Short video of my first glimpse of Yosemite National Park at Tunnel View
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After leaving San Diego, I made the trek north up the Pacific Coast Highway, then turned northeast at Oxnard, California and cut across the state with a pitstop in Tulare to sleep. The following morning, I made the final 2 hour drive and entered the Sierra Nevada mountains…bound for Yosemite National Park.
For a first-time visitor to Yosemite, the best way I can describe it is as such: you’ve likely seen pictures and videos of many sights and locations in Yosemite. They are your bag of puzzle pieces. Until you visit, you have an idea of Yosemite. Visiting the park, you can now assemble the puzzle, fitting locations and sections together until you have a full picture.
I never knew the most famous picture we always see of Yosemite came from the side of a parking lot at the end of a tunnel. I never knew El Cap was almost smack dab on the side of the road. I never knew Yosemite Falls had separate upper and lower portions. I never knew Half Dome wasn’t accessible from the main village. Nor did I know there were entire camping resorts inside the valley, or a former baseball field for kids who grew up in the park.
And so much more.
All these pieces began fitting together for me as I drove down the mountain road, passed through the tunnel, and entered the loop that is Yosemite’s main road, then parking in the main village – a solid 3/4 mile stretch of restaurants, a grocery store, museums, a post office, and residential lodging for park staff.
Yosemite is different from many other national parks. It truly has a culture; it is a town in its own right, a lifestyle of fabled landscapes and adventurers seeking thrills and backcountry escapes to solitude.
Unfortunately, my time in Yosemite was cut short by the Garnet Fire to the south, in King’s Canyon, burning 56,000 acres (at the time of my writing this). When I arrived for a 7-mile hike on my second day, the entire valley was smoked out so thick you could barely see El Cap from Tunnel View. Just driving down into the valley, I got a small headache, and knew that hiking 3,000 feet up in the smoke would be both unhealthy and pointless: I wouldn’t see anything from the top of Yosemite Falls even if I managed not to asphyxiate on the way up. *sigh* So I made a decision, did some light grocery shopping, and left the park to return another day.
Now that I’m more familiar with Yosemite and have pieced together the puzzle of famous locations, I can plan a more thorough experience on the next visit, and perhaps not go during the height of wildfire season.
Have you ever been to Yosemite? Do you have any tips, favorite hikes, or experiences you’ve had? Leave a comment below!
This world is beautiful.
Alex
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