Friday, July 14th, 2023

Starting mileage: 8460, Distance travelled: 65

Miles hiked: 6

We started the day realizing that the campground facilities were terribly maintained, a crime for a place that was trying to recruit us as members. The redeeming quality was being the closest RV park to the Yosemite entrance. Heeding the warnings of massive traffic and waiting at the park entrance, we got up at 5:15am and got into Yosemite by 7:30. The park entrance was very close to our campground and the wait to get in was very short due to the early hour. As soon as we entered, we started to smell smoke from the Pika Fire, somewhere in the vicinity. Entering the park involved more steep cliffs, sharp turns and white knuckles. We had read the history of the park and seen a lot about it in the Ken Burns documentary of the National Parks so we were not surprised to see the awe-inspiring

We found parking in Yosemite Valley Village quite easily relative to earlier experiences, thanks to our early arrival. Laura was still ailing but had an easier time keeping her medicine down so had a little more energy starting the day. It took a bit to get organized, eating breakfast, making lunch, buying ice and coffee, etc, but at least we were parked, our biggest concern. We decided to start at Yosemite Falls, within walking distance of the village area. We were a bit taken aback by the mass of humanity surrounding us, many of whom couldn’t be bothered to follow the rules; leaving the trail, climbing all over the vegetation, and taking their dogs off leash. Our first stop was the site of John Muir’s first Yosemite cabin, a creek-side spot with a spectacular view of both the upper and lower Yosemite Falls above.

We walked along an interpretive trail in reverse to the base of the lower falls. We rounded a corner and got blasted with cool wind and spray, a little much for Laura who didn’t have a fleece, given the 95-degree forecast and heat advisory. There were so many people, that Susan and Laura fled while David and Brady got closer to get a better photo (after patiently waiting their turn among the throngs). The falls were one of the second largest we’d ever seen after Niagara Falls.

It wasn’t until we made it fully around to the bottom of the trail that we realized why people do it in the correct order. Laura turned around to see the most impressive view of the entire falls in all its glory.

Our next destination was El Capitan, which required our first of three adventures on the Yosemite Valley shuttle in high season. The wait wasn’t too long but the shuttle was packed to the gills. When we got off we were treated to an incredible view of El Capitan, the second tallest dome in the park. Across the prairie were the only slightly less impressive Cathedral domes. Despite searching with the binoculars, we found no living things climbing the rock faces. One of the paved bridges in the area was an engineering marvel, constructed of unmilled redwood trunks.

The next shuttle wait took quite a bit longer and the ride was squished, standing room only. Kids were losing steam and getting hungry, which added to the challenge. When we made it to the Mirror Lake trailhead, we sat for a bit on the trail side to eat our sandwiches and re-group. Laura had definitely run out of gas and we were wondering whether we should split up and have Susan take her back to the camper van for a rest. She rallied a bit after lunch and we were able to exhort her to give the 1-mile trail a go. We hiked up the Mirror Lake trail which was supposed to provide a unique perspective on Half Dome from the bottom up. It was a little disappointing since tree cover made it difficult to get a good view. We were on borrowed time with Laura so we didn’t want to go any further. We did see a very cool “mirror” effect on mirror lake where it reflected the ridge line of North Dome behind it, however.

Our third and final trip on the shuttle back to the parking lot was probably the worst. There wasn’t a clear queue for the line so it was a mass of people with no clear order. That, combined with a VERY long wait for buses that were nearly entirely full, combined with tired and cranky kids was a recipe for disaster. We made it through though and got back to our van. We hit the visitors center, watched the film (a little disappointing, sadly) and got coffee and ice cream, before heading back to our campground. On the trip back we stopped to take the obligatory photo at the national park sign, which we seem to routinely miss on the way in. We also stopped for gas where we found an enormous sequoia cone and saw a giant raven poaching water on a motorcycle. When we got back, the sun was blazing and the temperature was soaring so David and Laura set up our sunshade for the first time in the trip. We had appetizers in the postage stamp-sized shade but it was lovely. The evening ended with Brady fading fast, only to discover he had a 101 degree fever so Saturday’s plans would need to be adjusted.