Over the week of the 4th of July my sister Melissa and I went on a road trip to Yosemite National Park. While in California we also decided to visit Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park. It was a lot of driving but we had a good time. All three parks and many places in-between were new to both of us. On our way home to Montana we decided to detour just a little bit and came up through Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Stay tuned for blogs about the rest of the adventure.
We started our trip early on the morning of July 3rd. On the first day we got as far as Elko, Nevada. It was a pretty long and hot day. We also stopped in Twin Falls, Idaho for a little while to check out some sites there. On the morning of the 4th of July we got up early again and finished our trip to Yosemite. Along the way we took in some desert scenes including a desert fox which was a new species for me.
The Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls, Idaho. A quick cell phone picture.
A quick cell phone picture of a waterfall on the drive down to Centennial Waterfront Park in Twin Falls, Idaho.
A quick cellphone picture from the car of the roadside sign entering Nevada.
A Desert Fox we spotted driving through the desert in Nevada. I did not bring a long lens on this trip to save space, so this is a crop. There was also a lot of heat distortion so getting a clear picture would have been a challenge anyway. But it was still a fun spot for me, so I wanted to share it.
We entered the park from the northeast entrance from the Mono Lake area. The drive over Tioga Pass to the park entrance was pretty impressive. We were pleasantly surprised by a very short line at the entrance into the park. I don’t know if that is typical for that entrance or not. I am guessing it is probably a lesser used entrance. On our way to the valley we made quick stops at Tenaya Lake and then Olmsted Point.
Tenaya Lake. Not a great photo as it was midday and the sun was very harsh. But it was a nice little pull over spot.
Our first view of Half Dome from Olmsted Point. There was some haze in the air from fires nearby, but we still got a good view.
By the time we got over the pass it was getting late in the day so we kept heading south and west out of the park. We then checked into our hotel which was located just outside the park in El Portal. The hotel was nothing much to write home about, but it did provide easy access to the park. Due to COVID the eating options and other amenities were limited. We came prepared knowing this might be the case so we brought a couple of coolers with food and drinks to keep us going. After we got checked in we did drive back into the park and up to Yosemite Valley so we could kind of check that out and get our bearings for the next morning. It was actually relatively quiet in the valley that evening, I am guessing because it was the 4th of July and people probably had plans for celebrating the holiday elsewhere that evening.
Another shot of Half Dome and I believe that might be El Capitan from the road on the way down to the valley. There was a lot of haze in the air so it was hard to get a clear shot.