Alex's Baseball Across America: Yosemite National Park

If you can't see the pictures below, CLICK HERE.

Y O S E M I T E

N A T I O N A L P A R K

Yosemite. My parents drug us all around the U.S. as kids, but we never made it to Yosemite. It’s huge. It’s crowded. It can overwhelm the senses. It’s worth the trip! Our National Parks are clearly known around the world. Half or more of the people here were from foreign countries it seemed. There’s a ton of driving to do here and even more trails. The big trail is Half Dome. 16+ miles and 4,800 feet of elevation gain. There’s El Capitan, you have the option hike to the top or climb to the top. Yosemite Falls. Tuolumne Meadows. Mariposa Groves. Hetch Hetchy. You could live here for a month and not see it all. Despite being here at the busy time of year, it’s was all easily doable. GET THERE EARLY. People sleep in and then drive in. Show up before 8 and you can park anywhere and see anything. One of the best things to do in the Valley is to just park your car and take the shuttle around and mix in some hiking.

Y O S E M I T E N A T I O N A L P A R K

C A L I F O R N I A

Getting close to the top of Vernal Fall.

This was the first picture I took. Upper Yosemite Falls from the Valley floor.

There was a lot of snow this past year and, thus, a lot of snowmelt. It was running a little better than usual for this late in the year, but you can see what it was doing before...see the black just outside the water flow.

Lower Yosemite Falls. The Upper runs into the Lower. The Lower is an easy hike. The upper is a strenuous 4+ mile extravaganza...essentially straight up.

My first view of Half Dome. I took this on the way out my first night. I had gotten to the park around 6pm and just ran through to get my bearings. I knew I was suppose to go to the top of this in just a couple days. I stopped here because there were 3 people sitting in chairs with cameras on tripods, and I wanted to know why the heck they were there. “We have no idea.” Turns out, they were retired, from Virginia, had no agenda, and were told that Half Dome puts off a pinkish color around sunset. I gave them my number and told them to text me if it was worth hanging out for...they did text me but I never could get an answer on if it turned pick or if it was worth it...

Bridalveil Falls.

The second day I got there early, got my wilderness permits, setup camp in the backpackers campground, and just went walking. This was from a valley floor trail.

You can see Half Dome from just about anywhere in the Valley.

The Merced River. It’s EVERYWHERE.

El Capitan. Better pictures of this later. Apparently, there were a couple of dudes climbing it. NUTS!

“Talk with a climber.” They had telescopes out so you could look at the climbers up there. The guy in the middle stated he had climbed it multiple times. NUTS!

The sign at Happy Isles. This is where my hike to Half Dome begun. It’s not really the beginning, though. You have to hike about a mile just to get here. I was headed for Little Yosemite Valley Campground for the night.

Starting to gain elevation. You can see Upper Yosemite Falls in the background.

The raging Merced River at Happy Isles.

I went up via the Mist Trail. It’s not called the Mist Trail for nothing. You get soaked! But, it feels good. It’s a walk straight up Vernal Fall, and then straight up Nevada Fall. I went up pretty strong, though, even passing people who weren’t hauling packs.

At least I thought I was close...only 700 more steps to go!

The river...now way down below.

The top of Vernal Fall. Pack off and a break here. The Mist Trail had been closed the day prior because 3 people went over. I didn’t hear the story, but they had to have been swimming where they weren’t suppose to.

Headed up Nevada Fall. You can see the steps in the foreground. I made it up, making for an elevation gain of about 2000 feet for the day. Not many pictures after this because I was whipped.

My setup in Little Yosemite Valley. I had junk strung out everywhere. I napped for a couple hours that afternoon, had an early dinner, and was asleep shortly after sundown.

Up early the next morning...that’s my goal. The hump to the right is considered the subdome. You go up that just before you get to the base of the cables.

The final push.

Me.

One of the views en route.

The base of the cables. Gloves on. Hands sweating. Don’t look down.

View from the top. My pictures do no justice.

The hangover where people will go and pose for a shot. I didn’t feel stable enough to go there.

A pile of used gloves sits at the base.

Me at the base after coming down.

I thought this was my money shot. “Half Moon, Half Dome”

A Jeffery Pine on the subdome. Half-moon in the background.

View of Nevada Fall and Liberty Cap from the John Muir Trail, the longer but easier return from Half Dome.

I slept in the next day and lazily made the trip to Tuolumne Meadows. It’s north of the Valley and about 8000+ feet...the Valley is around 4000. Nice and cool and good views.

Tuolumne Meadows.

Tuolumne River. San Francisco depends on this watershed for its livelihood.

The Tuolumne River is dammed at Hetch Hetchy. After the earthquake of 1906 and subsequent fire, San Francisco went looking for a water source. They wanted this dam to be created. John Muir spent years fighting it, but eventually San Francisco got its way.

One can only imagine what Hetch Hetchy Valley would look like.

The valley downstream from Hetch Hetchy.

Hetch Hetchy.

The next day I headed for Glacier Point. It’s to the south of the Valley and really offers the best views of the Valley.

Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls from Glacier Point.

North Dome and Basket Dome. I can’t remember which is which.

This shot really puts the height of Half Dome in perspective. It is just over 4800 feet from the Valley floor. You can see Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall to the right, the falls you climb en route to Half Dome.

From Glacier Point, I took the 1-1/2 mile hike up Sentinel Dome. I solely went to see the Jeffery Pine Ansel Adams frequently photographed, but the views up there were really good. The mood was spoilt a little bit because some lady was balling the whole half hour I was up there. I’m not sure if she was tired, sad, or just emotional about being there. I had no tissue to offer, nor did I have ear plugs.

This is what is left of The Jeffery Pine. It fell some years ago. No one else seemed to notice it while I was there.

El Capitan from Sentinel Dome.

You should know this by now.

I think I actually took this when I went back to Glacier Point. Again, you can see Half Dome along with Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall.

The are 3 groves of Giant Sequoias in Yosemite. I made the drive out to the largest, Mariposa Grove in the southern part of the park.

John Muir actually planted one at his home in Martinez. It still stands today.

The Grizzly Giant. You can see how burned it is at the base.

For years fires were heavily regulated. If one popped up, they put it out. After awhile, they realized Sequoias need fire to survived. You can really see when you walk through how they screwed it up, but they are trying to fix it.