CALIFORNIA: Yosemite National Park

After a few days in San Francisco & North California, we spent two days in Yosemite National Park. The drive from San Francisco to Yosemite takes about 4 or 5 hours. Driving through the terrain to even get into the park was scenic and dangerous at times with many curving high altitude roads. The park itself is humongous, we have only seen a small portion of it. It took us over an hour just to get to our camp and lodging in the Yosemite Valley.

It may seem quite tedious to get to but the scenery is worth it. You are surrounded by lush fauna and beautiful mountains as you drive into the park. There are many scenic views on the way you can stop over and take pictures. By far this is one of the most beautiful and unique places we have seen yet. The far distance into the park is worth it when you can actually see the stars in the sky at night. If ever you find yourself in an isolated park like this, make time to see the night sky.

We only had 2 days to go hiking in the park. Realistically you probably need a week or so to take advantage of all the park has to offer but we were strapped for time and had many other stops to see before leaving the West Coast. Once arriving at our camp/tent we were surrounded by friendly deer all around us...seriously, this park is FULL of adorable deer that have no fear of humans.

Due to a severe drought throughout the west coast, as well as the timing of our visit (late September) many lakes and waterfalls were out of season. While we hiked to Mirror Lake, and several Waterfalls, there was simply rock formations where water would ordinarily be during season.

Deer grazing in what would have been Mirror Lake

View of Half Dome from Glacier Point

This is where you would find Mirror Lake, if it were present year round.

Again, this boulder is about in the center of Mirror Lake. You can see some of the water line on the rock surface.

Gorgeous meadow across from our camp ground.

Half dome at sunset is worth making time for.

Overall, we loved our stay at Yosemite. Although it was a second visit for Kaili, it was a first for Josh. We'd love to see some of the other areas that the park has to offer outside of the Valley. 

You can read our other entries about California here. 

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