They were up at 6.15am as the bags were being collected at 7am and then the bus was leaving at 8am. Breakfast was in Rafters, next door to the motel in Mammoth! They had a lovely breakfast and were raring to go by 8am!
They had a short stop at the service station at Lake Momo! Aaron, the driver, dropped us all up at the viewing point looking over Lake Momo at Vinning. Then after taking photos of the lake we walked back down the hill to the service station to visit, yes you guessed it, the shop before heading off to Yosemite!
It was further to Yosemite than they had expected! They had to drive to the park boundary and then drive through the park to get to Yosemite Valley where they were stopping. But the journey up to the park had more breathtaking scenery and it was only going to get better as the day went on. The bus started to climb and at the highest point they were at over 9900 feet. They stopped at Elery Lake and got the opportunity to take some photos. Then the entered the park. Because it was a Saturday it was busier and we had to queue for a while. The bus entered the park at The Tiogo Pass entrance. The bus was charged $300 for entry to the park. The road they were entering by is often closed for a few months of the year due to the snow and wi try conditions. However, in the summer it is supposedly one of the best ways to see the wider area of the park as they made their way to the main Bally. So the bus continued on its path and they would have around 60-90 mi utes of driving to make it to Yosemite Vally. The scenery was spectacular and today WAS the day to have the front seats.
After some stunning views the. Us made it to the main valley by 11.30am. They had signed up to go on the 'Tram Tour' which was $25 each although they did not know about this optional until yesterday. The tram would take them round the valley area for some great photo ops!
The first thing they did was go for lunch! Time was limited so they felt an early lunch would get that out of the way and allow them time t take the walk to the Lower Yosemite Fall. Lunch was a sandwich and a coffee and then it was off for a walk! The weather was great - blue skies with some light clouds but the temperature was very high and so walking in the sun for any length of time was hard going!
The most difficult thing to describe is he sheer size of the mountains around you once in the valley, the valleys were created during the ice age and they were carved out by vast glaciers flowing throu the area. However, what makes it more impressive is that the rocks in the area were solid granite and were among the hardest rocks in the world. The mountains rise up into the air almost vertically and at some points can have sheer cliff faces of between 3000 - 4000 feet from the valley floor. You feel very small as the rock towers above you and trying to photograph it is so difficult due to the vast size. But after a short walk they made it to the vantage point to see the waterfall.
Now, at some times during the year the waterfalls cascade per the cliff tops with incredible power and force, the water all comes from the melting snow that falls over the winter. These falls can continue to flow until August or even September. The waterfalls were flowing but at a very reduced rate. Last year had been a poor snow year, despite snow falls of up to 20 feet, but they had about half the normal average this year. But there was water falling from the cliff tops and it still looked amazing. It would be great to be here. Spring time to see them at full flow. The water was falling hundreds of feet and due to the small amount of water falling the wind easily blew it off vertical and it looked amazing as it fell to the rocks below. Everyone was taking photos and were looking for the vest view point.
As the tram was leaving at 1pm they had to be there by 12.50 to make sure they would get on. So they had to make it back to the centre and also visit the gift shop when they had time.
The tram was really a trailer being pulled by a truck! The trailer had about 12 or 13 rows of benches which would hold about 5 people each. Once the precious 'trammers' had got off the trailer it was a free for all to get on and get a seat. The trailer was open so it did not really matter where you sat as you would be able to see all around you easily and take photos as you went.
The heat was intense and luckily there was a breeze, even though it was very got, and the route took you along the roads in the Bally which were often lined with trees which provided some much needed shade. A National Park Ranger was put guide and he sat in what seemd to be a cross between a phone box and a tennis umpires chair at the front of the trailer. He faced us and had a microphone and gave a running commentary along the way. We got information about the history of the park, the geology of the park and a few amusing anecdotes along the way. As with most Rangers they appeared to live and breathe the national park! Our guide was a retired man who came up and lied in the park over the summer so ha could do the tours. His enthusiasm was such that you could tell he loved his job.
So we wound oils way round the valley and as he spoke people took photos, videos or just started in amazement at the views we had of the surroundings. Every so often we stopped and were able to Geoff to take photos of the most stunning views. We went past 'El Capitan' (which Captain Kirk climbed, and fell off, in the movie Star Trek V) which is the worlds largest granite outcrop. The sheer cliff rises almost 4000 feet into the sky from the valley floor. We also saw Cathedral Rock, Glacier Point, Half Dome Rock and many other amazing landmarks.
The highlight for everyone was stopping to take photos right down Yosemite Valley - a view that many people who ha never visited would recognise from photos taken of Yosemite.
After almost two hours we returned to the visitor centre and to a man everyone agreed that the experience had been one of the highlights of the trip to date. The combination of the weather, the scenery and the experience of being there will mean that it will be a long time before people forget their time in one of the most stunning places in the whole world.
With a heavy heart they all made there way to the bus so that we could move on once more. However, we had about two hours to go to get to Sonora and for much of the way the scenery continued to offer amazing views and contrats.
One of the highlights was descending from around 8000 feet to a couple of thousand feet on one of the windiest and impressive roads they had ever seen. This was a road that Top Gear would use on one of their special reports for the TV programme. Even the driver seemed to enjoy this part of the drive. They had to take the 'new' road that had been built as the original road was too steep for buses or lorries to use due to the gradients. However, the new road descended a vast height over 5 miles of road and they lost count of the number of hairpin bends that the bus had to manoeuvre round to get us down safely.
This had been another amazing day. A and L will never forget the visit to the Grand Canyon - but this visit will run it very close! A thought that this had been the highlight of the whole trip. The scenery was truly awesome while the fact that you were 'in' the scenery as opposed to looking down at it as with the Canyon meant it felt very special indeed.
I loved the visit - but the highlight for me had to be seeing a 'wild bear' run past the tram as we went on the tour. Suddenly from the trees a brown bear appeared and made its way through the trees. Pedestrians were walking yards from it and it did not seem perturbed by this but it also did not attempt to make for the people. It was a young bear and it seemd unphased by the number of people about.
So, it was on to Sonora for the night. Now, this motel really does not match up to the standard of the others we have stayed in but will do for one night. A and L walked in to town and had a lovely mean in 'The Diamondback Diner' which seemed to be very popular with the locals. It was busy and the staff appeared to be very nice.
On the way back they bumped in to the Knight family and they walked back to the motel. They met another family there too and they really wished the motel had had a bar they could all sit in and chat about the holiday. But there was no bar so they ended sitting in the poll area where there were some seats. By the end of the evening there were 14 of them sitting there having a great time! However, they were evicted from the poolside at 10pm as it was time to lock it up for the night. So everyone drifted back to their sparse rooms to get ready for the last day on the road tomorrow. Tomorrow they visit the capital of California, Sacramento, and will be back to San Francisco in time for lunch followed by a tour of the city.
More tomorrow from San Francisco!
Ted
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