Monday, July 19, 2021

Day 24: Yosemite Valley




July 19, 2021

Vanlog, Yosemite View Hotel, el Portal CA

After an evening of the usual family drama that ended with J and me sleeping in the van, we headed into the Yosemite valley to secure our backcountry and Half Dome permits for later in the week. It was eerie being in the Valley with only very few people around. We had breakfast at Degnans and then drove to Tunnel View, where it was cloudy. Then we were off to Glacier Point for spectacular views of the valley. The waterfalls are largely dried up by now—Yosemite Falls is especially nothing more than a sad teardrop. A storm was rolling in and we were glad that we weren’t on Half Done today! 

As we drove past Wawona, we remembered all the fun times there with Liana and texted her as the clouds unloaded a rare rainstorm there. By the time we hit Mariposa Grove (long closed for repairs), the skies had cleared. We hiked to the grove without water (big mistake!) and I did part of the Grizzly Giant loop to see the redwoods and sequoia trees. Total mileage was 5.2 mi. 


 

Then we checked into our hotel, the Yosemite View Hotel, in el Portal and had a solid dinner. These are the views from our deck. 




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