Yosemite National Park.

So, John Muir, the advocate of national parks and most eloquent of conservationists, said about Yosemite that “It is by far the grandest of all the special temples of Nature I was ever permitted to enter”.

He certainly was able to articulate the beauty and mystery of America’s natural heritage, and I can only agree with him on this one. It has been wondrous and awe inspiring to be here. It is just so dramatic and on such a huge scale that even with so many people flocking to see it, the massive granite peaks dominate. Add to that the huge waterfalls that are a feature of spring, the green meadows, the huge conifers and the wildlife and birds and it’s all that one’s heart could desire!

We are staying in a cabin in the southern end of the park. It is a typical holiday cabin that was not too close to any neighbours and we have been able to sit on the porch and watch the squirrels, woodpeckers, robins and lizards, and have also spotted some deer here and a turkey buzzard. So that has also been a wonderful thing for us, as while we have had lots of fantastic accomodation, its the first time we have had an actual house, and that is very pleasant. It’s quite old fashioned but everything works very well and it’s extremely comfortable. We are quite a way from Yosemite valley but are in the park itself and in this area there is one of the historic lodges of Yosemite. This one is now called Big Trees Lodge and it is famous for having had John Muir entertain President Roosevelt there in 1903 during the camping trip that Muir took with Roosevelt, in order to convince him to protect this area and to set up a national park service. (It was a success).

We dined at the lodge on our third night, and as well as having an excellent meal we were entertained by our server who has worked there since 1982! He had a very dry humour and his character along with the character of the lodge dining room was a winning combination.

But what about the park itself? We had two extraordinary days, visiting Glacier Point first then spending the day in the Valley yesterday. We ended up walking a good deal and a long distance both days but have not attempted any major hikes as they are beyond my ankle and Jock’s heart. However, it is an amazing hiking destination and any hikers out there should get here as soon as possible!

Spring brings the ice melt of course and so waterfalls are a big feature of the season. There is literally water everywhere right now and we have viewed a lot of extraordinarily high waterfalls and walked by rivers and creeks that are raging white water.

We have been impressed by the way the park is managed, and particularly how the crowds and traffic are managed. This is not high season by any means but we were glad we got up and out early for our day in the valley as the crowd certainly built up over the day. The roads are really good and have places to pull over to gape at the scenery and to let faster cars pass. The message about bear safety could not be stronger and there are lockers for food and warnings everywhere.

And we saw one!! It ran across the road as were heading home just on dark. So it was the briefest glimpse as it was really moving but it was undoubtedly a bear! We have also seen lots of deer while driving, but no near misses.

The next day the weather had changed and was cold, wet and misty with snow due overnight. We enjoyed the cabin and took a look round our local area and managed a six kilometre walk round a local meadow, which was lovely. A meadow here is like our flats in the Snowies, important wetland areas. We couldn’t resist returning to the lodge and again had an excellent meal. Jock chose classic southern fried chicken and mash, which he loved! Then we sat in the lobby listening to a pianist/vocalist who has also worked there since 1982! He was a great entertainer, a storyteller with a great interest in history as well as a musician, who interacted with his audience. We enjoyed the other guests. who seemed much like us, and we gather from one we spoke to that many are return visitors. Well you would if you could, wouldn’t you?

I am rather at a loss of words to describe the beauty of this place and might let the photos do that for me. But I can tell you that I have felt moved (which won’t surprise a lot of you ) to have worshipped at this particular nature’s temple.]

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