Yosemite April 2010

My husband and I have been itching to make a trip to Yosemite, so on Saturday, we left before the sun rose and headed to our favorite national park. The waterfalls are beautiful at this time of year, but the crowds is something I prefer not to remember. Here are some memories we came back with.

Bridalveil Falls: The sight was beautiful, but the spray was treacherous. It was freezing!!



We stopped on our way up to Vernal Falls. I saw a huge boulder with a strip of moss running down one side and thought it was so beautiful.


Water from snowmelt making its way down the Merced River.


Lower Yosemite Falls: I've always wanted to hike up to the top of both Lower and Upper Yosemite Falls, but that day wasn't the day for it. No time. So I made do with snapping away at the foot of the lower falls. The spray here was freezing as well, but my hubby bought me a beanie anticipating I'd get another headache from the cold and that made life a thousand times more bearable during those few minutes. Thanks, hubby. :) The amount of water pounding down is shocking and certainly very powerful. I can't even imagine being caught in that current. If you've never been here before, you may not have a good idea how tall this is. There's a little red dot on the middle of the right side. That's a person. Using that as a point of reference, you can get a good idea how wonderful this site is.


And here's a photo of Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls. They are massive and absolutely breathtaking.


I wish I could experience Yosemite without the crowds, without the cars, without the roads. I wish I could see it in its natural state. I wish I could have experienced what John Muir had experienced. "He was overwhelmed by the landscape, scrambling down steep cliff faces to get a closer look at the waterfalls, whooping and howling at the vistas, jumping tirelessly from flower to flower."*

(Marquis, Amy Leinbach. (Fall 2007.) "A Mountain Calling", National Parks Magazine, retrieved on 23 October 2009.)