Monday, May 1-Thursday, May 4                                                                                             Hodgon Campground

Yosemite is a really large park; our campground was in the southernmost area but we drove around quite a bit to get to the main village and see Yosemite Valley.

We liked the camp; we had our own Sequoia stump to split wood on and a personal Stellar’s Jay.  Yosemite has a lot of black bears and the rules are very stringent; everything has to be stored in a bear box at the campsite; nothing left in the car.

This park is home to groves of giant Sequoias.  We took a nice hike through a grove of these beauties; so majestic and wise.  (Can trees be wise?  I think so.)

Our main goal here was to hike Yosemite Falls. These falls (there are three of them, although they seem to merge into one), are the highest in North America.  We visited Yosemite at the time of year when snow melt causes the falls to be at their most dramatic.

The hike is about 7.5 miles round trip. Much of the trail is rock, there are many places where water runs across your path, and there is a 2700 ft gain in elevation.

It was pretty exciting to approach the falls, hear the thunderous roar, and feel the spray as the water pounded down.

There were great views of Half Dome, one of the most famous features of Yosemite.

We were pretty tired when we reached the top, but were happy to be up there, and figured the way back would be easier, since it was all down hill.  It turned out that coming down on tired legs over slick, wet, rocks was just as difficult as going up.  We made it, though! Definitely our most adventurous hike so far.

There was another conquest, too.  Andy bought some mousetraps and caught four mice who were residing somewhere in the car; we never could figure out exactly where.  Sorry guys, but we don’t want you chewing important wires and stuff under the hood, not to mention nibbling on every snack we leave in the passenger compartment.