Breathtaking!

We hear it used regarding everything from the latest movie to new cars, but driving through the Yosemite valley for the first time gives meaning to the word 'breathtaking'! Three days ago I had the joy of seeing this amazing valley for the first time, and even with significant portions of the park closed for the winter it more than lived up to its billing.



The park stands in stark contrast to the central valley of California, which I traversed to get there. I had been in Palo Alto Monday through Wednesday for business meetings, and after having dinner there with a colleague I drove across the valley to Merced, CA, Wednesday evening. It was a misty and moonless night, so I couldn't see much along the road, though I did get the umistakeable smell of manure wafted my way every so often. The central valley in Califormia is one of the most intensively farmed regions in the world, so I guess I should have expected that. I arrived at Merced for the night a bit after 10 pm and clicked on PBS while unpacking in the Hampton Inn, and sure enough the National Parks documentary was on and the episode about the founding of Yosemite was playing! It was the perfect way to start my visit.




I got underway at about 7 am the next morning for the 1.5 hour drive to the park, and now I could see some of the valley. At first it was mile after mile of orchards on a landscape so flat that it makes the corn fields of central Ohio seem hilly. I would have to describe this valley as the Appalachia of the west, except without the hills and with better productivity from the farms. There are many places I would never want to live, and this is one of them. Farms and food processing plants are the dominant industries, and from the looks of the housing it appears to be home to many of the region's poor.




After about 40 minutes the flatlands slowly gave way to rocky, rolling hills with scrubby trees and cattle grazing. This was more scenic but the land looked very poor. It was getting cloudy as rain and snow were expected that evening, so the mountains were not yet in view, but the road was climbing slowly uphill. Around the town of Mariposa, about an hour into the drive some tall Ponderosa pine trees began to appear and you could start to see some peaks in the distance. The last 30 minutes or so was along the Merced river bank and the terrain grew ever more rough, but still no snow. I arrived at the park entrance by 8:30 am and there was still no snow, the entrance being at about 3000 feet elevation. You could start to see snow on the distant peaks, though.




After entering the park, things changed dramatically. Within a couple of miles I was into snow covered country. The entire Yosemite valley is only about 7 miles long, but driving through it the first time took me about 2 hours. There was no traffic at all. I just had to stop every couple hundred yards to take pictures, walk to a water fall, or just stop and stare. You can almost hear yourself gasp as you go around each corner and your eye lands on yet another breathtaking view. There are a variety of vistas of Bridalview Falls, Yosemite Falls, El Capitan, and Half Dome as you move around in the valley. At about noon I headed up towards the Tioga Road to see the Tuolumne grove of giant sequoias. That road gave still more great views from above the valley. The hike to and from the grove, a bit over 2 miles roundtrip over a snow-packed trail, offered the quiet of a forest trail while the massive trees gave yet another perspective of how unique this place is.



The contrast to the central valley is so stark that it is almost overwhelming. In that way it is like the Grand Canyon and the Tetons/Yellowstone in that the views are so dramatic and in such contrast to some of the nearby flatlands that all 3 of them take your breath away. Just as my reaction to the central valley was that this was a place I would never want to live, these places make you never want to leave. They are very different from each other but they are all awe inspiring.



There are a lot of places I have been and a lot more that I would like to see, though for most of them I would not do everything I possibly could do to get there. Yosemite had been on my list of 'must see' places for quite some time, and it was a joy to finally get there. I hope to return to see some of the areas that were closed for winter, like Glacier Point and the Mariposa Grove of sequoias. It is one of only 3 places for which I think every American should do all that they can do to visit at some time during their life: Yosemite, the Grand Tetons/Yellowstone, and the Grand Canyon are unlike anywhere else in the world.