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.

Another Epic Road Trip - Tall Van Trouble/Sequoia/First View of Yosemite

Being in California necessitates a trip to In-N-Out, but we accidentally got in line there before realizing that our van was too tall.  Well, it was at least too all according their posted clearance.  After waiting in a huge double line of cars and worrying that we would have to make every one of them back up, we cleared!  Whew!

We learned our lesson and did not attempt the drive-thru tree in Sequoia

Our favorite thing at Sequoia was not the big trees but the views from Moro Rock

We drove through a corner of King's Canyon National Park on the way to Yosemite from Sequoia.  But most of the "good stuff" was not accessible yet as there was still to much snow.  That was just as well as we had reservations in Yosemite and knew there would be plenty there to see.  Here is the famous "tunnel view" at Yosemite.  It' quite a grand welcome!

Bridal Veil Falls.  The trail was closed, but we went anyway!

El Capitan

Yosemite Falls

Our campsite.  We could not believe the view!  We were right on the Merced River with a perfect view of Half Dome.  This was totally worth synchronizing my clock and being right on the dot on that day in December when reservations opened up!