"Sit by the Merced River and Cry”

The Trip – Day 13

Yosemite Valley

86 miles

When Carl Sharsmith, a longtime Yosemite National Park ranger, was asked by a park visitor what he would do if he only had one day in Yosemite, Carl replied, “I’d go sit by the Merced River and cry!” By the end of our day at Yosemite, we too, were ready to sit by the river and cry. We spent the day in Yosemite Valley, which makes up one percent of the nearly 1,200 square miles of the Yosemite National Park. And we didn't come close to seeing everything we wanted to...

Close up of Half Dome

El Capitan

 Yosemite could have been my favorite park on this trip. Could have been... It had green trees – ponderosa pines, firs, cedars, sequoias, oaks - numerous waterfalls, a valley full of gray rock formations that rivaled Zion's red majesty, all with the beautiful clear and rocky Merced River running through it. It also was our hottest hiking day so far – temperatures in the nineties – and it also was our most crowded park so far. We had driven the twisty scenic 40 odd miles from our hotel in Mariposa and got to the valley before the crowds. As was our so-far successful strategy, we got there early enough to park our car in one of the lots and headed for the shuttle buses. These proved to be crowded and somewhat random in their schedule. Though supposed to come every 30 minutes, sometimes they came early and then wouldn't come again for another hour. We were left stranded several times - stranded in amazingly beautiful places, but stranded nonetheless. The shuttle map given to us when we entered the park that morning proved to be a bit confusing, and when I showed it to one of the shuttle bus drivers to determine where we could go next, she told me to throw the map away, that it was useless, and she then showed me where we were on a second map I had gotten online weeks before.

Despite the wasted time, the crowds and the heat, we did get to see some amazingly beautiful sights. The hike to view upper and lower Yosemite Falls was easy and spectacular. The hike to the midway viewing area of the Vernal Fall was a constant gradual incline on a rocky trail along the Merced River. The trail was hot and crowded, but the views were lovely and many additional small falls were visible along the way. We stopped at the Happy Isles on the way back, a series of small islands in the river with cool, shady trees and places one could safely wade in the slow streams off the otherwise raging Merced. We were then off to eat our backpack lunch in a picnic area under the iconic granite cliff of El Capitan. This was the first park we had been in that had serious warnings about not leaving food more than an arm's length away from you to avoid attracting bears. There were also metal lockers for campers and backpackers to store their food supplies in. Despite the stern warnings, we did not see any bears. This was one of the places we were stranded, but when the shuttle finally came, we went on to another viewing area, this one with a ranger and two telescopes focused on rock climbers scaling the face of El Capitan. Again, my husband's paparazzi lens came in handy, and we were able to get detailed photos of the climbers. Next stop was a hike to Bridalveil Fall, another eye-popping sight. This fall was catching the wind as it fell, the ever-changing pattern of water and mist looking truly like a lacy fabric. The water in mid June, for all the falls, was still sufficient to make for great viewing, even from a distance.

The raging Merced River...

...and the quiet Merced River...

Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls

Bridalveil Fall

The cool, quiet waters of the Happy Isles

Climber on El Capitan

It was late in the day so we returned to our car, hoping to catch one or two more viewing areas on the way out of the park. Hundreds of other park goers had the same idea, and we found ourselves in ranger-directed bumper to bumper traffic most of the way out of the park. We never did get to the viewing areas we had hoped to see, and I was seriously tempted to stop and sit by the Merced River and cry. Instead, we traveled the twisty scenic road back to Mariposa and drowned our sorrows in the unlimited soft drinks and great food of the Happy Burger Diner one last time... 

 

It is by far the grandest of all the special temples of Nature I was ever permitted to enter. - John Muir, upon seeing Yosemite for the first time in 1868

Next:

Salt and Light

The Trip – Day 14

Mariposa, California – Fernley, Nevada

313 miles

and

The Trip – Day 15

Fernley, Nevada – Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Flats

479 miles