Hike Info:
Type: Hiking
Trail head: Camp Curry Parking area
Trail: Northside Drive, Yosemite Village, Valley Loop Trail, Lower Yosemite Falls Trail, Cook’s Meadow, Southside Drive
Destination: Loop
Distance: 4.39 miles 1
Start Time: 2:10
End Time: 5:10
Elevation Rise: 678'
Descent: 676‘
Maximum Elevation: 4,107'
1I forgot my GPS. So I plotted
out the route on Google Earth. So this will not have been the exact
mileage and time. Steven’s Strava recorded 5.5 miles. He did make
an extra trip of about half of a mile. So I think the truth is
someplace between 4.4 and 5 miles.
Description:
This was going to be a long
day as I needed to repair a sprinkler pipe before we went to
Yosemite.
It got even longer that evening. The first was planned while the
second was thrust upon us.
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Lunch at Cathedral Beach-Sherri and Steven
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I got up at 6:30. I finished
repairing the pipe, then let it set while I had breakfast. After that
I tested all of the sprinkler lines and they looked good. I got all
of this finished by 8:30. So why didn’t we start sooner? First, I
was relaxing a bit and then I think everybody was waiting for
everyone else to say they were ready. That was the state until Sherri
came in at 10:40 and asked if we were still going to Yosemite? Yes
was the answer.
So we got ready in about 25
minutes. Sherri got us out of the garage by 11:05 and drove us to
Costco to get gas. Then she drove straight through to Chinquapin.
By this time, she had enough of driving and Steven took us down into
the Valley.
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Vows were said here
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Unless we have company, we
usually do not stop at Tunnel View-usually too crowded for our
tastes. Today we did not stop, but there was plenty of room. It will
not be that way in a couple of weeks. The Bridalveil
parking area is open, looks crowded, but a lot better than before the
construction of the past couple of years.
Steven has a destination in
mind for lunch. That would be Cathedral
Beach
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Mist from Yosemite
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.
We arrived there at about 1:45. This picnic area has a special place
in our hearts. It is where Andrea and Lawrence got married last
October. Certainly looks different without the table covering. Also
the Merced
River is
higher, much higher than in October. If they had gotten married now,
the water would have been above their boot tops.We continue on to Camp
Curry’s
parking lot. This area is also under construction. But fortunately
there is a lot of parking. We only decided what we were going to do a
few minutes before driving in. The thought was to go up to Vernal
Falls.
But I suggested just walking around the Valley. A couple of days ago
I strained my hamstring muscle and I am not sure about doing any
steep climbing. It is too late to go around Mirror
Lake.
The decision was to walk around Yosemite Valley, heading towards
Yosemite Falls. By the time our boots hit the pavement, it is 2:30.
Sherri has discovered she is missing her phone. I guess she will need
to rely on Steven and I for pictures.
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Gary, Steven and Sherri
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Our goal is to walk the
relatively level route to Yosemite Falls. The road by
Stoneman Meadow
is being revamped. Maybe into a bikeway connector? It does change the
traffic patterns, for the better. We get a good view of the Royal
Arches.
But it is a relatively unshaded area. So after a quarter mile, Steven
decides he needs his hat and goes back for it.
Sherri and I continue on
towards the Visitor Center. We passed by Ahwahnee
Meadow
and into the Yosemite Village area. It is just pleasant walking and
surprisingly there are not the usual crowds of visitors on this
Spring day. When we get to the Visitor Center, actually by the Ansel
Adams Gallery,
we wait for Steven. But there is a new Welcome
Center
and Steven thinks we are there. So Sherri and I get a good rest
before Steven joins us. By this time it is about 3:20.
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Yosemite Falls
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We head west again, getting to
the Yosemite
Cemetery which
Sherri starts to head through. This is OK with me as I am interested
in the names I have seen here. While the cemetery is not well
protected and has a very low fence to mark its boundaries, it does
seem wrong to purposely use it as a shortcut. That is not Sherri’s
intention. So we go around the cemetery, past the Law Enforcement
area and up the short trail besides the stables. This leads us up to
the Valley
Loop Trail.
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Yosemite Falls
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Along the way up to the Loop
Trail, we spot a mountain quail. Much more attractive than the quail
we see around Delilah.
Once on the Loop Trail we continue our westward trek and come to the
bridge crossing Yosemite Creek. But before that, we see signs that
the Falls are coming. First, there is the mist flowing well above the
trees. Then there is Yosemite Creek thundering past the trail. And
now crossing the bridge, we feel the wind created by the force of the
falls. The sight of Yosemite Falls never fails to elicit a sense of
awe.
We continue on our walk down
to the Yosemite Falls Bus Stop. There are two women parked in the bus
place, but it looks like they are pretty agitated and there is no bus
while we are waiting. And while we wait, we consider the new bus
routes. This bus will go all the way to the Pohono
Bridge.
So we decide to cross Cook’s
Meadow
and go to the Sentinel
Bridge
Bus Stop. Crossing Cook’s Meadow gives a great view of the eastern
end of the Valley. So we take our time and walk through there.
Briefly after arriving at
Sentinel Bridge we enjoyed its seats. That is until we realize that
this is no longer a bus stop. Yosemite has been working on getting a
better traffic flow around the Valley. It looks like as part of that,
this stop has been discontinued. The traffic looks like we are in
England as the flow has vehicles going on the wrong side of the road,
that is the left side..
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Indian Canyon Falls
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So what to do? Sherri would
like to go to the Chapel,
so we go there. It is a short walk to it, maybe a quarter of a mile.
The chapel is the oldest building in the Valley. But it used to be a
few miles west of its current spot. The doors are open and we go in.
There is a group in the front pews of the chapel, so we stay back.
The interior is pretty basic. If we were expecting large windows with
stained-glass, this would have been a disappointment. But remember,
this was to serve a purpose and that purpose was a wilderness chapel.
Having walked this area
several times, I know that a short distance from the chapel is the
other side of the Valley Loop Trail. And that is where we go. A short
walk puts us back onto the bike path for Southside Drive. And then an
even longer walk back to Curry Village and the parking area. I am
dragging during this last part. I would like to think that it is my
hamstring bothering me, but I think it is only a minor contributor.
Ae all make it to the car by 5:10.
Fortunately, Steven drives us
out of Valley and there is not much traffic. I do one misdirection on
a roundtable, but after that it is Steven all the way into Oakhurst.
We talked about where to eat. Steven is interested in
Southgate Brewery.
But I am thinking that there may be a long line since it is Friday
night. When we got there, we were quickly seated. The service was a
bit slow, but that just gives us time to revive and relax.I indicate
I wanted a Deadwood BBQ Burger. Evidently that sounded good to
everybody as they also ordered one as wel. When the Burger came out,
it was piled high. But with a little scrunching, it all fit in my
mouth and my mouth was ready for it. There was no disappointment.
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Royal Arches Falls
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I drove home and we got home a
little after 8. I was looking forward to a nice and relaxing shower,
when Sherri comes in with an urgent piece of news. You know how she
was without her phone which serves as a camera? Well it is missing
and the Apple Find Me app has it around a restaurant in the northern
part of Fresno, about a half mile from the Costco gas station. We
figure it must have fallen out when we got gas this morning.
And now for the truly
frustrating part. We try to get a hold of Verizon to tell them the
phone is missing. But they are not available until morning. You can
go through their automated system, but in order to do anything with
the phone, they want you to respond on the phone which is lost. Seems
a bit circular, doesn’t it? So we try to go into their web pages.
Same thing. We are not getting anywhere fast. Sherri does have the
presence of mind to lock the phone through Apple.
So what should we do? Ask
Rachel, of course! We figured out a plan which included driving up to
the restaurant and seeing if the phone was just laying on the
ground-it as not. Also how to proceed in the morning. It did not get
better then, so Super Rachel called up Verizon and got things settled
there. The long story is that Saturday Sherri got a new phone with a
lot better camera.
Finally about 10:30 I got my
shower and was asleep by 11:30-I was one tired big boy.
Trail Lesson:
We
will lose things. But learn from the experience about what is
important
and what is replaceable.
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Mountain Quail
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