And The ADVENTURE Continues...: April 20, 2016 Drive to Park of the Sierras and April 21, 2016 Trip to Yosemite National Park

Wednesday, April 20, 2016 Drive to Park of the Sierras and Yosemite NP

This campground is an Escapees park in The Sierra Nevada Mountains and it was wonderful. It is nestled among trees. This park is run by volunteers and only has 5 paid employees. It has 250 sites and has a lot to offer. Shortly after we arrived the staff arranged for us to get a tour of the grounds which took 1.5 hours. Mike and I both agreed that we could very well get lost with all of the intertwining streets. This park is definitely back to nature. It is very quiet and peaceful.

Thursday, April 21, 2016 Trip to Yosemite National Park

WE have been wanting to see this park for a very long time and we are finally getting to do it. We were unable to go to the very top due to the fact that there was 2-3 feet of snow still on the road and the elevation was over 12,000 feet but we are going to see the things that we wanted to see.

We arrived at the south entrance of the park at about 8am. Temperature was in the high 50's when we started and as we continued it got down to 48 degrees with a little wind but bearable. The car was warm.

Our first stop of the day was Glacier Point. Glacier Point was at 7214 feet. As we drove the 16 miles up to get to the end we started to see some snow on the side of the road. By the time we made it to the top the snow was about 3 feet on the sides of the road. It was beautiful. At the top you are able to see the valley 3000 feet below. This valley is what was carved by a glacier many years ago. You are able to see Half Dome, Vernal and Nevada Falls and Yosemite Falls which is the tallest in North America. All of these waterfalls had a lot of water flowing over them. These falls can only be seen in the spring when the snow is melting or if it rains. So we had good timing.

After Glacier we headed down to the Valley. Before reaching the valley we drove through a fairly long tunnel. Once we reached the bottom we were able to get close to the waterfalls that we had seen from the top. The amount of water that was coming over the top was very loud and exhilarating. We also saw El Capitan which is 3593 feet tall. The only waterfall that flows all year is Bridalveil Falls and the last waterfall that was named was Cascade Falls. We saw small waterfalls throughout the valley. Just before we exited the park I saw another waterfall and made Mike turn around. Good thing because we would have missed the rock arch over the road at the west entrance. It was so tall that a motorhome drove through it but it was tight. All in all it was a great day to see waterfalls!!

Happy Birthday, Mark Edwards