We woke to our first morning in Yosemite NP and were excited to start exploring the park. We planned on two hikes today (one before lunch and one after). But first we needed breakfast. We found a very nice selection at the Valley Lodge's Food Court (Michele said "yum" to the vegetarian breakfast burrito). The Food Court is setup up more like a cafeteria with many different options.
After breakfast we met up with Tom and Julie at the Valley Shuttle stop and caught the bus to our first trail, Mirror Lake. At the trail head we met Mike and HuiBok.
We walked off the path on to the sand and got some nice pics at Mirror Lake.
It was mostly dried up due to the time of year. We soon discovered the beauty of this park is not without its drawbacks as the gnats and mosquitoes are thick. They were pestering us the entire time. Michele wisely brought her Alaska mosquito net and was the only one not bothered. At the beginning of the trail people looked at her strangely and by the end they were asking where she bought it!
When Rob turned around after taking pictures, standing just 50 feet from him was a black bear! He said "Oh Sh@t!", Michele said "What?" and then saw it! Rob tried to get pictures of the bear before he scurried back into the woods but he said his camera was in the wrong mode and wasn't able to get a good picture. A couple was back up on the path and was yelling "Bear!" Michele started yelling "Bear! Bear!" and picked up some rocks in case it came closer. Rob told her to stop yelling so he could get a picture. (She thought he was being reckless. The bear was quite cute but not so small)
We went back on the trail and the bear reappeared just ahead of us on the path! Rob calmly called out "Hey bear" so the bear knew we were behind it and he turned to look at us. He really could have cared less, and he moseyed along off the path.
We found the rest of the gang and were so excited to tell them about the bear, which they also saw since everyone was yelling. We got back on the trail together. Not far ahead we saw the bear again to the left in the woods. The rest of the gang was able to get a better look at it before it disappeared into the woods. We enjoyed all the scenery for the rest of the hike.
We finished the 4.7 mile hike and then had pizza at the Dome Village. There were a number of birds and squirrels loitering around the tables just waiting for their opportunity to steal food. They had no fear nor shame sniffing right at people's feet as they ate.
After lunch, we caught the shuttle back to the hotel for a break. The flow of people getting off the bus stopped so Rob jumped on only to find out that there was a lady hobbling forward on crutches to get off from the back of the bus. Rob stepped to the side to let her pass as Julie, Tom and Michele waited outside for her to get off. When she finally did the bus driver rudely shut her doors right in front of Julie and said to get the next bus! We figured it was the same driver Mike had this morning who he said went irate on a rude passenger.
About 30 minutes later, we met up again and and hiked over to Bridalveil Falls. We took the El Capitan transfer bus to its furthest point up the valley. We hiked the 2.5 miles over to the falls and got some nice pics.
The falls have its own parking lot so there were a ton of people crawling all over the rocks, making it really crowded. We left the crowds and began our return trip back. Michele's calves were dirty from the sand on the path, so she washed them off in the waterfall stream. We noticed a woman sitting on the rock in the middle of the stream doing a meditative pose.
We managed to make it back to the El Capitan bus just before the bus stopped circulating for the night. It would have been a very long walk back in the near dark if we had missed it. We had a quick dinner at the Food Court before turning in for the day.
Tomorrow we plan on hiking the the Upper Yosemite Falls.
Great shot of the bear - and nice write up too! Tom
ReplyDelete