Being a Tourist.. in Yosemite

Seeing the sights of California through the eyes of a Colorado Tourist is really different,

I know that we don't take our wonders for granted. But sometimes we just don't get out to them to enjoy them.

This week Jean, my wife's friend from high school days spent 5 days with us as we enjoyed 100 mile treks from our home base in Merced.

We picked her up in Sacramento. We took her to a big family picnic in Fremont. We went to Yosemite when it looked like it was going to be too windy in the Bay Area. From all accounts it was too windy to be a tourist. In Yosemite, it was cold. BRRRRR. The high was 42 degrees and I think that was reached in the morning sun before the snow clouds came in the afternoon. It snowed very gently and none of it stayed on the ground. The European tourists knew how to travel in such weather. Most of the visitors in Yosemite during the weekdays are European and Asian tourists. it was only the American tourists that were huddled around the outdoor patio heaters for the grill restaurant.

We had a great time walking through the art Ansel Adams gallery and the art museum.

The waterfalls were wonderfully full.There were falls that I had never seen before.They won't last, so its was great to be up their when the falls were falling and not dried up.

At first the Colorado tourists wants to compare the place to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. After awhile there is no comparisons. They both represent unique parks with their own advantages.

Coming into the park, the wild red bud shrubs were in bloom. They present a wildly pink accent to the plants left pretty dormant through the winter.

The valley floor is in the middle of massive construction to repair the damage from the rock slides of a couple of years ago. Happy Isles is not even on the tourist map anymore. Coming in we had to wait a couple of minutes in the one lane section, that takes the approach road across the river and back again to avoid the huge rock slide that coves the one time two lane road that goes into the park.

We parked the truck in the day use area and walked into the grill resterant area and then on to the art galleries and visitor center. We found the trail to the base of Yosemite Falls, this year, all three tiers are visible. Then we took the tram back. A older man was on the bus that had injured his foot climbing the trail to the top of the falls. He said that it was miserably cold and wet near the top. He twisted his foot and was seeking some asprin and a wrap at the store at the base. He was headed back to his tent cabin to nurse it a little. No such injury befell us.

The park is special at all times of the year. We are so fortunate that it was preserved for all of us to enjoy.

Pat