miles long round trip and can take anywhere from 10-12 hours. Cables are put up in late May and taken down in October. The elevation will increase by 4,800′ from Yosemite’s Valley Floor – (almost one mile).

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Valley View Turnout

As you exit the Valley, past El Capitan Meadow, you will find a turnout that looks back to El Capitan and Bridalveil Falls. The views are just stunning!

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Glacier Point

Glacier Point is 32 miles south of Yosemite Valley. Along the way there are some stunning views back into the Valley and particularly from Tunnel View.

We headed up to Glacier Point for sunset one night but found there were so many places to stop and such amazing views along the way that we didn’t make it in time. As the sun started to set we pulled over and just walked down into a little clearing in the trees. The colours just as the sunset were beautiful and I would highly recommend getting up early for sunrise or staying out later for sunset up here!

Once at Glacier Point, if you go to the railings edge, you can look down 3,214 feet to the Valley floor for a bird’s eye view of many of the popular features of Yosemite.

From Glacier Point you can also get great views of Half Dome, Nevada Falls and Vernal Falls.

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Big Oak Flat Road

Big Oak Flat Entrance can be approached along Highway 120 West from Modesto and Manteca. The Big Oak Flat Road continues into Yosemite Valley and to the Tioga Road.

On our way along the road we pulled in to a turnout and I got my first real view of Yosemite. It blew me away!

Across the road from the turnout was Cascade falls, this is the first falls you will see when you enter the park via Big Oak Flat Road.

You can follow the road all the way into Yosemite Valley and there are plenty of turnouts along the way to stop and take lots and lots of photos!

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Tioga Road / Pass

The road starts from Big Oak Flat Road at Crane Flat. Our first stop along the road was Siesta Lake which 7,980ft in elevation. The lake appears to be drying out and becoming a marshy area. This process is a typical result of the conditions in Yosemite, with the exception of areas in higher elevation.

Next stop was a very dry Yosemite Creek, in summer and fall the creek that supplies Yosemite Falls almost completely dries up (See picture below!).

One of the parks most spectacular vistas can be seen at Olmsted Point where you can see the immense power of the glaciers which created Tenaya Lake and clouds rest which extends to Tenaya Canyon and a ‘backward’ view of Half Dome.

Final stop before Tuolumne Meadows was Tenaya Lake. The rock formations girding the lake exhibit glacier polish that prompted the Yosemite Indians to name it Py-wi-ack–Lake of the Shining Rocks.

Tuolumne Meadows

Located at the heart of Yosemite’s high country at an elevation of 8,575 feet, Tuolumne is the largest sub-alpine meadow in the Sierra Nevada.

The Tuolumne Wild and Scenic River meanders peaceful through the meadows spectacular domes and peaks.

Where to stay – Campsite !

Well for me there is absolutely no doubt it would be camping every time! Even though the week before we arrived there had been 11 reported “bear incidents” in our campgrounds, I was not afraid!

The Upper Pines Campground lies at 4,000 feet in the Yosemite Valley along the Merced River. The facility is open year round with 238 sites available with reservations required. Reservations can be made up to five months in advance for Upper Pines Campground. It is recommended that you make reservations as soon as possible.

Each campsite at Upper Pines includes a picnic table, bear locker and fire pit. Campground amenities include drinking water, flush toilets and a dump station. There are showers, laundry facilities and groceries available in Yosemite Village.

We arrived around 11pm and eventually set up our tents around 3am! When we woke up in the morning and opened the tent we were straight out in the open air, eating breakfast with the squirrels and being surrounded by nature at its most amazing, doesn’t get much better than that! Fantastic!

The smell of campfires and the sound of singing on an evening, waking up, stepping out of the tent and looking up through the trees to Glacier Point are just a few of the amazing highlights!

A little warning though, late at night and early morning it gets freezing! Wrap up warm even when you’re snuggled up in your sleeping bag!

Biggest Tip: Don’t come out the same way you went in! Experience as much of the park as you can!