Valley of Fire

What a strange place!  We enjoyed hiking and exploring here.  It was very windy and dusty at night.  And I don't think I would enjoy being here when it was too hot, but we managed to get out in time!

In-Between Parts - Tahoe to Death Valley

We didn't originally plan to see Lake Tahoe, but we knew it was likely that Tioga Pass would not be open yet and that we would have to navigate around the Sierra Nevadas to head back east.  We had a very enjoyable few days in-between major attractions.  

I think this lake was called Silver Lake.  Still icy.  

Lake Tahoe

A short hike to a waterfall on Lake Tahoe

The east side of the Sierra Nevadas

Beautiful lenticular clouds

Mono Lake - we had planned to camp here but honestly it didn't look that inviting

This bakery had more baked goods that I had ever seen in one place.  Glad we stopped!

Manzanar Japanese Internment Camp

Death Valley - where Terry drove over 100 mph and passed a gang of bikers

A Tale of Two Lakes

We hiked around two lakes at Yosemite (well, one we hiked all around, the other was a bit too large for that).  Mirror Lake is a beautiful placid lake in the floor of Yosemite Valley. We hiked around the perimeter.

Hetch Hetchy Lake is a lake in another area of Yosemite, and it is the water source for all the San Francisco Valley.  It was recommended to us by other hikers. It had several waterfalls that fed into the lake.  The biggest was Wapama Falls where there was a series of bridges where you could walk near the falls and get wet!

Glacier Point to Mist Trail via Panoramic Trail

When I started planning for our trip, I realized that the road to Glacier Point was going to be closed while we were there.  The only way to reach this iconic point was going to be on the “4-mile trail” from the valley floor. We decided to combine that trip with the Panorama Trail and the Mist Trail to make for the longest and most beautiful hike we have ever taken!  It was supposed to be 13 miles but ended up being another 2 miles when the shuttles weren’t running at the bottom.  It was totally worth it!

At the trailhead

A deer on the way up

With just a little elevation gain, you started getting a good view of Yosemite Falls on the other side of the valley

First view of Half Dome from the trail

Just a little bit of snow lingered

Terry arrived at the top first and started working on his artsy photos

View from the top towards Half Dome.  Yo can also see Nevada Falls and Vernal Falls which we will be hiking by later

View from the top in the other direction.  You can see both Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls.  We could also pick out our campsite way below.  

Note the lack of people.  Usually this place is pretty crowded, but with the road closed, we shared it with just a few other hikers

Starting down the Panorama Trail.  We had this trail mostly to ourselves for a few hours.

Trail art

Just upstream from Illouette Falls

Nevada Falls is going over the edge.  For some reason, I did not get a good photo of the falls themselves.  It was a lot of water!

Starting down the Mist Trail.  This was a pretty difficult downhill path.  Especially after already hiking 8-10 miles!

You definitely get wet this time of year on this trail

Vernal Falls

Our celebratory brunch the following morning at the fancy hotel.