Yosemite Falls and Other Wonders
I hope you like trees. And sunshine. And waterfalls.
Because this post is chock full of all of those things because, well, Yosemite is full of all of those things. I'll stop talking now and let the photos do it for me.
My main goal was to see waterfalls. I love San Diego but we are fresh outta waterfalls so I have to get them in when I can.
The first stop was Bridal Veil Falls, a short half mile walk (roundtrip) from the (rather crowded) parking lot. It's worth a stop but gets crowded as it's the first attraction upon entrance to the park.
After a wander through the woods and a hop back in the truck, we made the short drive to one of the main lots to start the real hikes of the day.
We were greeted with this view of upper and lower Yosemite Falls.
Yosemite Falls.
It was the perfect place to pose for pictures. Though we soon found out that fitting people and that waterfall in the picture was impossible.
Me and the hubby.
Brittney returns! Her and her brother drove up late the night before to spend the weekend with us and they were still game to get up and explore. My kind of people.
You see that teeny tiny waterfall on the bottom? It's about to get A LOT bigger.
But first there's a little bit of a walk, through the trees and over rivulets.
Once we got to the bottom of the lower falls where the viewing bridge was, we knew that we needed to get closer.
Completely ignoring all caution signs against it (along with a few other daring souls) we began the climb up the slippery boulders to get as close to the crashing waters as we dared.
I'm a little slower than that husband of mine, something to do with my unwillingness to leap large distances over sharp wet rocks under a waterfall..
Doesn't look quite so small now does it?
The last stop of the day was the Ahwahnee hotel, built in the 1920s (now named Majestic Yosemite Hotel) and supposedly quite beautiful.
One things for sure, the views on the way there certainly were.
A couple miles later, we made it. And it was just as remarkable as the tourist office said it would be. The hotel is sandwiched between two sheer cliff faces and sits in a quiet clearing full of blooming flower trees.
I laid in the grass and stared in wonder for quite some time, wishing I never had to leave.
Knowing that soon the exits from the park would be packed and miserable, we took one last look around this oasis and made our way back, feeling happy and the good kind of tired.
I hope you enjoyed all my pictures of trees and waterfalls and flowers...I know I enjoyed sharing them.
I have barely made a dent in the National Parks out there and I'm definitely itching for more. Where should we go next?!!