In and around Yosemite

We had found a filling station which also sold good pre-packaged salads and really good smoothies within striking distance of Yosemite. Twenty miles or so – and many steep hairpins – later we reached the entrance to the park. The ranger on duty must have thought he’d met a crazy woman when I asked ‘How much further to Wawona?’ Sympathetically, her replied, ‘Only another four or five miles’. Phew!! But four or five miles of the same type of road. That was OK and we reached the Wawona Hotel before dusk which was a relief.

At check-in the receptionist explained that there was neither wi-fi nor coffee in the rooms because this was a National Historic monument and they tried to maintain it much as it would have been when it was built in the late 19th century. It was a fascinating place to stay. Oh – our cheerful receptionist also said the General Store (where we could have bought food) was already closed.. we were glad to have found that filling station as we had eaten very little all day! And equally glad to find a comfortable bed: I slept for seven hours – a holiday record!!

Accommodation was in separate ‘cottages’ around the grounds, with wifi and (from 6.00a.m. til 10.00am) coffee freely available in the lounge area of the main building. We stayed in Washburn Cottage. The room was fine and did have an en suite (not all do). The bed was comfortable but getting into it required some gentle mountaineering it was so high!

It was lovely to be surrounded by such imposing trees and to smell their scent in the air as we moved around. Another lasting impression.

Foolishly, I had accepted that there was a shuttle down to the Valley but when we checked next morning after a really good sleep in the very high bed, I was told the regular YARTS bus service was only every two or three hours. I didn’t fancy being stranded at the bottom of the valley because the bus was too full getting back to the hotel and the area outside the park so decided to drive down. We had been warned many times about how busy the parks might be at this time of year but this was our first experience of resulting discomfort. I think they should have refused entry as the Rangers had the horrible task of turning cars around. Fortunately, everyone seemed pretty good tempered.

All the information I had read described Tunnel View as you exit the Wawona Tunnel, as a ‘must stop’ point. Because of the name, I assumed this was just down the road from the hotel. How wrong I was! Another 20 or so miles of steep inclines and hairpin bends before we entered the tunnel, but when we exited it I saw exactly what all the hype was about:

Who could fail to be in awe? The classic view.

Remembering the height of the trees gives some impression of the immensity of that rockface.

Bridal Veil Falls was impressive even from across the valley:

We did see most of the valley, even managing to park in a couple of places and were able to walk a little near El Capitan but we didn’t do all that I had hoped to do. Parking in the village was so full we weren’t even allowed through to go to the Ansel Adams Gallery. But the drives had been spectacular and the images are in my head if not in the camera!!

Even the queues for the in-park shuttle which you are encouraged to use were huge: we thought we might have boarded the third or fourth bus if we were lucky and then, of course, they would have been stuck in stand still traffic, too.

The drive back to the tunnel entrance seemed even longer than the drive down but, once again, the view from a slightly different angle, didn’t disappoint

The size of the landscape has to be seen to be believed and, of course, those bends were memorable.  I dread to think how many drivers cursed as they were stuck behind this very cautious driver – but caution won and we reached our destinations safely. It does irritate me when drivers follow too closely trying to force you to drive faster when you are already almost at the speed limit: that happened often, especially on sections of the road out of the park where double yellow lines indicated no passing was permissible and there was limited visibility.

One of the things I will take away as a lasting memory is the expanse of each of the parks we visited – and what good value! We had bought an America the Beautiful annual pass at Grand Teton on the first day of our journey to Yellowstone and, apart from Monument Valley which is part of the Native American tribal lands, we used it everywhere. So we got $240 value for an $80 spend. Standard entry for a car and its passengers for a seven-day visit is $30. Imagine if we were here to use it all year!!

I toyed with the idea of going back down early in the morning but really didn’t fancy that drive in semi-light, nor doing it in both directions so quickly and then going on to the further section needed to exit the park. Sadly, I had to agree it would be foolhardy and the next morning, having once again appreciated the beauty of the Wawona Hotel area, we left for San Francisco, finally saying farewell to the National Parks that had given so much pleasure. Our first city stay in a while would mark our last few days in the USA.