Yosemite

November 7, 2023

Yosemite. Epic.

I have been thinking all week about what to write for our time in Yosemite and no words seem adequate to capture the beauty and grandeur of this national park. It has to be truly one of the most beautiful places on the planet. I thought I knew what to expect at Yosemite, but I didn’t. It is larger-than-life. The word that kept coming to mind was “majestic.” The mountains, the waterfalls, the rivers, the trees—they are all so powerful, so grand. We all just kept saying, “Wow!” If Yosemite is not on your bucket list, I would suggest adding it!

Yosemite was designated a national park in 1890, making it the third national park. It is situated in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California and is famed for its powerful granite cliffs, deep valleys, grand meadows, giant ancient sequoias, vast wilderness, and breathtaking waterfalls. Yosemite National Park spans nearly 1,200 square miles which makes it roughly the size of Rhode Island. However, the majority of visitors (about 4 million per year) spend most of their time in the 7 square-mile area of Yosemite Valley because the valley is home to the park’s most iconic landmarks including El Capitan, Half Dome and Yosemite Falls.

We stayed at a campground located 15 minutes from the El Portal entrance. It was a perfect location. Our camper is too big to stay inside the park! We did Yosemite a little bit like we do Disney. We were up and in the park fairly early each morning and found ourselves leaving after dark. By the end of the week, we were all exhausted!�

We did lots of hikes, some more difficult with incredible views of the park, some easier on the forest floor amidst huge trees and towering rock faces. We visited the new visitor center on the day it opened and the boys earned another junior ranger badge. We did LOTS of driving! We tried to cover as much of the park as we could which required a ton of driving! We even saw a black bear on one of our drives!�

And, we did a lot of people watching! Yosemite is one of the world’s greatest climbing areas. We loved spotting the “tiny” climbers on the face of El Capitan, listening to exhausted climbers next to us at meals talk about the details of their most recent climb, seeing dedicated climbers sleeping in their tents, cars and camper vans anywhere they could find a place so they could start their climb with the rising of the sun. Our favorite sight was after dark. Star gazing was AMAZING, but seeing the lights of climbers who were tackling the multiple-day routes and sleeping in tents and hammocks secured to the rock face was unbelievable! We stood there for over an hour just staring at the stars and the lights!�

Yosemite was amazing! We feel truly blessed that we have this opportunity to see so many unbelievable places! Now we are going to need a few days of rest before we tackle Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks!