John Muir once said of Yosemite Park, "None can escape its charms. Its natural beauty cleans and warms like a fire, and you will be willing to stay forever in one place like a tree... But no temple made with hands can compare with Yosemite. Every rock in its wall seems to glow with life.” The Yosemite Valley truly is one of the most awe-inspiring places on earth. With El Capitan towering 3,000 feet to one side and Half Dome soaring at 4,737 feet on the other, the view is a humble reminder of our insignificance in this big ol' world. Traditionally, Yosemite has always held a special place in the hearts of my family. My grandpa has been roaming those mountains since he was a toddler. Forty some years ago my grandparents built a cabin in Greely Hill, about an hour west of the park entrance. Twelve years ago they built a house on that property and now live there full time. Since even the grocery store is an hour away, they consider the park to be right next door. You could say they know the Sierras like the back of their hand, and Yosemite has always been a favorite spot. Every one of my aunts and uncles has climbed the famed granite Half Dome monolith at least once. My grandpa has climbed it 26 times, my grandma 8. It's not an easy feat and it's a pretty cool family tradition. Over the years, though, things have changed. As more and more people have come to visit the park each year, roads have been rerouted. Parking lots have become over-crowded. A shuttle system has been implemented and pretty near mandatory if you want to stop and explore certain parts of the park. Traffic wait times have peaked at 2-3 hours. This year the park began requiring a reservation (made online at Recreation.gov) before you can enter the park, even if your intent is to drive through the park via state route 120 over Tioga pass, which locals have used since 1919 to get to the other side of the mountains. This population problem has led to my grandparents vowing to never go back to Yosemite again, a truly heartbreaking sentiment, and a testament of the times. All that being said, Yosemite was on our radar for this cross-country trip, but since we have been there several times, it wasn't a priority. What brought us to California was spending some quality time with FAMILY! We arrived at my grandparents' house on Friday and were greeted with a delicious dinner of beef stew, muffins, and homemade applesauce. Grandpa had us sufficiently hooked up with 30 amp power, water, sewer, and internet in no time. If we thought that was full service for a "moochdocking" stay, the next day grandma and grandpa took it to the next level. While I got all our laundry and schooling done, the guys changed the oil and rotated tires on the truck, scrubbed all the mud and bugs off the rig, and stapled wall panels that had been shaken loose during Rivy's 6,000 mile journey across the country. It felt so good to have a day to get caught up on those chores and maintenance that needed to get done, and we were so grateful for all the tools and space that my grandparents had so we could get that accomplished! On Sunday afternoon my aunts and uncles came over from the Modesto area to visit. Immediately my Uncle Stephen suggested wrestling with the kids. Three years ago when we visited, that's how he broke the ice, so apparently he thought wrestling a 10 and 12 year old would be a good idea. LOL! He certainly has a way with kids and it definitely worked because for the rest of the night they asked if they could wrestle again. This is how they will always remember U. Stephen--I'm curious what will happen on our next visit! We had a delicious dinner of Papa Murphy's Pizza (man, how we have missed this!) and a healthy salad. My birthday was the day before, so Dusty and the kids made my favorite Dr. Pepper cupcakes for dessert. The evening was filled with catching up, laughter, stories, good food, and fun. No time was wasted as we jumped in to great conversations! Monday we decided to try our luck at Yosemite. The last time we went was May 2019 and we decided then that it was too crowded for our tastes. But...you know...FOMO. We had to go. We set our trusty GyPSy Guide* for a tour of the park, listening to history, geology, and fun facts about Muir's favorite place on earth as we drove. (Quick plug: if you find yourself in a National Park or popular outdoor tourist destination, go to gypsyguide.com and see if there is a tour available for your location. Download the app and set the tour to play as you're entering the park. The tour runs off of GPS navigation, so as you approach a conversation point, your personal tour guide comes on and tells you about the location. He's funny and knowledgeable, and it's just like having a park ranger in your car as you drive. We use this app to help navigate parks and to determine the best lookouts, hikes, and activities, plus the history and science behind the parks makes for an enjoyable and educational experience! Forget driving blind. Get the GyPSy App. I promise, I don't get paid for this ad.) Our first stop in the park was to Tuolumne Grove, one of the larger groves of Giant Sequoias in the park. (Tip: If you want to see giant Sequoias, go to Calaveras Big Trees State Park. We didn't go this time, but what you see there is definitely worth the drive!) We hiked about a mile on a downhill paved road to the grove. The first fallen sequoia we came to, Brickhead got stung by an angry yellow jacket (or meat bee, as Grandpa calls them). We climbed through another fallen tree, then made our our own beeline back to the truck for some first aid. Thankfully, stopping at the El Capitan Bridge to watch the climbers took the sting off Brickhead's mind. What looked like a tiny house spider on a wall was actually a fairly large bright orange bivy tent and gear someone had set up for sleeping on the side of the cliff. With binoculars we spotted about six climbers that you could barely see with the naked eye. That granite monolith is just so enormous! We met Tom Evans, a professional photographer who captures the climbers in action. We didn't realize he was a celebrity in his profession, having been the only still photographer to catch Alex Honnold complete his 2008 famed three hour and 56 minute free-solo climb of El Capitan. He briefly told us of his climbing adventures and what these climbers have to plan for. Some of them spend more than two weeks climbing to the top of that wall! Before we left, we met two girls who had just finished a two day climb. Absolutely amazing. A little ways down the road, we stopped at a gently moving spot on the Merced River to wade in the cold water. John Muir said the Merced River was the most joyful stream born in the Sierra. "The sun shines not on us, but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us." He was right...there is just something about wading in living waters that makes you feel...connected. Upon entering the Valley, it was immediately apparent that people were going to ruin this trip. (My grandma jokingly reminded me that I am some of those people! While that is true in a sense, it's a different kind of people who wreck the experience for everyone.) We didn't get further than the first pull-off that we heard no less than three car horns from different angry drivers frustrated by someone slowing down in front of them to take a picture or cutting them off to change lanes or park their car. In case your background does not provide you with this important bit of information, you should know this one fact: angry car horns do NOT belong in nature. Especially in one of the most beautiful places on earth. My patience with people ran out right then and there and I knew spending time in the busy section of the park was going to be a "no go" for me. From there, I drove around the parking lot a few times (because there was no parking availability) while Dusty and the kids ran to the gift shop for collector's tokens. Then it was time to escape! On the way out, we took a drive to Hetch Hetchy reservoir to walk across the dam. Three years ago, Grandpa took us out that way and told us about this controversial location. We listened to the story then, and were elated a half a year later when a homeschool field trip to our Nation's Capitol turned the story into a lesson on congressional voting. (Thanks to COVID, you can now find the interactive lesson here on the Capitol's website. I highly recommend a visit, especially for middle school kids--or adults--who would like to find out more!) If you don't have time though, here's a quick history lesson. You remember the 1849 Gold Rush, right? San Francisco’s population went from 1,000 people in 1848 to a whopping 25,000 by the next year. By the late 1800's, the city was desperately searching for alternative sources of water. In 1906, a major earthquake destroyed much of the city, breaking gas lines and igniting debris and spreading to structures that survived the quake. Lack of water made firefighting impossible. As they rebuilt they knew they needed a fresh water source, and Hetch Hetchy seemed to them the best solution to their problem. But the valley, which had been described as the twin of the Yosemite valley, was on protected land of the National Park. For over a decade, the city lobbied congress in hopes to gain approval to dam the valley in order to create a reservoir. In 1913, environmentalists finally lost out and the damming of the Tuolumne River was approved. The O’Shaughnessy Dam was constructed and a 167 mile aqueduct was built to deliver some of the cleanest water in the country to what is now 2.6 million people in San Francisco. The existence of this dam is still a matter of huge controversy in the area, and a vote went out a few years back to tear down the dam, restoring the valley to its former glory. Again, environmentalists lost and the dam still stands. After our quick visit to learn about this famed dam, we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner. We spent the next day planning our future route and asking Grandpa for his expertise. As mentioned, he knows the Sierras like the back of his hand and was a wealth of knowledge about roads all the way through to Utah and Arizona.
We had a wonderful visit with my grandparents. I can't thank them enough for all of their hospitality and help with getting all our much needed maintenance and chores done. We don't get many opportunities to visit, so every time we do, I learn more about them. I thoroughly enjoy listening to their stories and am constantly amazed by the life they've shared. (I never realized how much time they've spent backpacking in the mountains!) I so admire their love for each other and all they do to keep involved and stay young! They are truly an inspiration and set a good example for the life our family hopes to live out together. Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa! We love you and are already looking forward to our next visit. *Contains affiliate link
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