Yosemite National Park – The Paths of Discovery

October 1, 2021

Tioga Road took us from where we stayed in Lee Vining, California across the Sierra Nevada Mountains to Yosemite National Park. At almost 10,000 feet, it is the highest highway pass in California. We were thrilled with the scenery long before we got to the park itself.

By the time we got to Olmsted Point inside the park, the skies were dulled with smoke from wildfires. (We had thought we would visit Yosemite again before we left Lee Vining, put the smoke never cleared for the rest of our stay.)

The rock at Olmsted Point is magma that cooled and solidified underground.

Boulders on the granite are erratics left by glaciers.

Dave is sitting on a gorgeous piece of wood.

View of Tenaya Canyon behind Dave and Jane

The northern side of Half Dome is on the right in the distance. Clouds Rest is behind the tree.

Smoke hangs over Clouds Rest.

Tenaya Lake is visible in the foreground.

Tenaya Lake (This photo was taken on our way back to Lee Vining.)

Another view from Olmsted Point

The smoke got thicker the closer we got to Yosemite Valley.

The lobby of the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite Village

The hotel opened in 1926.

We expected a lunch similar to what we had in Yellowstone in 2011. Our $50 meal tasted good but did not meet those expectations.

We thought this was a special spot. It’s where John Muir and President Theodore Roosevelt met in May 1903 and talked about preserving wilderness.

We stopped for some photos of El Capitan as we returned to Lee Vining.

The atmosphere was festive in this spot with a great view of El Capitan, the largest monolith of granite in the world.

The rock that makes up El Capitan is 100 million years old.

To the left of the tree, about halfway up, is a climber. The first climb up the face of El Capitan took 45 days. Today the average is five.

Zooming in on climbers and losing resolution

The sun was starting to set as we got to Siesta Lake.

The lake is slowly being filled in by sediments carried by streams filled with melted ice. Jane was getting information for an earth cache at the location.

We watched the sun set in our mirrors. As our elevation changed the sunset would seem to have sunk below the distant mountains only to reappear after a curve or two. (We stopped to take this picture.)

Categories: Travel

2 Comments

Susan · October 25, 2021 at 11:53 am

How many people were trying to make the climb while you were there. You are both looking great

Jane Appel · October 25, 2021 at 1:45 pm

We saw only the two climbers we photographed. Maybe the smoke was discouraging others. Thanks.

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