A G: CA - Camping at Yosemite National Park by Gordon

3 Nights at Yosemite

~ Gordon

Half Dome

viewed from

Cook's Meadow Trail

Half Dome, viewed from Cook's Meadow Trail

Half Dome, Nevada Falls

viewed from Glacier Point

Yosemite Falls, viewed from far

Yosemite Falls closer look

Bridalveil Falls

Upper Pine campground

At our campsite

hammock

High Sierra Loop trail board

Yosemite was very cool and exciting. When we went there, the first thing was to unpack everything. It was late, about 9:00 pm. We used the car headlight to get light, so we could build the tent. Luckily, it was particularly easy.

Our tent

camp shower bags

Hammock

Dinner

Noodle for breakfast

Chili for breakfast

campfire

Hammock

Campfire

The starting of High Sierra Loop trail

Vernal Falls from far

Mist trail

On the second day, we went to climb the Mist Trail. The mist was so big, so we thought it was as strong as the Niagara Falls. This year, it rained a lot. The waterfalls are stronger and different from last few years. Lots of new waterfalls fell from the top of mountains. Water was often found pounding. A beautiful rainbow near the Vernal Falls can be seen on the Mist Trail, which is close to Happy Isles. Many interesting animals make their homes there, such as rattlesnakes or the squirrels. We made many stops, then reached our destination: the top of Nevada Falls!!! When we reached there, we took a break. My dad went ahead to Half Dome and he made it! Unfortunately it needs a permit to climb on Half Dome. The John Muir Trail, which led to the Vernal Falls Footbridge helped us go down. Can you believe that the John Muir Trail makes you avoid the Mist Trail by sacrificing an important thing... but good for hikers. Can you guess why? You walk an extra mile!!!

At Vernal Falls Footbridge

Vernal Falls Footbridge

Vernal Falls viewed from far

Vernal Falls

Rainbow at Vernal Falls

Vernal Falls closer look

At the top of Vernal Falls

At top of Vernal Falls

John Muir trail

Nevada Falls, John Muir trail

Nevada Falls

John Muir trail

Nevada Falls, John Muir trail

John Muir trail

Nevada Falls

At Glacier Point

On the third day, we had a lot of fun driving up to Glacier Point. The national park offers a free shuttle bus to the top of Glacier Point. The bus station is located at about half way of the mountain. Guess what? We took the free shuttle to the top! Why not... We had went to Glacier Point a few times, so it was easy to find where everything was. The view of all the domes, including North Dome, Basket Dome, and Half Dome were very clear. They are so close together.

Half Dome and Nevada Falls, viewed from Glacier Point

Half Dome

At the Glacier Point

Half Dome

At the Glacier Point

Nevada Falls

At the Glacier Point

Nevada Falls

At the Glacier Point

Glacier Point

The shuttle took us down from Glacier Point. We decided to see the Yosemite Falls, Lower Falls and Upper Falls. The falls looked much stronger than the last few years, thanks to so much rain in California this year.

Yosemite Falls, Lower Falls and Upper Falls

At the Lower Falls

Water fight at Lower Falls

Half Dome

viewed from

Cook's Meadow trail

Upper Falls

viewed from

Cook's Meadow trail

Coming out from Yosemite Falls, it was around 6pm. The sunlight bright up Cook's Meadow trail. We decided to walk back to our campsite through the meadow, instead of taking the shuttle bus. It was a nice jogging after all. We got the beautiful view of the Half Dome and Yosemite falls. Watch out your steps. This summer, the meadow becomes muddy due to so much rains. The water level raised high. Too bad, there are no boat allowed on the Merced River.

Half Dome

viewed from

Cook's Meadow trail

Upper Falls

viewed from

Cook's Meadow trail

Upper Falls, viewed from Cook's Meadow trail

Merced River across Cook's Meadow trail

Merced River

Merced River was higher than my mom in 1997

Eating popsicle at Half Dome Village

We also went to Half Dome Village and Curry village. The villages server food, especially yummy popsicle. The hundreds of tent cabins fill up the village. Got sweat and dirty? Don't worry, the villages provide paid showers and pool.

On the last day, we went to view Bridalveil Falls. There was so much water! The waterfall pounding down from high above. We couldn't stand under the fall for over 30 seconds. A trail that was 0.5 miles long was fun to walk along.

Bridalveil Falls

Yosemite is full of wildlife. Many animals call it home. Different varieties live in the woods, such as mule deer or squirrels, or even bears! Many kinds of snakes live here. We saw a rattlesnake! It wasn't too big for a snake, but still was huge!

Rattlesnake

Squirrel

Deer at Cook's Meadow Trail

Deer family

The entire trip was fun and I enjoyed it very much. This year's camping at Yosemite was so special. The water was very strong, thanks to lots of rains in California this winter. Finally, we were going home! We come to visit Yosemite every year. We love it so much, the beautiful meadows, the easy or hard hiking trails, the enormous waterfalls, and our lovely campground (Upper Pine Campground). This sure was a quick trips, but had some of the best moments of my life.

Wild flowers at Mist trail

Wild flowers at Cook's Meadow trail

A G

Thursday, July 6, 2017

CA - Camping at Yosemite National Park by Gordon

3 Nights at Yosemite

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