Index:
About the Trip:
I spent the final two days in
Yosemite
(and driving to/from San Francisco). This
was one of those trips where you plan nothing and it still works out fine.
I hadn't made a car reservation because I wasn't sure when I'd need it. It
turns out that I got a cheaper car because they sometimes have a drop-in rate
for as-yet unrented cars (presumably because they need to rent it or have it
sit idle). BONUS! I spent the first day driving to Yosemite and hanging out
in the southern end of the park. I went to the Mariposa Grove area where they
have a fair selection of giant Sequoias. If you have been to
Sequoia National
Park
, this grove is no big deal and you might want to skip it. If you haven't
been there or you just love *very* big trees, then this grove is worth a stop. The
rest of the day I spent around Glacier Point. The views of the valley are
unbelievable. You can see Vernal, Nevada, and Illilouette Falls, a good portion
of the valley, and of course Halfdome. I took a short hike (3-4 miles roundtrip)
to Taft Point where the views are also spectacular and then did the mandatory
tourist thing - watched the sun go down over the park from the Glacier Point
overlook. This is a must see if you go to Yosemite. The cool thing is that
because Halfdome it the highest point in the area, it ends up being lit up
by sunlight after everything else is already dark. Pretty neat.
My luck was still good that evening as there was an available tent cabin in the
valley that I snatched up to avoid a long drive out of the park to find
accomodations. The next day I went hiking with a few new friends I met at
Glacier Point the night before. We took the John Muir Trail up to Vernal and
then Nevada Falls and veered off to take the Mist Trail part of the way back
down. Both falls were amazing (in fact I wasn't going to go all the way up
to Nevada Falls, but Vernal was so nice that I just couldn't turn around).
The hike is probably about 7 or so miles roundtrip and covers 1900 feet vertical
(to Vernal it's about half that). I highly recommend this hike, even though it
is moderately strenuous and a bit crowded during peak times. The rest of my day
consisted of a mad dash to get to the alpine meadow country in the western part
of the park before sundown (a friend had told me that this was his favorite part
of the park). I didn't quite make it before sundown, but it was still enjoyable
at dusk. I guess I'll have to go back again to get a better look.
About the Trip
San Francisco
Yosemite National Park
As with many of my vacations, this trip started with business and ended with
pleasure. Two of my fellow grad students and I went out to Livermore California
to meet with our research collaborators/sponsors at Sandia National Laboratories.
Once we accomplished our mission there, I decided to spend a few extra days in
the Bay area and
Yosemite N.P.
My first stop was to reunite with my old roommate from college and my D.C.
days,
Andy Kehler
. The first night we caught an A's - Yankees game at the Oakland Coliseum
(Yankees won unfortunately). The next day we drove down the coast to Monterey to
see some scenery and taste some local wine. As it turned out, it was not
a good day for picture taking. First the weather didn't cooperate - fog along
the coast made for a gloomy setting at best. Later, the wine kicked in.
Anyway, it was a really fantastic day, even if I can't show any of it to you.
You'll just have to take my word for it that the Monterey area and California
coast line are absolutely beautiful (or you can check out my pictures from my
San Francisco '89 trip
).
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