Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park

El Capitan, Yosemite

Yosemite National park had been on our list of places to visit. We heard so much about its breathtaking beauty that we could not wait to be there.

We went to Yosemite by way of Lake Tahoe which is a major casino place. After a couple of days in Lake Tahoe, we drove to Yosemite on HWY 120 or Tioga road through Lee veining, a small town where we stopped to eat chili and hamburger for lunch.

Sierra mountain range surrounds Yosemite Valley and protect the whole village. Power of nature is omnipresent in layers, stacks, and folds of these mountains. These daunting, loftiest granite domes become more awe inspiring as you travel higher and higher on the roads cut through these unrelenting range of huge granite cliffs of all shapes and sizes.

There is no vegetation on these cliffs which are very popular with the climbers. We spotted 3 or 4 climbers during their climb on one of the mountains making us realize how insignificant man is in the backdrop of sheer drop of these rocks on which they were clinging like ants.

Me against the backdrop of El Capitan

And yet hundreds of cars travelling on the roads cut through by immense man power was an evidence that man has not only challenged but conquered nature at least to a large extent. Sierra mountain roads go up to the elevation of 9900 feet. While climbing the mountain is a challenge, coming down is a religious experience because one cannot but think only God could have made it possible for man to achieve this incredible feat.

Valley floor has as much variety of vegetation as there is beautiful scenery around, while pines compete with the mountains for their share of sunshine by growing taller and taller. Even the bushes, and grass around them seemed luscious and green. The greenery is a source of oxygen for all the living things around, but the strange thing is that the evidence of death is very real in the form of dead tree trunks scattered all over the ground. The dry hard wooden trunks with their brittle bark which covered and protected the living trees was now tired and broken. Thousands of branches, twigs, cones and other dry material was lying on the forest ground displaying nature’s powerful creativity.  Huge trunks lying on the ground were as awesome as the ones, which were standing magnificently tall.

Death and destruction does not, somehow, spell sadness, and mortality, but a hope for new life (reincarnation) by becoming part of the land; by becoming a resource for innumerable human endeavors, such as construction, textile, medication and more; and by becoming a source of food for the coming generation of birds, insects, wild life and even humans. To add to that, their presence on the ground lends itself to reducing the impact of heavy rains and preventing soil erosion, while eventually making way for future life by providing space.

Gaint Sequoias, Tunnel created by fire

Our sight-seeing tour included Mariposa Grove of giant Sequoias which is located 36 miles south of Yosemite Valley. We went there via Wawona road (HWY 41). It offers fantastic sightings of huge redwood Sequoias. Their incredible girth and height is not the only thing to be in awe of, but their life span, strength, and majestic presence blows you away. Some of those trees have been in existence for thousands of years. They are so strong that some even after being hit by lightning, and after being in serious fires are still strong and sturdy. One of the fantastic phenomenon is that they have been used as stables, and shelters etc. Some trees have burnt right through and have a hole through the center. If you go in the opening, you can see the sky through the tunnel created by the fire. And yet the tree is still alive and standing for years and years. California tunnel tree in the Mariposa Grove is a tunnel through the bottom part of the tree and is one of the tourist’s delights and a popular destination within the park.

Also virtually every visitor who comes to Yosemite National Park spends at least some time at Glacier Point, drawn to the breathtaking views. On this four-hour tour, you’ll go from Yosemite Valley to Glacier Point—a 3,200-foot elevation gain.  Be sure to bring your camera to capture awe-inspiring photos of Yosemite’s famous waterfalls and the distant High Sierra mountains.

While there, we went on another adventure. We took a bus with a group of people from Yosemite valley to Glacier Point.. We spend time enjoying the breathtaking views and exploring the area. But instead of taking the bus to come down we decided to climb down. No one discouraged us or even hinted that it may not be a great idea. And we did not realize the audacity (or even stupidity) of this move. We neither carried water nor had any company. As we continued to climb down, the path was narrowing and in places was steep and slippery. We couldn’t turn back and had no choice but to carry on the descent carefully. We were neither afraid nor tired so we kept going. Throughout this adventure we saw two or three couples who were either climbing up or down which gave our move a legitimacy.

Glacier Point, 4 mile trail

At one point we got very thirsty but saw really clean spring water running down the mountain side from which we drank. By the time we got to the valley, it was almost 7 pm. It took us six hours to come down that mountain. Jaffer went to the hotel and went to bed straight away. But I showered, and went down to the valley to get some dinner in a nice restaurant. I had a really good meal, came back and went to bed.

Looking back now, it seems really amazing that we were able to do something which sounds almost impossible or even suicidal. In any case, it was an adventure well worth recording for posterity, at least, with a hope that our children and grandchildren will someday read and learn about our escapades.