Yosemite National Park! It doesn’t get much better than this.

We wake up in our cheap hotel next to the rushing Merced River. It is just a couple miles outside the park so it only takes a few minutes to reach the entrance gate. We purchase a National Park Pass for $80 that gets you into any NP for a year since we plan on visiting a few more on our journey. Then, we wind our way down the park road toward the Visitor’s Center. I am so thrilled to finally be in this iconic place. The tears well up as El Capitan comes into view between the dark redwoods. We only have a couple of days, but this is going to be good.

We stop at Bridal Veil Falls and do a short hike to the icy base. The lack of crowds is the beauty of a winter visit. Just a few cars on the road and even fewer people on the trails. Then we stop at a lookout point with a great view of Yosemite Falls. There’s plenty of water flowing and the light is wonderful as the spray falls a thousand feet downward along the rock face. We finally make it to the visitor center, spend some time going through the exhibits to get an overview of the park, and get some hike recommendations from the NPS Ranger at the Info Desk. I am always impressed by these folks, their intimate knowledge of the place, and their willingness to share and help.

We decide to tackle the 2700’ vertical climb up the Yosemite Falls trail. Its on the north side of the valley so the sun has melted most of the minimal existing snow on the trail. Should be about 5 hours round trip. Great day for a hike: 45º, clear blue skies, and no wind. The trail is well used and gets lots of maintenance with granite block armoring, stairs, and walls. It winds upward through the woods with endless switchbacks. When it breaks out onto an exposed trail along the bottom of a sheer granite wall, the view is amazing. The falls a few hundred feet away and a long view up the valley with Half Dome in the distance. We continue the strenuous climb up. As the trail tucks behind the west side of the falls, it becomes quite shaded. Slippery old snow and icy tracks now cover the trail surface. We keep going for another half hour or so, but my hiking boot treads were not cutting it. The resulting 3x effort to keep upright at 8000’ took its toll. I bonked about 500’ from the rim. The return trip was much faster as we could basically ski/slide down the trail on the snow. By now it was late afternoon and the light was warming up the colors on the rocks. Took us about 4 hrs round trip. I think we only saw about 20 people over the course of the hike. Two groups of guided US teenagers and the rest were from Switzerland, Germany, and Italy.

Wow, great day, great workout, great views. Gonna be a bit sore tomorrow. Next, we go back to our cheap room with a kitchenette. I cook up the carne asada, veggies, garlic, and pasta that we bought in Sunnyvale at Sprouts. Along with some price performing $4 red wine from Trader Joe’s. Deeeee-licious! Spent some time planning the next phase of the trip and talking. We fell asleep surrounded by the cooking smells. I think I dreamt I was sleeping in a kitchen on top of a mountain with an unbelievable view out the window....