Sunday, June 4th – Day 35 – Wandering Retirees

A beautiful day! We got out at 7:30 for the 45 minute drive to Yosemite Park. With various meandering for gas and sight seeing, we arrived a little before 9:00 and found a place to park at Sentinel Bridge. It wasn’t a snap because a LOT of other folks had the idea of coming early. The first sight that greeted us was the glorious Yosemite Falls, which cascades over 2,400 feet in two cataracts. Because the spring runoff from the snow pack is at its height, we were treated to a truly breathtaking sight. We couldn’t tear our eyes away, or take enough pictures, or think of anything else for a time. (Pics attached.)
Eventually we made our way to the shuttle stop, but had some trouble getting a lift because they were all full. A LOT of folks had the same idea we had. So we moved the bike further up Valley and set out for a hike on the Mist Trail toward the Vernal Falls, about 3 miles round trip with a goodly change in elevation. We enjoyed meeting folks along the way and studiously ignored the trail bunnies who jogged by with youthful vigor. Show offs! At last we chugged our way to a bridge built across the raging Merced River. The water thundered underneath us down the steep, rocky incline. The river was so full it diverged in places to foam and eddy in side channels. Again we were mesmerized and awed. The mist cooled the air and was a grateful balm on this hot day. Wonderful!

As we hiked back to our bike, we saw a number of falls that dropped out of the rock faces that towered around us. We got a good view of famous formations like El Capitan, the Half Dome, and the Chapel. If you ever have a chance, watch the PBS series, The National Parks, created by Ken Burns (who did series on the Civil War and others.) You’ll get a feeling for the genius behind the founding of the National Park System, and appreciate why many consider Yosemite as its crown jewel. We did.

A short ride (30 minutes is short by California standards) brought is to the trailhead to the Merced Grove, the smallest of three sites where giant sequoias grow. This hike was a bit over 3 miles round trip along a steep trail, but at the far end 25 mammoth trees await your pleasure. Connie has pics that in some small way convey just how big they are. By rough estimation, one tree appeared to be about 300 feet tall. We tried to gauge its diameter and estimate its about 15 feet in across. That makes it about 45 or 46 feet in circumference. Giant and stately. And the quiet that filled the glade leaves one filled with both peace and awe. We met a wonderful couple, Len and Ann, who live nearby and come there often. When we remarked on this wonder, they expressed that they feel blessed to have this wonder in their backyard.

We feel blessed, too. To be in a position to make a trip like this and see such wonders. The world is filled with beauty and wonder. To see it with open eyes and an open heart is to know inspiration that dwarfs the sometimes tawdriness of the daily grind. It’s all around us. Connie found a quote from John Muir, the founding genius of America’s park system. I’ll close with it tonight.

“This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.”

― John Muir, John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir