She Did Something

So, it was Jim’s brilliant idea that we stay in Tonapah, Nevada after visiting Death Valley, then head through Yosemite National Park to Merced, California to spend the night. Sounds like a cool and well thought out 5 hour trip, right?

Well if he had just let me use Google Maps I could have told him that sometimes the Tioga Pass through Yosemite National Park which Jim intended to go through was closed. Well, okay, it’s almost always closed this time of year. As a matter of fact, so were the next three passes through the mountains. We stopped to talk to a park ranger who drew us a quick map that showed that we had to go way north and take the Carson Pass which is not in Yosemite then go way south to get to Merced where the room was booked. I should note here, that the park ranger really didn’t know how to draw maps and we were temporarily heading down a closed road. The little 5 hour trip had now become an over 9 hour jaunt. Let’s not mention that the Carson Pass should have been closed too because it was a near blizzard conditions through there. Yesterday we were in Death Valley at 115 degrees. Today we were in Yosemite and it was 24 degrees.

Merced was just Merced. The only real benefit it offered was being reasonably close to Yosemite so we added an extra night so we could have a whole day in the park. So, we headed out the next morning to explore the park in all its glory…on a cloudy, damp day.

To get a good view of Bridal Veil Falls, you follow a short paved path to a viewing area. Between the rain and the mist of the falls, by the time we got to the viewing are we were pretty well soaked but it was a kind of soaked that made me really happy. I’m not too sure Jim was as happy as I was. He seems to think water might melt him or something. Here’s what it looked like at the viewing area.

The Mist at Bridal Veil Falls in Yosemite

There were a lot of waterfalls in Yosemite. Each had its own character. I liked the way this one cascaded then cascaded again:

Another Waterfall in Yosemite

Steller’s Jay Feasting on a Hamburger – Yosemite

For Some Reason Jim Insisted It Was Too Wet To Stand Inside This Sequoia