Yosemite Park and Muir Woods- A Photo Essay

Yosemite Park and Muir Woods

Thank you for reading this week’s post on Yosemite Park and Muir Woods! I’m glad you’re here!

Now, let me send you somewhere else. This reporter has been writing a travelogue for a website called Global Outdoors. The most recent one they have posted is at this URL- https://blog.globaloutdoors.com/news/2021/5/24/traveling-america-by-van-on-the-road . But the posts go back to planning the trip and building out the van, if you are that interested. The content is quite different than what you see here. If you’re bored at work, please check it out!

Arches on the California coast.

Over the weekend we drove up to Sebastipol to visit Brian and Laura Jaye, long-time friends of Maxx. Maxx took us all out to CA 1 to see the sea. I can hardly believe they put a road on the side of those cliffs. It is terrifying to anyone who fears falling. The scenery is fantastic, though!

Maxx, Catalina, Carlo, and Betty.

General store, Elk, CA.

The flowers along the coast are gorgeous. These are California poppies.

Monday, Susan and I drove from Castro Valley to Yosemite National Park. Once we got clear of the major highways, the drive was beautiful- rolling hills turning into mountains, sparsely travelled four lane highway turning into narrow, winding mountain road.

El Capitan and Half Dome.

We reached the park entrance around noon. At least fifty cars were in line ahead of us.

Susan and John in Tuolumne Grove.

Clearing the entrance gate, we entered the park and drove to the Tuolumne Grove parking lot. I wanted to drive up Tioga Road, but it was closed. We parked, and hiked down into one of only 25 groves of giant sequoias left on the planet. They are so amazing!

A tunnel was carved through this dead tree trunk.

We hadn’t gotten our bearings yet, but after the walk Susan wanted to see El Capitan. We headed towards Yosemite Valley, stopping at overlooks along the way. When we got down onto the valley floor, the road looked like a parking lot. A long line of vehicles were parked on the road, which was temporarily closed for construction We joined the line, and sat down to wait.

After 20 minutes or so, the line started to move. It was slow movement, but it was movement. Hooray!

Our first view of El Capitan was stunning. People climb that cliff?!?!? We managed to snatch a parking spot, and did what tourists do- we snapped photos. That chunk of rock, while amazingly huge and imposing, wasn’t doing much at that moment, so we got back in the car, got back into the traffic, and creeped along- right into a controlled burn.

Didn’t come to see this!

The smoke quickly affected my breathing. You couldn’t see the mountains any more. We turned around as quickly as we could and got out of there.

Smoke filled Yosemite Valley.

Entrance into the park Tuesday morning was easy- no wait! The valley was completely filled with smoke, so after a 45-minute wait due to road construction (I photographed Mercer River while waiting), we drove up onto the Glacier Point road (on another terrifying mountain road) and drove all the way to the Glacier Point overlook.

Mercer River. Methinks there might be many trout here.

Mercer River, view 2. Note the cars parked on the road, left side.

Susan at Glacier Point. The view? AMAZING.

In the meantime, the wind had come up and blown most of the smoke out of the valley. The views from Glacier Point were incredible. We stopped at a couple other overlooks, then hiked up Sentinel Dome.

Sentinel Dome.

This walk was very tough for me. We were at such high elevation, I just couldn’t get enough air. Slow, slow, slow going, but finally I got up there.

Susan and John, somewhere in Yosemite.

The view, of 360 degrees, was dizzying. I hardly took any pictures- no way could they begin to convey the experience. The struggle up there was so worth it!

A view of the Half Dome.

We sat on the dome for over an hour. Some mental arithmetic told me that if we left right now, we’d be back to Castro Valley around sunset. We hiked back (it’s so much easier going down!) and hit the road. My phone took us through the backest roads (is backest a word?) imaginable, but got us to the interstate. We got to Maxx’s about 1930 hours after an amazing couple of days.

A redwood tree. Yes, they are very big, too.

Thursday, we hit a much closer target, Muir Woods National Monument, home of coastal redwood trees. Redwoods lack the bulk of giant sequoias, but they go straight up, seemingly forever. And it’s not like they’re small!

Redwood sorrel carpets the ground in places.

Susan admires some trees…

We took a leisurely hike of two miles or so, then went to Fish., in Sausalito, for lunch. Squid Caesar salad and squid over linguini, it was so good!

Lunch!

Then, it was off to Marin Headlands for views of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, and the Pacific Ocean. Great stuff! Beautiful spot, and fantastic (if breezy) weather!

The Golden Gate Bridge, icon of San Francisco.

The plan for Saturday is to visit San Francisco. Should be an interesting day!

Thank you for reading this week’s post on Yosemite Park and Muir Woods!

Life is great and I love life!

Every day is a blessing. Don’t waste it- Go fishing! or take a trip!

John Kumiski, author of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide

Purchase a signed copy of Fishing Florida by Paddle- An Angler’s Guide at http://www.spottedtail.com/fishing-florida-by-paddle/

All content in this blog, including writing and photos, copyright John Kumiski 2021. All rights are reserved.