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Old 21 Sep 15, 10:01 PM  
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Lolly90
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California & Las Vegas Road Trip Aug/Sep 15! Day 5 - Exploring Yosemite National Park

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Previous Day

Tuesday 1st September 2015

Time for my favourite day of the whole holiday I woke up slightly earlier than Mark, after having a great night’s sleep with some air conditioning. I sat on the balcony, waiting for Mark to wake up, just admiring the views and the quiet. This was such a contrast to the city we had just been in. We got ready and had Poptarts for breakfast. I put some cereal bars in my bag to snack on during the day.

We left for the park somewhere around 8:00. The plan was to head straight to Glacier Point as this was the furthest away, out of the places we wanted to see. The views on the way were fantastic; everywhere you turned there was another great view.




We arrived near Tunnel View at 9:45 to a sign saying Glacier Point Road was closed Thankfully this would only be till 13:00, so we just had to re-arrange our day. As we were already there, we pulled in to Tunnel View. There is plenty of parking here, which is really handy. It was still quite early, so the view was a little hazy but still stunning of course.





This is such a famous view in Yosemite, so I was very happy to be seeing it for myself. Mark finally managed to pull me away and our next stop was Yosemite village. I thought the one-way system around the village might make things confusing but everything was fairly well sign posted. We made a quick stop at Sentinel Bridge on the way.



There are several car parks for the village; the closest ones that we were seen were short stay so we drove a little further to a long stay car park. From here we made the short walk in to the village, heading for Degnan’s Deli.




The original plan was to get some lunch from here after we’d seen Glacier Point etc. but as we arrived here early we just got ourselves a drink each instead. Mark got a coffee and I got myself another Starbucks frappucino.



We decided to walk over to the Ahwahnee Hotel, which took around 10 mins. We took a path through the trees to get here, which was full of gnats. This wasn’t ideal as we’d forgot to spray any insect repellent Lots more lovely views on the way, so we couldn’t complain. The hotel was beautiful anyway, would have loved to stay there.




We headed back to the village and continued to the trail for lower Yosemite falls. We knew there wouldn’t be a fall but thought it would be an easier walk to start us off before we headed back towards Glacier Point.



This was such a lovely walk through the trees to the falls, it’s flat for the most part and there’s a clear paved path to follow. As expected it was dry but the rocks were damp so we could see where the water would have fallen. It took us just under an hour to complete the trail, from the village and back. There is some parking near the entrance of the trail too, so you don’t have to walk from the village.




We left for Glacier Point at 11:45, stopping at El Capitan on the way. We found the best way to view the rock was from the field opposite. This was another amazing sight, you don’t realise just how big it is till you’re there. We saw a couple of deer here too and you also get great views of Cathedral Rocks on the other side.




We arrived at the entrance to Glacier Point road at about 12:45 and it was already open, which was good. It took another 25 mins till we arrived at Glacier Point. This area was full of wasps, which I wasn’t expecting; the cars were covered in them. The walk from the car park to Glacier Point is only a short one, slightly uphill.




The views from here are amazing; you’re completely surrounded by them. Half Dome obviously stands out here and looks incredible. We spotted the Ahwahnee Hotel down below, where we had just been. I think this is a really great view point, although it is a bit of a drive once you’re there you don’t have to walk too far to see the views. I could have stayed here for the rest of the day, had some lunch and enjoyed the views but our time in Yosemite was limited so we had to be on our way




We drove back the road for 5 mins, to parking for Taft Point and Sentinel Dome. There isn't a lot of parking right outside the entrance to the hikes, we got the last space when we were there but there is other parking just along the road. Both hikes looked amazing online when I'd looked before we left so we weren't sure which to do. We decided on Taft Point and then Sentinel Dome if we felt up for it later. We set off on the 1.1 mile hike at 13:00 and it took us 1.5 hours.



It's a relatively easy hike, getting steeper towards the end. You start off walking through the wooded area and then it turns to rock once you reach Taft Point. The ground can be quite uneven in places, it was quite different to the lower Yosemite falls walk.




The view is amazing, you can walk right to the edge and see the sheer drop. There is only one railing, which is a little one located at the highest point. It was also really quiet here, we passed a couple of people on the hike and then there was only us and one other couple once we reached the end.






I loved it here and was really glad we had chosen to do this hike. I wasn't sure if Mark would want to the hike to Sentinel Dome after this but he did so that was the plan next. We had seen a sign for Sentinel Dome on our hike to Taft Point, so you can cut across rather than going back to the car park. I wasn't sure how clear the trail would be and didn't want to get lost, so we walked back to the car park and picked up some more bottles of water before setting off for Sentinel Dome.



I found this hike harder than the last one. It was steeper and involved a bit more of a climb especially towards the end, to get to the top of the dome. It was definitely worth it though, you are surrounded by amazing sights. It was a lot busier than Taft Point, so this hike seemed a lot more popular. This one was also 1.1 miles and took us another 1.5 hours. We arrived back at the car park at 17:00.





We were really tired now, but so glad we had managed to do so much today. We absolutely loved both hikes, I think Taft Point was probably my favourite.

We headed back down now to the valley and made our way to the park exit. We made a quick pit-stop at Tunnel View again for a photo, as it was much clearer now.



Then we stopped at Valley View on our way out. This was the last thing on my list of must dos in Yosemite. I thought this would be sign posted but we couldn't see anything. We only thought to stop here as there were quite a few cars so we thought this must be the place.



We arrived back to our hotel at 18:00, with very dirty shoes. For dinner we headed down to Parkside Pizza again. We went for a medium Cowboy pizza, which was BBQ chicken and cost $19. We ate this back in the room, watching Big Bang Theory and probably crashed out not long after.



Next: Day 6 - Mist Trail, onto Monterey & 17-Mile Drive

Edited at 08:56 PM.
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Old 21 Sep 15, 10:25 PM  
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Gunna
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I love Yosemite, been a couple of times and would love to head back again soon. Stunning scenery, it's breathtaking.
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Old 22 Sep 15, 12:29 PM  
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Amazing day, I Yosemite! Its just sooo beautiful.

Love your comment about the dirty shoes! I wore white converse & they came back brown!

Pizza looks great too, shame you didn't manage to get a sandwich from Degnans, ours were amazing!
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Old 22 Sep 15, 07:00 PM  
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Wonderful photos of Yosemite, I'm loving your report as it's very similar to what we want to do next August.
Thanks for taking the time to write it.
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Old 22 Sep 15, 10:27 PM  
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Great day and amazing pictures. How you managed to sit on the edge of a gazillion foot drop is beyond me . Thanks for sharing
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Old 22 Sep 15, 11:22 PM  
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Loving your report, thanks for taking the time to share. We are hoping to do this coast next year and I hadn't a clue where to start, looks an amazing holiday! x
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Old 23 Sep 15, 11:54 AM  
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lovedisney89
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What an amazing day and gorgeous photos! Really want to visit one day.
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Old 24 Sep 15, 06:25 PM  
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Lolly90
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Originally Posted by Gunna View Post
I love Yosemite, been a couple of times and would love to head back again soon. Stunning scenery, it's breathtaking.
You're very lucky to have been a few times I'd love to go back one day!

Originally Posted by abiknox View Post
Amazing day, I Yosemite! Its just sooo beautiful.

Love your comment about the dirty shoes! I wore white converse & they came back brown!

Pizza looks great too, shame you didn't manage to get a sandwich from Degnans, ours were amazing!
It's definitely the most beautiful place I've ever been!

Haha, I wore navy shoes and they still came back brown

We should've went to Degnans just before we left, but I didn't think about it at the time

Originally Posted by carolynne67 View Post
Wonderful photos of Yosemite, I'm loving your report as it's very similar to what we want to do next August.
Thanks for taking the time to write it.
Thank you for reading It's the most amazing holiday we've ever had!

Originally Posted by buryboy View Post
Great day and amazing pictures. How you managed to sit on the edge of a gazillion foot drop is beyond me . Thanks for sharing
Thanks for reading. There was a ledge below my feet, I'm not too brave

Originally Posted by tracie View Post
Loving your report, thanks for taking the time to share. We are hoping to do this coast next year and I hadn't a clue where to start, looks an amazing holiday! x
How exciting, hopefully you're getting some ideas Thanks for reading!

Originally Posted by lovedisney89 View Post
What an amazing day and gorgeous photos! Really want to visit one day.
It really was an amazing day! Hopefully you manage to get there one day, I've never been anywhere like it
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Old 25 Sep 15, 09:09 PM  
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Stunning photos! Brings back so many memories from our trips there. Pussycat
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Old 29 Sep 15, 08:24 AM  
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Amazing pictures, I'd love to go back!
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