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| Yosemite's Half Dome. |
Thursday we started out visiting Glacier Point in Yosemite which was an hour from our campground. In the summer months it would be packed by 8 a.m. but we arrived at 9:30 this morning and the lot only had 20 cars and the overflow lot was empty.
From Glacier Point we were afforded fantastic views of Half Dome, a well known rock formation named after its shape. It presents a strenuous 17 mile hike. You gain 4800 feet in elevation before reaching the cables that assist you in climbing the remainder of it's steep granite domes. It's a good day hike or you can spend the night, both of which require permits. This has been on my bucket list for years, but I think that ship has sailed!
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| Arch Rock entrance |
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| Half Dome |
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| This is zoomed in to the point of being blurry so you can see the people on top of Half Dome. |
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| Looking down at Yosemite Valley from Glacier Point. |
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| 317' Vernal Falls as seen from Panorama Trail. We hiked a portion of this trail. |
We enjoyed visiting with Ranger Krys. She is a backcountry Ranger at Yosemite. She was finishing her sixth day of a backcountry hike patrolling her area. The 3 weeks prior she had been working on the Caldor fire in California. She gave us a great tip on when to turn around on this trail before we would regret the return trip, as the trail took a plunge down.
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Ranger Krys
Her pack was huge and looked very heavy! |
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| On a clear day you can see almost 190 miles from here. This was not a clear day! |
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| Remains of a prior forest fire. |
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| El Capitan on the left and Half Dome on the right. Taken from Tunnel View (made famous by Ansel Adams) just outside the Wawana tunnel. We may have to go back because supposedly you can see Bridalveil Falls from here too. Bridalveil Falls is a big attraction but the trail is currently closed for work. |
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| El Capitan |
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| The Wawona tunnel is .8 miles long. It required 275 tons of blasting powder and was completed in 1933. |
200 miles on Weds. led t.o a 5 hour day with one gas (no, not me!) and a lunch stop. The last 40 miles were in the mountains--slow going for the RV. I always feel bad for the people behind us because we don't go up mountains very fast. Pat's great about pulling over to let people pass, when there's a spot to actually pull a 55' RV and car over in.
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| Merced River |
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| We're crossing over to the other side of the river due to a little rock slide on the right. |
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| Reinforcement above the rock slide. |
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| Glad I wasn't driving! The narrow one lane bridge that took us across the creek. |
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| A cute little campground just 8 miles outside Yosemite National Park. |
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| Pretty views from the RV Park. |
Where are the Piepers now? Indian Flat Campground, El Portal, CA
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