In the Valley for the day: now the real fun could begin.
Day 3
Given how many hours of sunlight were available, we had to balance certain things we want to see in the valley (Bridalveil Falls, Ahwahnee Hotel) with the maximum hike we could fit in.
Bridalveil Falls was like Disneyland: wall to wall people in a line. Bleh.
We took the tram to hike Mirror Lake loop ~ 6 miles. There were fewer people on the trail and it was not paved. Much better. We stayed at the lake for an hour, enjoying the sunshine, the deer and Daughter taking a hundred pictures of water splashes.
Further along the trail, there was a rock slide which had recently been cleared. Literal tons of rock had fallen, ripping out giant trees along its route. It’s terrifying to see how mangled the trees were and thinking about the force it took to create such devastation. We spent another hour in the middle of the landslide.
Tired, we took the tram to the Ahwahnee Hotel. I told the kids they had to see it just for the sake of seeing it. Totally worth it.
Back at the car, the photographing of Half Dome at sunset began.
Day 4
Our last day was a 6 mile hike in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. The trees were spectacular; one of the trees was as big as a 747 airplane. Out at Wawona Vista Point, the scope of distance and perspective is warped. The panorama being so vast, you couldn’t tell how far anything was, how big anything really was.
As we descended, more and more people met us along the trail. Once I saw baby carriages, I knew the place would be busy. When we arrived in the parking lot in the morning, there had only been 4 other cars in the lot but when we left, there were cars lined up waiting to snag our spot at we drove away.
I think it’s important to go to national parks. I want the kids to see what beauty our county has to offer. I know that conservation is important but it’s hard to see the paving, the disney-like treatment of the sites.
A good vacation is a hiking vacation.
