When we were done, I grabbed some stuff from the tent and then crossed to the South Loop Trail on the bikes and headed towards Bridalveil Falls. We stopped in a “rock garden” and later in a fire scarred forest to adjust our helmets. Unfortunately, there were intermittent streams which barred our way in some places. When we gave up on the trail we had to pass our bikes to one another on one of the streams one at a time to get to the swing bridge across the Merced River. I got a couple of pictures.
The ride into Yosemite Village was easy. At Yosemite Falls we got a bit lost but I got a great picture of us with the bikes. We entered through to the museum and deli. We parked the bikes in the back and found a picnic table but had to wait until the deli opened to have a snack. When we were done at the deli we went to the interpretive center and watched a film in the theater. I told the boys about my uncle, a climbing pioneer. There was a spot where you could flip through a book of pictures about climbing in the valley.
We went to the Yosemite Village Market and locked up in front. The light there is really interesting. I couldn’t tell if it was because the canyon walls are so high or because the trees are really tall. I also noted that midday it’s really hot in the spring weather but the forest floor and even the urban areas are pretty cool. I found us sun protection and snacks for later.
We went to the visitor center and the boys got ranger badges. They were supposed to wait in line to provide their Junior Ranger Workbook but instead they sat on the ground and worked on them. Then a little girl cut in front of them in line. The ranger at the desk caught it though and made a point to make sure the boys got their ranger badges so it was OK. I got a picture.
From there we rode our bikes through the parking lots to the Ahwahnee Hotel and headed out to Mirror Lake. The road and forest in Tanaya Canyon were wonderful. I had one of the boys get photos of me on my bike. The last leg was uphill and pretty hard on account of the heat and the fact that we were riding cruiser bikes. We parked and walked near the lake. The boys played in the dirt (silt). I explained the high water benchmark we found – everything was inundated at the last high water event in 2014.
On the way to Happy Isles we passed a lot of people returning to the campgrounds. However, stopped to look at the map because the direct route to Happy Isles winds over the medial moraine. I took the opportunity to explain glacial geology as we rode along. When we got to the Merced River Bridge at Happy Isles I had them kick in the dirt to simulate glacial action.
When we got to Curry Village, we dropped the bikes off and got ice cream sandwiches before we walking to housekeeping. I left the boys with family for bit so I could take a break. The boys played cornhole and later we started prepping dinner. We had chicken tacos and around bedtime I started winding down. The boys wrote thank you notes to our hostess.
Everyone in the camp did some packing since we were all going home the next day. Later we played cards until lights went out at 10 o’clock. I got some much needed rest.…
I woke up at five in the morning of the day that I wrote this and got the boys up at 6:30 AM. I packed the bags and tidied. Around 7 we had a snack and tried to say bye to people. However, nearly everyone was asleep. So, we walked to Curry Village and played the board games at the front desk. I had a coffee and called YARTS and they said we I would be able to board the 9 AM bus.
We got a last photo of Yosemite as we left and I texted family. The ride through Yosemite Valley was great. I took a great photo of Bridalveil Falls. I noted that there is this interesting waterfall At El Portal right above the entrance station. We descended into the valley on highway 140 which was blown out in a specific place so we had to go on some temporary bridges. We saw some rafters on the Merced River.
When we got off the bus in Merced the station attendant said that 713 was late which was fortunate because that meant we would be able to catch it since the YARTS schedule makes catching the 713 train impossible.
We got snacks when boarded the train. The boys played iPad. My sister texted the family chat to say that everyone was driving home on Highway 49. I noted that my boys and I were going to get to Richmond BART several hours early.
This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.
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