After two shorts flights we finally arrived in Fresno, California on Monday. We picked up our huge rental boat car – not really suited for German parking spots. The Kids loved it.
After a short stop at Walmart and a late lunch at a Mexican restaurant (Finally! We really missed authentic Mexican food in Germany) we arrived at the National Park. Once there we first had to orientate ourselves. The park is huge so it took us some time to figure it out. Our tent in Curry Village is very basic and rustic. Each tent has its own bear box where you have to store food and everything else that smells. The tents are not very clean, everything that touches the floor basically turns black. Therefore not really recommended for people with who like everything sparkly clean all the time. The wash houses also really show their age, even the door code to access them works maybe one out of two times. Definitely an adventure. Overall the camp could really do with a renovation but as long as people (like us) pay for the location I guess there’s no real incentive to do that.
After the early start for our flight from Oklahoma, the two flights and the drive we were exhausted so we called it a night at 9 pm – only to wake up freezing about 4 hours later (temperatures at night go down to about 46°F). We put on some extra layers that we brought with us and crawled back under the extra blankets which we had requested at check in.
We started slow on Tuesday. First we went to the Welcome Center to get some maps and the junior ranger books for the kids (It’s a small booklet with some tasks for the kids that they have to perform, like find animal tracks, in order to receive the junior ranger badge at the end). Since Nate was still under the weather we walked a small loop trail (Cook’s Meadow Loop) in the valley. After a short Picknick we walked back to the welcome center so the kids could participate in the junior ranger walk. The topic for this one was Geology. After a short walk through the pine trees we stopped and the kids were told to find a favorite rock and draw it. The kids loved it and had a lot of fun. After the walk we went back to Curry Village to get our swim suits so we could refresh ourselves in the Merced river. It was really cold 🥶 After this eventful first day we were dead tired and just dropped in our beds.
At night we were awakened by loud screaming. We learned later that a bear had visited the employee camp, just a few tents over. Unfortunately we did not get to see him.
Once again we started early on Wednesday. For breakfast we had gotten some yogurt and granola at Walmart, that we stored in our soft cooler bag from Decathlon. After the breakfast on the bear box (you are not allowed to eat in the tent due to rodents) we took the free shuttle bus to the Mirror Lake station. The short hike took us to the famous lake which, at this time of the year, is almost completely dried up. No problem though, as the walk also has a really good view of Half dome. To hike to Half Dome you need a special permit and it’s only suitable for experienced hikers due to the difficulty.
As it was just a short hike we took the bus back to the welcome center so the kids could be sworn in for their junior ranger badge.
After a quick shower and a nap at Curry Village we got ready for one more trip: We wanted to see the sunset from Sentinel Dome. At 5 pm we got into the car and drove an hour to the trailhead / parking lot for the Sentinel Dome. The hike to the dome was only 1 mile, but higher elevation and the steeps ascent to the dome were quite arduous. Once we had reached the top we quickly realized that we should have brought more layers as the wind chill brought the temperature down to 50°F. But man was it worth it. The view over the valley and the setting sun was absolutely beautiful. On our way down we had to use the heating in our car for the first and probably only time.
We had saved up the hardest hike for the last day. As Nate was finally feeling better we took the bus to the Happy Isles station and started our hike up the John Muir Trail to get a glimpse of the Nevada Waterfall. The hike is a 5.8 miles loop trail with 1476ft of elevation that basically only goes up for the first half, so you need to bring a lot of water. For just this case we had gotten a 6l water reservoir from Camelbak. So we could refill our bottles on the way. We had to take a lot of breaks on the way up and sometimes if felt like we would never reach the top. But the view on top was (once again) worth it. And we were so proud that we had made it. On the way down I noticed something moving on the trail before us. When I got closed I realized what it was: A small rattlesnake. A boy just ahead of me hadn’t noticed it and had almost stepped on it. That probably would not have ended well. This way we did not get to see a bear but at least a venomous snake. For the kids this was just as exciting.
On Friday we had to say our goodbyes to Yosemite as it was time for us to get back to civilization. Before leaving the park we visited Tuolumne Grove, a group of huge, ancient Sequoia trees. Very impressive and a good end for our trip to Yosemite.
