California Vacation 2013 - Day 10

After breakfast at the ranch house, we crossed the national park boundary into Yosemite. It was unspectacular at first. We had seen plenty of trees so we skipped the sequoia groves and went straight up to Glacier Point. Through the trees at the top we caught our first glimpse of half dome, and realized that we were someplace very special. After staring at the best mountaintop views we have ever seen, we drove down into the valley itself. Everything here is beautiful. Every where you look seems like a postcard. We set camp and hiked up to Mirror Lake before sunset.

Complimentary breakfast at the Sierra Sky Ranch!

Our first view of Half Dome!

Daddy's beard is getting longer...

Half Dome on the left, Nevada Falls on the right

We made a friend!

The Merced River: Nevada Falls is 594 feet high. Below it, the Vernal Falls drops 317 feet.

On the eastern end of the valley it the Yosemite Falls. It falls a total of 2424 feet, the fifth highest in the world. Upper Yosemite falls itself is 1430 feet.

This was the view of our campground from Glacier Point. It is 3200 feet below us.

We would have liked to have seen the Kitty Tatch and Katherine Hazelston dancing on this rock in the late 1800s.

A video of the view from Glacier Point

Driving into the Yosemite Valley

El Capitain is on the left, then Half Dome in the background, then Bridalveil Falls on the right

Bridalveil Fall is 620 feet high

Ribbon Fall drops 1612 feet

In front of the Upper Yosemite Fall.

Our campground was 3200 feet below Glaicer Point

Lorien wades in Mirror Lake

A pretty reflection of North Dome

Half Dome at sunset