Yosimite Part 1 - Could There Be Any More Tourists?

<== And finally, we arrive at Yosemite National Park... in a bit of Fox News style photo-journalistic manipulation, this picture was actually taken on our last day as we left the park, but Tom forgot to stop at the sign on the way in so here it is!

Our first stop is to see the sequoias at the Mariposa Grove... ==>

<== These trees are not as tall as the coastal redwoods we saw earlier, but they are way more massive...

This bad boy here is the Grizzy Giant... it's supposed to be 1500ish years old... ==>

<== The big branch on the tree is 2 meters in diameter... it's actually wider than all the other non-sequoia trees in Yosemite... ridiculous!

We walk through another giant... ==>

<== Next we head to Glacier Point, where we are greeted with a view that literally stopped me in my tracks... this is a view of part of the Yosemite Valley... you can see all the amazing geological formations and waterfalls...

It's incredible... ==>












<== A zoom in on the Vernal and Nevada waterfalls, which we will hike later...

Brendan's holding up the Half Dome... there's a hike that actually takes you up to the top of that, but we didn't have the 12 hours or the energy to even attempt it... ==>









<== There's a great view of Yosemite Falls here as well... one of the tallest waterfalls in the world...

The only problem with this place is how crowded it is... I think everyone in California is here! ==>

<== We head down toward the valley, but not without taking more pictures of the amazing rock formations...

And at last, we are greeted with the classic Yosemite Valley scene... you exit a tunnel and suddenly this is in front of you... it's one of the most photographed places on earth apparently... ==>

<== The view is so magnificent you need to just sit down and take it all in...

Driving through the valley, the granite mountains just tower over you... El Capitan seems to always just be over your shoulder ... ==>

<== We take a short hike to Bridalveil Fall... and get soaked in the process...

As the sun starts to go down, we head toward our camp ground. The shadows make it seem like there's a huge hole in this rock... ==>










<== They didn't have any firewood at the general store near our campsite, so they told us to pick up our own from the forest... we got a crap ton...

Success! Roasting delicious snausages and tortillas with cheese and salsa... boy is that mustache lookin' groady... only mild apathy and curiosity are keepin' it going... ==>

<== And cans of baked beans... hooray camping! We went star watching after this, but it was too dark to take pictures with our terrible cameras. The star watching here was quite good... but still, too many cars!