After a 2 hour ride from Turlock, we arrived at the gates of Yosemite, and an hour later we were standing on top of Glacier Peak, at an elevation of 7214 feet. Glacier Point is best place to start your visit to this National Park as it offers an unparalleled view of many points, waterfalls, as well as the valley of the park.
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| Wawona Tunnel |
On the way to Glacier Point, you travel through 3/4 mile long Wawona Tunnel, carved through the mountain of granite. We stopped at the tunnel to take in our first view of the valley. After taking pictures, Jonathan said he wanted to walk through the tunnel. It's not that we didn't want to join him, but someone had to drive the car to the other end....., we told him we'd wait on the other side. When he finally emerged, he said he did not realize the entire walk was uphill, his calves were a bit tight. |
| Jonathan at tunnel view point. Half Dome in background |
As we were continuing up to Glacier Point, we noticed the temperatures outside dropped, from the mid 60's down into the low 40's when we reached the top. In the hour or so we were there, they dropped even lower and we were surprised to see snow start to fall.
From Glacier Point, you have superb views of Yosemite National Park's valley, Yosemite Falls, Half Dome, Vernal Falls, Nevada Falls, and Clouds Rest.
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| View of Yosemite Valley from Glacier Point |
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| On top of Glacier Point, Half Dome in the background |
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| View from Glacier Point |
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| On top of the world! |
Spent the rest of the day in the Valley, and were so disappointed to see Yosemite Falls was dry. We also noticed coming into the park, the Merced River that you follow, was not flowing. It only had pools of water here and there. The drought in California has truly taken its toll on Yosemite National Park.
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| Dry Yosemite Falls |
We had such a good time here. and a day and a half is not enough time to see Yosemite. But since it was Jonathan's first time, he got a good taste of what is in his back yard for the next 4 years. He made commitment to climb Half Dome before he leaves Cal State.
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| Grandpa, Grandma and Jonathan |
Returned Jon to Cal State University, and we headed back to our RV to get ready to continue our trip south the next day.