Breakfast cereal eaten we grabbed our jackets and camera and set off. It took about 30 mins to drive there. We stopped once at a viewing point along the way where we could see both Vernals and Nevada falls. The view from Glacier Point down into Yosemite Valley was gorgeous. There was some low clouds lingering around the mountains. Half Dome looked quite close here, more so than I had expected. We wandered around the viewing areas and took lots more photos before heading back to the car.
We parked in the car park and looking at the sky decided we had better put our jackets on. To get to the grove you have to take the park bus from the visitor centre, a couple of miles further up the road. Keith's phone alarned while we were on the bus, he had received a "presidential test alert" along with lots of others on the bus!
Once off the bus we took the Grizzly Giant Loop Trail, approx 2 miles. This took us past the more famous trees here, the Grizzly, California Tunnel Tree, and Bachelor and the Three Graces. They are all very impressive and it was definitely worth the drive down here. Unfortunately the weather wasn't on our side a we had a couple of heavy showers and a thunderstorm! We managed to shelter from the worst of it but we did get a bit damp! Keith's phone then alarmed with an emergency alert of flash flooding in the area til 4.15! Not quite the weather we had been hoping for at Yosemite!
We took the bus back to the car, then the car back to the cabin to get some lunch. I think our busy couple of weeks is catching up with us! Feeling pretty shattered we decided to stay put for a while and rest, the weather was still damp and grey so probably not the best for sightseeing.
Just after 4 we decided to go down to the valley floor, we had looked at a map for our planned walks tomorrow and thought we'd go for a drive to locate the trail heads. We hadn't gone far when the rain returned, and only a mile or two before low cloud made visibity very difficult for a while. Not great on a twisty mountain road. Keith's phone then had an updated alert for the flash floods extended to later in the day. It didn't stop us!
We drove round the valley marvelling at the sheer granite cliffs. Very imposing. We stopped and walked over a bridge on the Merced river for a while and just got back to the car before another rain shower started. As we headed past Yosemite village we saw a group of people and cars stopped, there was a herd of deer grazing on a grass verge. We parked up and walked back to see them. We've seen deer, squirrels and chipmunks now I just needed to see bears!
Time to head back for dinner, we finished the drive round the valley floor and set off up the Wawona road. The rain had eased and driving conditions were better when we suddenly came across a queue of cars. Confused for a while, we assumed someone had had an accident, but no, a momma bear and two cubs were sitting in trees next to the road and everyone was out of their cars taking photos!
Back "home" again and dinner tonight was chicken fajitas in "street food" mini tortillas. Delicious.
Keith settled down to some baseball but I don't expect he'll be awake long!
It's been a bit wet but we are thrilled with what we've managed to do today, Yosemite is a beautiful place.
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