One day in Yosemite
There are a few places in the US that should be on everyone’s bucket list. Yosemite National Park is one of them. And as so often, the easiest way to see it is by car. Charlie was lucky though to find a day trip with a tour operator from San Francisco. That was not only cheaper than staying overnight in Yosemite, but also offered the convenience of not having to plan anything. There is a bus connection with Amtrak too. However, that seemed a bit complicated.
It was a long-day, but it was worth every minute!
From San Francisco to Yosemite
The meeting point for the tour bus with Extranomical Tours was at the front of a hotel near Union Square in San Francisco just before 6 a.m. It was still dark when Charlie got on the bus and was greeted by the driver and guide Rob. They picked up some other guests before heading towards east. They made a stop at a large supermarket along the highway for everybody to stock up on snacks, before they continued the journey towards the town of Mariposa and through the Cathey’s Valley.
By 10.30 a.m. they had reached the entrance to Yosemite and by then, they had learned a lot about this area during the Gold Rush in the 19th century. They even saw some old machinery that was used to extract the gold and rocks that contained gold. Apart from it being prohibited by law today, it was very clear that you would need to collect and amalgamate a lot of that rock to get to a valuable amount of gold.
Around Yosemite
The Yosemite National Park is essentially one big valley and they drove in on one side, made a big circle and then left via the upper road that offered a view over the entire valley. They stopped along the river, saw some giant rock slides (that are always a risk to driving in Yosemite), enjoyed the view towards El Capitan and Half-dome from the view point at Tunnel view before they took a short walk to the bottom of the Bridal Veil Waterfall.
The longest stop was at Yosemite Lodge. There was an option to get lunch at the café there, however Charlie and the other guests had been warned about the inferior quality of the food and were advised to bring lunch. Charlie walked to the bottom of Yosemite Falls and enjoyed her sandwich there with a view of the falls. She strolled through the forest before it was time to return to the bus.
At Yosemite Lodge, you can also book day trips in Yosemite and there are shuttle buses that bring you to several points in the national park, if you stay overnight and wish to do some hiking.
Giant Sequoia
On the return journey, they stopped once again at El Capitan. This time, they were so close that they could spot some climbers hanging in this giant wall. They were so tiny that they were hard to spot. It certainly gives an impression of the size of this wall that is a bucket list item for many climbers.
They drove along the valley on the upper road to the entrance to the hike of Giant Sequoia. However, it was early December and there had already been so much snowfall that Charlie could spot some snowmen along the road. Under these conditions, it wasn’t safe to do the hike to see the sequoia trees. Luckily, Charlie had seen them already the day before in Muir Woods and she was happy to have had a bit more time at all the other spots in Yosemite instead.
Back to San Francisco
The return journey to San Francisco started with a wonderful sunset over the mountains that surround Yosemite and led them through the town of Groveland where you can find the oldest Saloon in California. If you were still in doubt after the views in the morning, it was now very clear that they were in Cowboy country. The architecture and the rodeo fields couldn’t have been any more prominent. The weather had been good all day and there was still not a single cloud. With the little light pollution in this vast area, Charlie enjoyed the starry sky from the bus window.
They stopped once again along the highway to get dinner and were back in San Francisco by 9.30 p.m.
It had been a long day and Charlie was tired, but it was worth it! If you get a chance, go and see Yosemite!
