The ranger ended his talk right by the start of the hike to Lower Yosemite Falls. It was late afternoon by then, but since we were right there, we decided to go.
The trail is not too long and quite accessible.
Lower Yosemite Falls
Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls together!
This little bonsai-type tree growing off the side of a huge rock was funny.
After our hike we watched the last showing of the Yosemite movie at the visitor center.
Posing with John Muir.
D graciously volunteered to run to the car and picked us up. While we waited I snapped some pics.
Loved this stand of trees with one big tree surrounded by smaller ones.
Next we took a short hike to Bridal Veil Falls, which I believe is .5 miles round trip. We first ate lunch in the car since we did not see any picnic facilities.
Being that it was October, the flow was pretty low, but I was grateful that there was at least some water left.
View of Bridal Veil Falls from the parking lot.
Our next stop was the Visitors Center…only problem was that the parking lot was under construction, so we had to park in a makeshift lot pretty far away.
We had our first view of Upper Yosemite Falls on our way to the Visitors Center.
We were just in time for a ranger talk/walk, so we joined in. This picture is kind of funny because everyone is actually looking at an airplane that flew overhead, not nature. Our ranger shared his passion for microfauna.
I couldn’t help it!
This guy was just hanging out nearby.
We learned from the ranger that we were actually really fortunate to see Yosemite Falls like this, as it had been dry since July! There was a rainstorm just the weekend before our arrival (which I had been nervously tracking, since we were camping), which turned the falls back “on”.
The kids had last Friday off for a staff development day. Back in June I fortuitously checked the camping reservation site on the very day that reservations opened up for October and was able to snag a site in the Upper Pines campground. Checking the weather leading up to our trip I was nervous that there would be snow and that the roads would be closed. Luckily, the weather cooperated and it was a beautiful weekend!
As I mentioned before, D is into taking pictures with his iPhone now, so our blog has a second shooter! He wanted to take a picture of the freeway signs to tell the whole story.
We passed by the city of McFarland, which was made famous in that movie, McFarland, USA.
Our ride for the weekend was a CX-9 that D was able to borrow from work. With the amount of stuff needed to camp in cold weather, I would say this was a necessity.
It was so nice to open the moon roof and let some fresh mountain air in.
There was a backup of cars once we hit the entrance gate. It took us about five hours from our house to the entrance, and then another hour from the entrance to our campsite near Yosemite Village.
Since k is in fourth grade, we were able to obtain a year pass through the Every Kid In A Park program, saving us the $30 entrance fee–score!
We made a quick stop for the bathroom at the Pioneer Yosemite History Center and stretched our legs a bit.
We followed this bus into the Wawona Tunnel.
n was sleeping by this point, so I tried to wake him up so he could experience it. However, we also went through it the next day and on our way out of the park so he did not miss out.
As soon as we went through the tunnel, there is a parking lot, so we pulled over for the photo opp.
We also broke out the selfie stick for a family shot.
I wonder how long this revegetation project has been going on?
Sea kayaking in the caves seems like it would be really fun, but I think the kids are a bit too young. Plus, there are no rentals on the Islands. You need to arrange to have kayaks brought on the boat from the mainland and it is not cheap.
Our boat was already waiting for us, but we still had some time. I was able to change our departure time to 4:00 from 5:00 even though it was already when I made online reservations.
k found her initials on a rock.
To finish our day, we did some exploring near the water.
The water was so clear!
They waded in, and n’s slipper was swept away by the current!
Luckily, this nice gentleman was nearby and was able to rescue it!
The facilities on the island are pretty bare bones, as expected. The visitor center is more of a kiosk. There are only pit toilets.
There was a docent who led a guided tour with our group that just landed. We started out with him, but we soon departed for our own self-guided tour.
He had a lot of knowledge about the plants on the island.
These cherries looked good, but they tasted awful.
We found a cozy table near the campsite to eat our Subway sandwich lunch.
D experimented with this head scarf thing that I won. This is the “bandit” look.
This is the “headband” look.
We were fortunate to have several spottings of the island fox near the campsite. n wants me to mention that this fox is endemic to the island, so there is a fun factoid.
After lunch we started on the Cavern Point Hike loop. A good tip is to go past the campsite and go clockwise to avoid a really steep climb.
Our load was somewhat lighter after we ate our lunch, but we still had to carry more than usual.
When we reached the top of our hike, we went to the left a little for a glimpse of Potato Harbor.
The cliffs are quite dramatic.
I need to remember to clear our junk for pictures!
We had reservations with Island Packers to leave from Ventura Harbor at 9 a.m. The plan was to buy breakfast and some Subway beforehand. I had thought that the dock was about 20 minutes away, so I had a mild panic attack when the GPS said it would take us an hour! Fortunately, it was just a glitch, so we were able to arrive on time (i.e., early).
There was a large group of students from Pomona College that had a bunch of camping gear, so they loaded first. Our plan was to just stay for the day since we were not up for a hike-in camping experience.
Having had some boat experience, we grabbed an inside table first thing. Once the boat started, we were free to roam the cabin and surrounding deck. I am prone to motion sickness, so I prepared myself by taking Dramamine beforehand. I also had an arsenal of mango ginger candy from Trader Joe’s and ginger ale. Almost as soon as the boat started, it was a REALLY bumpy ride. The waves were incredibly choppy, so I headed towards the back of the boat and kept my eyes on the horizon. Meanwhile, the kids were thrilled and headed to the front with D so they could fully experience the impact of each wave. I think it is safe to say that our kids do not get seasick!
The captain called everyone’s attention to a school of dolphins that were nearby.
There were so many of them and we were told that they like to “play” in the wake of the boat. So cute!
Because they are so fast, it was difficult to get good shots of them. D took a video which captures more of their movement.
Yes, we had some Chinese tourists with us. Yes, we can laugh at their accent/comments, but only because D is also Chinese! haha.
Our destination was Santa Cruz Island, Scorpion Ranch. Because a recent storm damaged the landing pier, we had to unload by skiff. I was a little apprehensive about this after watching the video on the Island Packers website, but it turned out to be quite easy. We wore flip flops on the boat and skiff and brought socks and running shoes for the island.
This where the boat usually lets the passengers off.
On the skiff…
It was about a 1 hour, 15 minute boat ride (with dolphin watching stop), and then another 20 minutes to unload by skiff. I was relieved to finally be on land!
Our last stop in the Redwoods was Lady Bird Johnson Grove. We borrowed a pamphlet and read about the various markers.
We were coming to the end of the hike when I commented that we had not seen much wildlife. Not a minute later, a family we had passed noticed a salamander and pointed it out to us. We would have walked right past it otherwise.
That afternoon we had a lengthy drive to Redding. Our route basically followed the Shasta River, which is quite pretty. There were a lot of purplish trees that perfectly matched my shirt (as seen on the left of this picture). We passed through impossibly small towns which prompted D and I to imagine what it would be like to live there. Conclusion: we couldn’t!
I love how the mountains appear to just sit on the water.
We saw this book in all of the visitor centers, and the kids laughed every time!
Our first stop in Grand Tetons was Colter Bay Village. We walked part of the Lakeshore Trail.
Rock-throwing ensued.
I really wish we had stopped the car to get a better shot from this vantage point!
Next, we took a boat shuttle from the Jenny Lake Visitor Center. It only took about ten minutes.
After we disembarked from the boat, we hiked to Inspiration Point. This was a real hike, as opposed to the strolls along the boardwalks of Yellowstone. The incline up the mountain was pretty constant, and quite challenging!
We made it!!
Amazingly, n did not complain and claimed that he was not tired. k claimed she had about “10% battery life left”, but she did well overall too. I probably complained the most!
We bought a round trip boat ticket. It was refreshing when the driver maneuvered the boat so that we were sprayed with water from the lake after our hot hike.
For our last night in Yellowstone, we stayed at the Grant Village campground. When we checked in, the ranger told us there was a bear in the campground, but thankfully, we never encountered it.
After setting up camp, we went to the Visitors Center. We listened to talk about bear safety.
There was a small audience, so D ended up having to volunteer to play the bear.
For dinner, we ate at the Lakehouse restaurant. Let’s just say that the food here is a travesty.
The view was nice, though.
We tried the grill, and ended up with these pale, undercooked fries. Xanterra, you need to step up your game!
Still unsatisfied, we ended up buying huckleberry yogurt and apple slices at the general store and eating some more of our stash of cup o’noodles. I was excited to see that there were actual huckleberries listed as one of the ingredients this time!
West Thumb is known as moose territory, so we were keeping our fingers crossed for a sighting. We didn’t come across any, but we did see numerous elk.
Again, such gorgeous scenery!
Yay—a picture with all four of us! We saw tons of people with selfie sticks. D received one at work just a week after we returned from our vacation. It would have come in handy, although I would have felt really silly.
The guidebooks I read did not really seem to hype up the West Thumb area, so my expectations were not too high. However, it definitely ended up being one of the highlights!
