Yosemite National Park

4. Oktober 2015 - gesus - Lesezeit: 5 - 6 min.

english fotografie gedanken natur reisen usa

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Yesterday we had an impressive trip through the desertlands of Death Valley and today we are ready to enter Yosemite National Park – a region like a picture book. We enter the park from the east like two years ago. The road is called Tioga Pass and is one of the most beautiful drives I know. That mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada is at an elevation of 9,943 ft. / 3,031 m.

We follow the route and although we already made that trip two years ago we stop at a lot of points to enjoy the astonishing views or to have a small hike into the breathtaking scenery.

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Toulumne Meadows is the first region we cross. Two years ago we spent a few nights here. This is that part of the park which is less crowded maybe because of the higher elevation, which means that you might have nights with temperatures below 32° F (0° C).

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This time we cross Toulumne Meadows and follow Tioga Road heading to Wawona campground, which is at the south border of the park located at a much lower elevation and because of that with a very warm climate.

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Most of the people want to be in Yosemite Valley. The temperatures are very comfortable there and you find all the attractions there with connecting buses, a supermarket and all the tourist stuff you need.

Wawona is less crowded and approximately an hour drive from Yosemite Village. Our campground is paradise. It is located  next to Merced River and our campsite has a direct access to it. If you step down and put your feet into the water you arrive in a dreamland like in a picture book.

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In the middle of the river there are some granite rocks formed by the water in a very organic shape. Although it is granite the shapes of the rocks are very ergonomic. On one day I slept on such a stone for an hour without feeling uncomfortable. The perfect place to relax a half day after being on a hike.

On our last trip we had five days in that park. And after leaving we recognised that we only saw a fractional amount of things we wanted to see. So this time we don’t go to Yosemite Valley and concentrate on hiking next to Glacier Point.

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When you are on the way to Glacier Point you see all the attractions of the park from a higher elevation. A lot of hikes lead you to viewpoints with breathtaking 360°-views and that’s exactly what we are searching for.

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Well, after spending another five days in Yosemite National Park we still aren’t feeling confident about having seen everything we wanted. But unfortunately our trip comes to an end and we have to drop off our RV in San Francisco tomorrow.

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