Yosemite in June... Backtrack...

Hello Everyone...

I know its been a while, a long while and I see in my folder on mom's computer that I have  ALOT of catching up to do. Or shall I say, "mom does". :) So, I decided to pick out a favorite to post first.

I had a week off from school between 9th grade and summer school.  What was I going to do with a week off and gloomy, chilly, yucky weather? Well, mom decided we needed some sun, warmth and outdoor time, so what better place than Yosemite to do just that.

I have been to Yosemite many times over my years, but this time was different. This time we had some new experiences, ones that always seem impossible to do before.  Mom was misinformed over the years, and this time, she got the right info as she once again, explored the opportunities. I don't quite remember now as to why she decided to take that extra step again, but she did and it sure was fun! :) 

We arrived in Yosemite in the late afternoon, early evening, so we drove through the park 

and then decided to hang out at Valley View for sunset. Just before we pulled into the parking lot, apparently a bear cub was in the area, but we missed it.  

Sunset was not the best, so we left before it was over to go check in to our hotel and settle in for the night. I was so tired. 

The next morning came fast, but we got up and out the door just before sunrise. We went to Tunnel View as that is a good spot for sunrise and one that mom can photograph from next to the car so I can stay in the car and sleep. Sunrise is just too early for me sometimes. :) But it was so windy and it wasn't looking very promising so we headed for the valley. Mom didn't really see anything much to photograph at sunrise, so we got about 3/4 around the loop in the valley before coming upon a Coyote crossing the road into this meadow. Above this meadow were Cathedral rocks, I believe with  El Capitan behind us.  

Mom remembered that around 8am up at Lower Yosemite Falls a rainbow appears, so we took the hike up to the falls. It was chilly, but a lovely morning. Lots of people were already out walking. We got up to almost the base of the falls and you could see that people were getting soaked standing in front of the falls on the bridge.  Mom parked me in my stroller as Cubby and I were still asleep, while mom carefully took a few quick shots of the falls before getting too wet. She saw a dimned rainbow, but never did get a great view of it.  You can barely see it on the left side in the foreground here in this photo. 

There was so much water flowing everywhere in the park.  Water where mom has never seen water flow before. 

Cubby and I in the stroller with upper Yosemite Falls in the distance. 

Mom found out we could hike to Mirror Lake. Maybe not around it, but at least to it.  So we decided to just hike from Yosemite Lodge instead of packing everything up and driving to a closer parking lot. We were there to be outside anyway, so whats an extra couple of miles (9 mile hike). 

Mom just changed me into something cooler. I decided to take a little nap. 

Here I am at Mirror Lake. It was quite warm today.

After Mirror Lake, we drove up to Tunnel View as mom knew there should be a rainbow appearing at Bridleveil Falls, so we thought we would check it out. We waited and waited and waited, but no rainbow appeared. 

We left Tunnel View, drove around some on the outer parts of the park to see what we see before heading back to the hotel, turning in early. We knew tomorrow we were hiking to Vernal Falls. Yep, that's right, Vernal Falls. Mom found out that its doable with a stroller, just crazy!  We had a good nights rest. We slept in some, mom got a good breakfast at the restaurant to prepare for the long hike ahead of us today. 

After breakfast we headed into the park, parked at Yosemite Lodge and walked over to the Visitors Center. Mom wanted some directions and to see what kind of a Jr Ranger program they had for me. :)

We had some issues catching a shuttle, but finally got a nice man that let us on who took us over to Happy Isles to catch the trail to Vernal Falls. Boy what a hike that was, but some awesome views and lots of nice people. Some of them thought we were crazy for making this hike, but most were very supportive encouraging mom on.

Mom pushed me up these very steep slopes, luckily all paved taking her time making lots of short stops enjoying the scenery around the trail. We were climbing high. 

We made it to the bridge were you can see Vernal falls in the distance. 

Well, mom decided the bridge for the first viewing area was not far enough.  Even though mom knew we couldn't make it to the top of the falls, she decided to continue on to see just how far we could get with hopes of a better view.

We got about 1/2 - 3/4 of the way up the trail to the top of the falls.  Mom and I stopped where we couldn't continue any longer for a nice break before we started the journey back down. Mom went on this large rock near the water to get a better photo of the falls.

We couldn't stay too long, so we started our hike back down. Here is a photo of the trail behind us when we were over 3/4 back to the bottom. This is one of the flatter sections.

Yay! We made it back to the sign. I was so excited to of done such a challenging hike for us. It was so much fun.  Although, this sign is about a 1/8 up the trail from where you start, so we have a little ways left to go. Mom loves this photo of me.

We made it back to the shuttle pick-up spot, got on the next shuttle back to Yosemite Lodge to get the car.

Mom decided that we could make it up to Glacier Point in time for sunset, so off we went. On our way to Glacier Point we came across some snow (higher elevation).  This road to Glacier Point is only open typically from Memorial Day to Labor Day due to snow. And it was cold.

A favorite place in the park of moms; Glacier Point.

I was enjoying the view as well. You can see Nevada Falls on the right.

Here is another waterfall, which is Vernal Falls. The star that mom did on the photo is about where we hiked to.  Above Vernal Falls is Nevada Falls.

Here you can see both waterfalls.

Sunset was just okay. We got in late as it was an hour drive back to the hotel, so the next morning we slept in some before heading into the park.

Mom thought we would park at Swinging Bridge and walk over to the Visitors Center for the Ranger program since we had time, but one problem - the bridge was closed due to the water level rising. You can see how much water is in the meadow here behind me. I heard someone say that there hasn't been this much water in the valley for many years!

A little ways down from the Swinging Bridge is a boardwalk that you can typically cross the meadow with, but not today. As you can see, the water is over a good portion of the boardwalk.

So, we got back in the car and drove over to the lodge to park, then walk to the Visitors Center.

I went to the Ranger program where she spoke about some of the birds and Oak trees in the park. It was fun, but I was still really tired from our big two days of hiking.

The ranger asked me if I could find the two birds that blended in well with the oak tree trunk. I got it right. :) 

I had to fill out my ranger program worksheet to get my badge. 

I just got sworn in as a Jr Ranger. :) 

Mom decided to take the shuttle over to Curry Village for lunch. We were a little short on time since we wanted to try for the rainbow again at Tunnel View. 

We decided though to walk back to the lodge from Curry Village since it was nice out.

We made it up to Tunnel View for the rainbow. Apparently we left about 15 minutes too early the other day. This was really cool and intense. The color red started to form at the bottom of the waterfall and worked its way up the falls over time while the other colors formed following it. This was a 20 minute process. Mom made a semi time lapse video of it with her photos. Take a look at it (link below). It's quite cool and don't forget to turn your volume up.

note: i'm sorry, mom needs to find the link for video.. 

We had to leave after the rainbow. Mom went to check out this other point for a photo opp before we left the area.  On our way out of the park, just outside of Wanowa, we encountered a bear on the left side of the road, then another bear a little bit later on the right side. Of course, mom stopped and took photos. :) 

note: mom needs to figure out link again.. 

We drove as long as we could tolerate it. We stayed the night somewhere south of Fresno before arriving home the next day. . It was a great couple of days at Yosemite.

Here is the link to all of mom's photos from this trip... :)

note: mom needs to figure out link again.. 

Have a great weekend everyone! I will be in touch again soon.. :) 

Love,

Kayla