Hi Sierras Day 6 Looking for Yogi ?

[parisdisneyfan]

Ok I know that was Jellystone

We were up before 6am and on the road just after 7 with our Starbucks drinks in the cupholders and some pastries in our tummies We stopped in Lee Vining to buy our Yosemite pass and then off on to the Tioga Pass.

Words cannot describe driving through this landscape so I won't try, but I really hope they get the fire (however natural this is) stopped so it stays as beautiful as it was for us. Once through the gate we drove on to Tuolomne Meadows where we stopped and had a wander around. It was still a bit chilly but the sun was shining out of a lovely blue sky. It was just awesome and we enjoyed watching the wildlife and the space and quiet although there were quite a few coach parties even at this hour. With hindsight we should have bought some food here, but totally underestimated the time driving between the parts of the park. We also took very seriously the warnings not to have food in the car (again with hindsight perhaps a little too seriously)We had planned on lunch in the valley but ended up stopping just above Tuolomne Grove and filling up on the cookies and tortilla chips we had left from Vegas! Due to the time it had taken us so far and that we would probably be hungry fairly shortly we didn't head off to walk to see the Sequoias/redwoods but carried on down into the valley, with lots more stops to view the scenery including our first sight of half dome. Further stops as we came in to the start of the descent to the valley, absolutely beautiful, stunning and mesmerising.

Finally we were in the valley. Once in it becomes a one way system with parking lanes, so easy to stop and take photos. I was so happy to see Bridalveil falls, even though they were very low compared to how they would have been a couple of months ago, and I practised what I had learned in my photography class about photographing water



Opposite these is El Capitan



again the pictures don't really convey the immense size of them, and how they look like they have just pushed up through the ground a bit like a stone beanstalk from Jack and the Beanstalk!

[parisdisneyfan]

We carried on driving along the valley floor but our plans for going into the village itself were thwarted by the lack of both parking and the huge queue for the bus into the village. No visitors cars are allowed in it seemed. So we did the next best thing and took the turning to the Ahwahnee.
I had looked at staying here but it gets booked up a year in advance so no luck. However it seemed ok to park here and we did think about eating here, but not being that hungry and nothing particularly taking our fancy we settled for an ice cream and a walk through the grounds and along the Merced River for a while. We saw a ranger riding his horse leading a real mule train, lots of people playing in the river and this little fellow

Anyway back to the car and we decided to do the loop again as the light had changed and would hopefully mean more interesting photos. We then headed off for Glacier Point, another sign of our naivety! Only 30 miles we thought It is a road of extreme twists and turns, steep climbs and descents and also fairly narrow. Well it took us about an hour and half but it was definitely worth it. However once we were there we just had to stay for the sunset which gave such a warmth to the mountains and was so beautiful.


there is a semi natural ampitheatre overlooking the valley and it was amazing to see the hotel down below us already in the dark.

However the drive down in the dark was not great, although at least we had people behind and in front of us. On the way down we saw a coyote or might have been a wolf, we weren't sure, it was just standing in the middle of the road. Took a photo on dh phone but it didn't really work. Anyway once down the first chunk and headed back towards the Valley the sat nav decided that it could give us a route to our overnight stop and we exited at El Portal gate. My nerves were shredded with the drive down and we were also starting to get grouchy with each other. Up since 6, not much food, and the sat nav predicting another almost 2 hours to get there, even though their blurb said only 45 mins from El Portal, should have been a warning!

We saw the sign for the hotel as we arrived in Mariposa and I honestly expected them to say they had no record of us as it looked nothing like its website The pictures I had seen resembled a Holiday Inn/Hilton type place. The reality had a grumpy receptionist who didn't believe we weren't smokers, and didn't speak much English. The reception itself looked like a dirty McDonalds with a couple of sets of those metal and vinyl chairs/tables in a very tatty state. We checked in and were told room 314, and to go down the side to the carpark and then take the lift to the 3rd floor. The hotel was built into the hillside so a steep drive down and then pull the cases across the carpark into the lift, only to come out behind reception right next to our room:angry:

Now we knew this wasn't the same standard as the other hotels we had booked but I cried when I saw it. Two of the walls had big polyfilla patches on the them, the furniture was old mfi type stuff - brown melamine veneer. The bathroom had paint all over the fittings and the floor tiling grouting was up the walls with no skirting and gaps to the bedroom. We came to the conclusion that our room probably hadn't started out as a bedroom and had been converted from an office or something. There was a huge fridge with a sign on saying not to be turned off so it was pumping out heat, while the air con unit was so noisy and powerful that it blew the curtains open:angry: Our room looked out straight on to the sidewalk of the mainstreet so we just couldn't keep it on! At least the bed seemed clean as did the towels.

We were so tired and disappointed that we just went straight to sleep without bothering to go out for some food. We just wanted our time there to pass as quickly as possible, which was a shame after the wonderful day we had had

[Bartswife]

Gorgeous scenery. Don't like the sound of the winding roads! Hotel sounds awful.

[CC71]

Stunning scenery, sorry that your hotel was so dingy -always disappointing when hotels don't look like their photographs.

[Nesbits]

I must put this place on my to do list! It is stunning. Will avoid the hotel - nightmare!

[Twentyyears]

Oh Julia, I know you said it was bad, Sooo bad that hotel. As you say Yosemite is just so beautiful even the pictures do not do it justice! For all of you reading go, go go it is wonderful. We love it there third time around too!

[Guest]

Originally Posted by parisdisneyfan

Words cannot describe driving through this landscape so I won't try, but I really hope they get the fire (however natural this is) stopped so it stays as beautiful as it was for us.

See more...

Totally agree

Originally Posted by parisdisneyfan

Finally we were in the valley. Once in it becomes a one way system with parking lanes, so easy to stop and take photos. I was so happy to see Bridalveil falls, even though they were very low compared to how they would have been a couple of months ago, and I practised what I had learned in my photography class about photographing water

See more...

Any tips you can share?

Originally Posted by parisdisneyfan

We carried on driving along the valley floor but our plans for going into the village itself were thwarted by the lack of both parking and the huge queue for the bus into the village. No visitors cars are allowed in it seemed.

See more...

Oh strange. I must have been lucky. I've always been able to stop there but it has always been busy. x

[parisdisneyfan]

Originally Posted by seobaina

Totally agree



Any tips you can share?




Oh strange. I must have been lucky. I've always been able to stop there but it has always been busy. x

See more...

Its to do with the shutter speed. If you take the picture on a fast speed then you will freeze the motion of the water ie catch the droplets. If you then slow the speed down it will gradually get more blurred which shows the motion of the water, but obviously if you do this you need to be either on some form of stand, mono tri pod so you don't get camera shake. Hope I got that right I tried a variety of speeds to see which effect I preferred.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by parisdisneyfan

Its to do with the shutter speed. If you take the picture on a fast speed then you will freeze the motion of the water ie catch the droplets. If you then slow the speed down it will gradually get more blurred which shows the motion of the water, but obviously if you do this you need to be either on some form of stand, mono tri pod so you don't get camera shake. Hope I got that right I tried a variety of speeds to see which effect I preferred.

See more...

Cool, thanks

[orlandosgr8]

Yosemite park is on my list of places I'd love to visit, it all looks so stunning. Shame about the hotel though