As part of our 3 week-long National Parks road trip in the Summer of 2013, we drove from San Francisco to Yosemite National Park, where we spent 2 nights in Curry Village in one of their tents. I don’t really have words to describe the beauty of Yosemite. These kinds of trips make me feel more connected to the world, at the same time feeling small and insignificant compared to the vastness of these spaces, and also important enough that I live in a time when places such as these are accessible to me. It’s often a spiritual experience for me, this feeling of being connected. Yosemite was one of a handful of places where I have felt this way.
I mean:
We spent 2 days in the park, doing a few beautiful hikes and exploring the gorgeousness. The Park Rangers were super helpful with suggesting hikes that would be family-friendly. My kids have a decent amount of stamina (not saying they don’t complain though), but it’s best to know their limits and plan accordingly. The also participated in the Junior Ranger program and earned their badges!
We drove to Mariposa Grove to hike among the ginormous trees. Totally worth it, but heed this advice: if the sign says that the parking lot is full & you need to go to a lower lot to catch a shuttle, take that with a grain of salt. We took the shuttle (very crowded & had to wait a while), and when we got to Mariposa Grove, there were tons of empty parking spots…grrrr. Other than that, it was just amazing to see trees so tall and old.
We explored the valley and did some great hiking. The view of El Capitan from the El Capitan meadow are breathtaking. There is endless space for the kids to run around and places for them to climb.
This is one of those not-to-be-missed viewpoints. From the National Park website “From the Glacier Point parking and tour unloading area, a short, paved, wheelchair-accessible trail takes you to an exhilarating (some might say unnerving) point 3,214 feet above Curry Village, on the floor of Yosemite Valley.”
After our second night spent at Curry Village, we drove through the other side of Yosemite via the Tioga Pass road, on our way to Mammoth Lakes, CA. Along the way we made lots of stops, including these:
We left the park via the Tioga Pass, which is the highest highway in California and the Eastern entrance to Yosemite. You have to check road conditions, as weather can close the road, even in the summertime.
Have you been to Yosemite? Did you love it as much as we did?
xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:trackback="http://madskills.com/public/xml/rss/module/trackback/">[…] part of our National Parks Road Trip that I keep mentioning, we drove from Yosemite National Park to Mammoth Lakes, CA, stopping along the way in Mono Lake. While I was researching this monster […]
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[…] part of our National Parks Road Trip in the Summer of 2013, we spent 2 nights in Yosemite National Park. I usually plan our summer trips about 10 months to a year in advance, which generally ensures […]