Day 1: June 19, Sunday: We
flew into either San Francisco or San Jose and rented two
cars to drive 4 hours down to YNP. On
the way, we stopped at Washburn and Glacier points. From these vantage points, we could see the
breathtaking panorama of domes, pinnacles and waterfalls. Dominating all is the Half Dome (8842 feet),
the most recognized feature of Yosemite. At 87 million years old, the granite of this
dome is the youngest Plutonic rock in the valley. I secretly aspired to be on top of it one
day.
We were supposed
to stay at tents in White Wolf campground, but heavy snow in last winter had
closed Tioga road along with this campground.
We reached our alternate destination, the Curry Camp, in Yosemite valley, as it was getting dark. I kept rehearsing in my mind what I would do
if I came upon a bear! I could not
decide if I should start screaming, play dead or act like if I met my old
buddy. Fortunately, the bear never
presented itself to put any of my strategies to test during the trip. We did see a few deer from time to time.
We received
instructions about how to store food and other scented articles into bear
lockers and checked into four two person (unheated) tents. We used our flashlights to walk to rest rooms
in the dark as well as the public shower-house. While the days were hot at
75-80 degrees, nights were cold between 45-50 degrees. I had
a difficult time sleeping on many nights.
Continued - On Ron Virmani's Personal Blog.
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