In winter this road is closed due to snow. It is normally open from early June till the beginning of November (approx. 150 days) but if it is a long snow season this road may only be open for as little as 100 days.
On the way up the pass I entered the Yosemite National Park but was too early in the day for the people collecting the park entry fee. There was a sign saying I will need to pay it when I leave the park at the other end later in the day.
My first stop was at a parking area which provides a viewing spot for Lembert Dome.
There was a sign saying have a coffee with a park ranger from 8.00am. Well it was 8.00am and not a park ranger to be seen anywhere. You can climb to the top of the dome by walking on the trail that goes around to the other side of the dome and then climb up the far side. It is a total of 2.8 miles but they say to get there and back will take you half a day with all the climbing to the top of it. The top of the dome is 900 feet above where I took the photo from.Next I drove along to the Visitors Centre located at Tuolumne Meadows which is only 5 minutes away by car. I got out of the car to look inside the Visitors Centre but it does not open till 9.00am so I jumped back into the car and continued on further across the mountains. I stopped a few times at turn offs (which are just places to stop to view the scenery) and took some photos of the cliffs and valleys.
My next stop was at Tenaya Lake. The lake is a mile long and you can do a 2 and a half mile walk around it if you have the time. The lake is surrounded on three sides by granite rock cliffs.
From there, it is only a few minutes drive to Olmsted Point. From the car park you can view Half Dome one of the main features geological of Yosemite.
But if you walk the 150 yards to the top of the point you can see all the way down the valley to Half Dome and to the left of the valley at a peak called Clouds Rest. You walk up one hundred feet in elevation for the 150 yards to get to the point. At this elevation (8,300 feet) it is a hard enough walk to make your heart really pound by the time you have walked the distance.
There are also large granite boulders sitting on top of the point which would have been placed there when the area was a glacier during the last Ice Age.
People who walk the trails here quite often pick up small rocks and stack them up on top of each other to form pillars. There are thousands of these all through the park.
At the top of the point it is a slightly rounded granite peak with only one tree growing out of it.
From there it is a slow drive through a pine forest to Crane Flat where there is a road junction that leads into Yosemite Valley. The other direction leads west to San Francisco and Los Angeles.
At this point you could walk a trail to the Tuolumne Grove, which is a grove of giant Sequoias trees. These trees are the tallest in the world reaching up 380 feet (115 metres) and can be up to 26 ft in diameter. In this grove is the old road into the valley, which was for horse drawn coaches and includes one tree that the middle was cut out of for the coach to drive through.
Turning left at the road junction I drove down into the Yosemite Valley floor. You go through a few tunnels whilst gradually winding around the side of the mountains further downwards. You can stop at various places whilst descending to look at the view and take some photos. Once you reach the valley the road crosses the Merced River which flows through Yosemite Valley. The road becomes one way with the road on the other side of the river taking the traffic in the other direction.
In the early 1903 President Theodore Roosevelt came to the area and met John Muir who was a wilderness campaigner. Muir talked to Roosevelt about the importance of keeping areas like Yosemite as federally protected land and not long after Yosemite was declared a National Park.
Once in the valley you have many choices. I decided before leaving home that if it was not booked out on the day I would take a two hour Valley Floor Tour. This tour you are in an open top trailer behind a large pickup truck. There is a Park Ranger sitting in front facing everybody who shows you around the main places in the valley.
I arrived at the village at 11am and checked out the tour booking office. There were spaces available on the 12 noon tour so I bought the $25 ticket. I had to get to the Yosemite Lodge so I was able to get on the free shuttle bus that goes around the whole valley. You can get on and off at any one of the many stops around the valley. Arriving with a bit of time to spare I went to the food hall at the lodge and grabbed a bite to eat.
The tour “bus” as I said is an open top trailer behind a large pickup truck. The trailer is made up of 13 rows of seats that can each hold up to four people.
At the start of the tour the Park Ranger gave us a brief history of the park plus a run down on what we will be doing. From this the tour just moves along through the valley floor.
In no time at all you are checking off the list of highlight spots of Yosemite that you visit. Yosemite Falls, with the longest continuous water drop in Northern America. Not that I saw it as it is seasonal waterfall. It only runs when the snow is melting from early spring until all the snow is gone, therefore going there at the start of fall was not a good time to see the falls.
Next up was ‘El Capitan’ which is a 3000 foot vertical wall of granite. You can not get a sense of how tall this cliff face is until you stop at the side of it about 60 yards from the base and the tour driver points out the climbers on the rock face. You really have to strain your eyes to see a person who is half the size of a pin head on the white granite wall. The driver himself is a rock climber and has climbed this cliff three times. The ranger said it on average takes six days to climb the face of this cliff although people have raced up it in as little as three hours. There have also been quite a few deaths over the years caused by rapid weather changes including unseasonal cold weather and the falling rocks.
The cliff itself is one of the most popular points of Yosemite as it towers over the valley. The park ranger told us that there was a rock slide in the late 1990’s where 1400 tons of rock fell of the cliff face.
From here we travelled along the north side of the river towards the roads what wind out of the valley before turning back across the river and heading back on the road I originally came in on.
Half way back along this road the tour turned right and started moving back up the side of the valley wall and we were taken up to a place called ‘Tunnel View’.
Once in the valley you have many choices. I decided before leaving home that if it was not booked out on the day I would take a two hour Valley Floor Tour. This tour you are in an open top trailer behind a large pickup truck. There is a Park Ranger sitting in front facing everybody who shows you around the main places in the valley.
I arrived at the village at 11am and checked out the tour booking office. There were spaces available on the 12 noon tour so I bought the $25 ticket. I had to get to the Yosemite Lodge so I was able to get on the free shuttle bus that goes around the whole valley. You can get on and off at any one of the many stops around the valley. Arriving with a bit of time to spare I went to the food hall at the lodge and grabbed a bite to eat.
The tour “bus” as I said is an open top trailer behind a large pickup truck. The trailer is made up of 13 rows of seats that can each hold up to four people.
At the start of the tour the Park Ranger gave us a brief history of the park plus a run down on what we will be doing. From this the tour just moves along through the valley floor.
In no time at all you are checking off the list of highlight spots of Yosemite that you visit. Yosemite Falls, with the longest continuous water drop in Northern America. Not that I saw it as it is seasonal waterfall. It only runs when the snow is melting from early spring until all the snow is gone, therefore going there at the start of fall was not a good time to see the falls.
Next up was ‘El Capitan’ which is a 3000 foot vertical wall of granite. You can not get a sense of how tall this cliff face is until you stop at the side of it about 60 yards from the base and the tour driver points out the climbers on the rock face. You really have to strain your eyes to see a person who is half the size of a pin head on the white granite wall. The driver himself is a rock climber and has climbed this cliff three times. The ranger said it on average takes six days to climb the face of this cliff although people have raced up it in as little as three hours. There have also been quite a few deaths over the years caused by rapid weather changes including unseasonal cold weather and the falling rocks.
The cliff itself is one of the most popular points of Yosemite as it towers over the valley. The park ranger told us that there was a rock slide in the late 1990’s where 1400 tons of rock fell of the cliff face.
From here we travelled along the north side of the river towards the roads what wind out of the valley before turning back across the river and heading back on the road I originally came in on.
Half way back along this road the tour turned right and started moving back up the side of the valley wall and we were taken up to a place called ‘Tunnel View’.
Tunnel View, as the name suggests, is a viewing area next to a road tunnel which enters the park from a south west direction. Here you get a great view of most of the valley’s main cliffs and mountain sides including El Capitan, Half Dome, Bridal Veil Falls as well as the valley floor itself.
The tour stopped here for everyone to get out of the trailer and take some photo’s of what is said to be the most taken photo in the park. Next year is one hundred years since the Yosemite National Park was founded and they are spending a lot of money upgrading the roadways and viewing areas for the special celebration.
It actually looked today with the wind running up the valley that the water is being blown back up over the falls to the creek above.
From here the tour went onto roadways that are not for public thoroughfare and are only access by park vehicles or, push bikes and pedestrians.
We drove towards the eastern end of the valley to an area under Half Dome. Half Dome rises from the eastern end of the Yosemite Valley floor to its peak 4,737 feet (1,444 meters) above. It is a granite dome of which one half has been split away over thousands of years leaving a vertical section facing towards the valley.
People can climb to the top of the dome via a cable route on the reverse side from the valley but it is a full day trek from Yosemite Village.
People can climb to the top of the dome via a cable route on the reverse side from the valley but it is a full day trek from Yosemite Village.
From there we drove back to where we started the tour past some meadows where the Ranger said that at dusk some deer and bears will often wander around feeding on the grasslands.
Once the tour finished I was able to buy some souvenirs of Yosemite including a couple of books about the park which I am sure I will enjoy reading. I then caught the shuttle bus back to the car park where I had left the car and quickly started the air-conditioning to cool the car down as I had left it in the sun when I left for the tour.
I had a great time seeing the sights of Yosemite via the two hour tour of the valley floor. The scenery is wonderful and if I ever manage to go back to Yosemite I am sure I will stay a couple of days in the park and do some of the walking trails to see even more of the spectacular sights.
It was time for me to head off towards my accommodation for the night. I had booked into a Comfort Inn motel in Manteca, which is in central California east of San Francisco.
Travelling out of Yosemite Valley the same way I entered until I got to the fork in the road at Crane Flat where I had come across the Sierra Mountains from Lee Vinning. Taking the other road I soon came to the western park entrance and paid my $20 fee that I could not pay this morning. From there I drove out of the high country westwards through a lot of very scenic countryside. There are quite a few small country towns where you could stop and walk amongst the old style buildings and soak in the local character. I stopped at a town called Groveland and walked around ending up in the local pub where I was able to pick up some new coasters off the bar.
From there I drove down the new Priest Grade, which is the roadway that takes you off the mountains down a very steep gradient. On the other side of the valley wall is the Old Priest Grade, which is unbelievably about twice as steep as the road I travelled down the mountain on. From there I drove over the dam wall of the New Don Pedro Reservoir which the supplies the valley below with irrigation water for their crops and also has hydro turbines which generate electricity for the area.
From there I travelled on to the town of Oakdale where I went into a supermarket and was able to get a couple of new Pringles cans. From there it was just a 30 minute drive to the motel is Manteca. I arrived in town about 5.30pm and unloaded the car and started making up another parcel to send home. I emptied the Heineken Light cans I got yesterday and also a six pack of 100ml coke cans which I put inside some empty Pringles cans before packing into the parcel.
Then I went out for dinner at The Brickyard Oven Restaurant. I had picked this restaurant over twelve months ago while searching the internet as it is part of the Kelly Brothers Brewing Company Building.
Once the tour finished I was able to buy some souvenirs of Yosemite including a couple of books about the park which I am sure I will enjoy reading. I then caught the shuttle bus back to the car park where I had left the car and quickly started the air-conditioning to cool the car down as I had left it in the sun when I left for the tour.
I had a great time seeing the sights of Yosemite via the two hour tour of the valley floor. The scenery is wonderful and if I ever manage to go back to Yosemite I am sure I will stay a couple of days in the park and do some of the walking trails to see even more of the spectacular sights.
It was time for me to head off towards my accommodation for the night. I had booked into a Comfort Inn motel in Manteca, which is in central California east of San Francisco.
Travelling out of Yosemite Valley the same way I entered until I got to the fork in the road at Crane Flat where I had come across the Sierra Mountains from Lee Vinning. Taking the other road I soon came to the western park entrance and paid my $20 fee that I could not pay this morning. From there I drove out of the high country westwards through a lot of very scenic countryside. There are quite a few small country towns where you could stop and walk amongst the old style buildings and soak in the local character. I stopped at a town called Groveland and walked around ending up in the local pub where I was able to pick up some new coasters off the bar.
From there I drove down the new Priest Grade, which is the roadway that takes you off the mountains down a very steep gradient. On the other side of the valley wall is the Old Priest Grade, which is unbelievably about twice as steep as the road I travelled down the mountain on. From there I drove over the dam wall of the New Don Pedro Reservoir which the supplies the valley below with irrigation water for their crops and also has hydro turbines which generate electricity for the area.
From there I travelled on to the town of Oakdale where I went into a supermarket and was able to get a couple of new Pringles cans. From there it was just a 30 minute drive to the motel is Manteca. I arrived in town about 5.30pm and unloaded the car and started making up another parcel to send home. I emptied the Heineken Light cans I got yesterday and also a six pack of 100ml coke cans which I put inside some empty Pringles cans before packing into the parcel.
Then I went out for dinner at The Brickyard Oven Restaurant. I had picked this restaurant over twelve months ago while searching the internet as it is part of the Kelly Brothers Brewing Company Building.
I had seen that there was a micro brewery in town so that is why I picked to stay in Manteca as part of my trip. The building used to be the old El Ray Theatre but in 1977 it had a fire and burnt out. Ironically the picture it was showing at the time was The Towering Inferno.
In 1997 the Kelly Brothers spent 2.5 million dollars fitting out the shell of the old theatre into a brewery and restaurant. They have a “Mug Club”. For $100 annual membership you get a free meal on your birthday, one dollar off every pint of beer you buy in the pub during the year and two tickets on their memorial pub crawl including breakfast and beer all day on the bus between pubs. I know a lot of people who would join the club if they lived anywhere near this place.
After having dinner I sat at the bar watching a baseball game on the T.V. for a while. The barmaid gave me a few coasters (and I pinched a lot more) before going back to the motel where I finished packing the parcel and taped it up. I will find a post office over the next two day before I leave for home.
An early night followed as I have a long day tomorrow with a lot of driving to get to my accommodation and hopefully a good day for a lot of sightseeing.
In 1997 the Kelly Brothers spent 2.5 million dollars fitting out the shell of the old theatre into a brewery and restaurant. They have a “Mug Club”. For $100 annual membership you get a free meal on your birthday, one dollar off every pint of beer you buy in the pub during the year and two tickets on their memorial pub crawl including breakfast and beer all day on the bus between pubs. I know a lot of people who would join the club if they lived anywhere near this place.
After having dinner I sat at the bar watching a baseball game on the T.V. for a while. The barmaid gave me a few coasters (and I pinched a lot more) before going back to the motel where I finished packing the parcel and taped it up. I will find a post office over the next two day before I leave for home.
An early night followed as I have a long day tomorrow with a lot of driving to get to my accommodation and hopefully a good day for a lot of sightseeing.
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