Yosemite

We only had two full days in Yosemite but we tried to make the most of it!  We started off Tuesday with some breakfast (oatmeal) and packing some pb&js for lunch.  We headed off and didn't get very far before we had to stop due to an accident on one of the roads.  Luckily we were stopped right where we had to turn so we were able to sneak by without having to wait.  In the morning we hiked up to Taft Point and Sentinel Dome.  They were good beginner type trails to get us going and we ate lunch at the top of Sentinel Dome.

After lunch, we headed back to the car and drove up to Glacier Point where there were a bunch of tourists gathered.  We looked around a little and took some pictures and then decided to do as much of the Panorama Trail as we could.  The whole trail goes on for like 8 miles but we heard it was good so we wanted to at least do some of it.  A lot of the advice for which trails we did came from somewhere online so we consulted that website printout a couple of times on our trip.  We headed out on the trail and the first half was almost all downhill.  That gave us some concern since obviously the second half would be all uphill so we tried to keep watch on the time.  At the bottom we got to our first waterfall area and had some more food.  The waterfall view we had wasn't the greatest so we tried to find some unmarked trails to get us closer.  We were somewhat successful, but at that point we were starting to get tired and headed back.

On the way back, it started to get darker and we could see the clouds rolling in.  Eventually we started to hear thunder and saw lightning in the distance.  So, we were somewhat concerned about whether we were walking lightning rods and that helped us to focus on finishing the hike back and not taking too many pictures like we did on the first half.  Towards the very end of the hike it actually started raining but we only had another 15 minutes or so before we got back so it wasn't too bad.  When we got back to Glacier Point pretty much everyone was gone (although there were still some devoted tourists with their cameras).  We drove back home and then cooked a delicious BBQ with steak, potatoes, and asparagus!

The second day we were considering trying Half Dome but felt that since we only had two hiking days that it would be better to see some of the other trails and sights instead.  It would have also been quite a challenge for us given how out of shape we were and the length of the trail itself (8 miles each way) would have meant we would have needed to get up quite early.  So, instead we headed over to the Yosemite Valley where a lot of the lodges and accommodations are and parked in one of the lots.  Then we hiked over to Vernal Fall which was another big tourist attraction and one of Yosemite's waterfall highlights.  The first part of the trail was surprisingly tough even though we had read it was supposed to be easy.  We got to a bridge and thought we had made it so we ate a snack.  Sadly, we were only at the bottom of the waterfall and still had a while to go.

Going up to the waterfall was quite an experience.  Since it was spring, the mountains were melting and the water was coming down in full force.  There were stairs going up as one got closer to the top of the waterfall but we still got soaked.  It was a great view though - much better than the falls from the Panorama Trail.  We got to the top and there was a great place to take pictures and dry up.  We chilled there for a little bit and then decided to keep going to another trail that would loop back to where we started.  On the way we had some lunch and also saw the trail for Half Dome, but we just kept on going.

The trail going back is what we (or I) called the "poo" trail.  Its real name is the John Muir Trail but since they allow horses on it for horseback rides up and down the trail there were a large number of droppings.  The trail itself also wasn't that interesting since it was just in a forest and didn't have good views of the valley or falls or mountains.  So, that continued to lend more credibility to the "poo" name.  We got back and the start of the trail was mobbed by tourists so we were glad we started early.  

After that we headed over to Mirror Lake since we saw some pictures and it looked pretty cool.  Sadly, it was more like "Mirror Marsh" since for a while the water levels dropped and grass/trees started to grow into the lake.  So, we were a little disappointed in that since the pictures we saw earlier were a little deceiving as to what we would actually see.  We also wanted to loop around the lake to get off of the poo trail but there had been a rock slide a month earlier and so the loop was closed down.  So, we had to backtrack on the poo trail back to the start of it.  On the way to the lake we saw a group on horses taking the trail.  We made every effort not to make little comments as they passed at how much we disliked the poo trail.

After we got back, we were pretty tired so we took the free shuttle around the valley for a little bit and stopped at Yosemite Falls.  There wasn't really a trail to get there, more like a paved sidewalk, but it was a pretty cool view of the waterfall.  After that we took our last trail at Yosemite from the falls to the Ahwahnee Hotel.  The Ahwahnee is the super expensive resort like hotel at Yosemite.  We had looked at trying to get reservations but they were all booked by the time we were looking into it.  The hotel itself was pretty nice, especially compared to the other places you could stay at Yosemite (including ours), and it was in a great location.  So we walked around there for a little bit and then took the shuttle back to our car and drove back home.  We cooked another great meal of spaghetti, meatballs, squash, and broccoli and then chilled and went to bed.

The next morning we packed everything and then stopped by the famous Tunnel View but by that point we had had enough pictures and only stayed for a little bit.  We made it out of the park and through the windy roads (and got some gas for the car!) and then headed over to Napa.