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Yosemite
What with Emma coming to visit from the UK, the end of February was more of a chance to see bits of California than I’ve had so far, if only because there was someone else to share it with.
The weekend that she landed we took it fairly easy, wandering out to the coast for a couple of days (including a visit to the lovely town of Monterey). Mid-week, I had to work (one of the downsides of life stateside: holiday entitlements are somewhat limited), and then I had Thursday and Friday off, giving us 4 days before she flew out again.
We decided to visit Yosemite National Park pretty much on a whim, and it was one of the best decisions I’ve made since I got here.
Whatever limited things I can say here, I doubt I can do the place justice - the photos are always going to do a better job.
So instead, here are a few random disconnected notes on the place.
Yosemite off-season
Completely by chance, we picked one of the best weeks of the year to visit the park. It was in higher season than usual (because it was a school holiday in many places, and “Presidents’ Week” to boot), but practically a ghost-town compared to the summer.
I’ve heard nothing but horror stories of trips to Yosemite in high season - every road clogged, every resort overful, every beauty spot that doesn’t involve a mile-plus hike overflowing. I can well believe it - Yosemite is a place worth seeing, and half the park is shut in Winter due to snowfall. But there’s that constant paradox - at the time when you can see most, it’s mostly obscured by the sheer weight of fellow visitors.
There are trade-offs. It’s hard to reach Yosemite Falls close-up in winter, as most trails are shut. And even those places worth seeing, like the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias involve more graft. In summer, you can drive 2 miles right up to the grove, and there are tram tours around the most famous trees.
For us, visiting the grove involved a 6-mile round-trip hike, mostly through quite challenging snow. Somehow, though, this made it all the more worth it. The place was practically deserted (we saw maybe 10 people all day), and the trees were as magnificent as they’d be in Summer.
I’d love to go back around May, before full-on high season, but at a time when the Tioga Road is re-opened. I have a feeling that the only way to enjoy it, though, would be to get hold of a Wilderness Pass and hike *well* away from the roads, and the tourists taking pictures of beauty spots through their car windows.
This is something I’ve seen quite a bit of, both down towards the coast and at Yosemite, and it puzzles me immensely. I understand the attraction of drive-thru restaurants and drive-thru banks. You’re starting to lose me at drive-thru weddings, but beyond that, a drive-thru *beauty spot*? Only in America…
The twilight zone of the resorts
The resort zone in Yosemite Valley is a strange, strange place. Most of the resort (Camp Curry, Yosemite Lodge and Yosemite Village) appears to have been redeveloped sometime in the 60s or 70s, and it has that strange, slightly worn wood-heavy (but concrete-based) architecture which I associate with childhood holidays at Center Parcs holiday villages.
Yosemite Lodge, in particular, seemed to be a bit of a sprawl, somewhat at odds with the beautiful surroundings.
The Ahwahnee Hotel was built in the 20s, and is very much Yosemite’s upscale resort hotel - big prices.
We chose Camp Curry, mainly cos it was cheap, but also because staying in a cabin rather than a plush hotel room seemed… more in keeping with the place.
Something weird about the accommodations was the different demographics you saw in different places. From conversations overheard and behaviour observed, I drew the following map of a typical repeat visitor’s lifecycle at Yosemite…
- School trip (a co-worker revealed afterwards that she used to go on “science camp” here) - staying at Camp Curry
- Visiting as a young couple - Camp Curry again
- Taking your kids skiing at Badger Pass - staying at Yosemite Lodge
- Visiting once the kids have flown the nest - upgrade to the Ahwahnee
I missed the school trip part. Given the chaos in the buffet restaurant when we visited Yosemite Lodge, I pray that I never progress to stage 3.
Big trees and bigger hills
Yosemite is one of the most breathtaking places I’ve ever been, and as already said, I’m not sure that words can truly do it justice. This is a place that you need to see first hand, in order to appreciate it’s beauty.
But perhaps, as noted above, take advantage of it in the off-season.
Distorted History
Perhaps the only sad note regarding Yosemite is the weird sense of just how young and troubled America’s history is.
Standing and looking at the breathtaking views from Tunnel View, nearby plaques remind you that this was the first view white settlers ever got of Yosemite Valley. Specifically, those settlers were a batallion of soldiers formed to hunt down and forcibly relocate native Indians to Fresno. Somehow, the sadness of this was driven home further by the names which still remain, particularly of the Wawona and Ahwahnee resort hotels, preserving old Indian words long after the culture which created them was forced out of its home.
And of course, the fact that the park’s founder John Muir only won his fight to have Yosemite declared a National Park (and, indeed, only died) 91 years ago also give some sense of just how young America really is.
But perhaps the most important part is that, whatever the lingering sadness of its early past, and the pressures that it suffers from nearly 3 million annual visitors, Yosemite has, so far, been preserved in nearly all of its original beauty. That, I guess, is something to be both glad for and proud of.
I’d urge anyone with half a chance to spend at least a few days in Yosemite. As long as they’re prepared to heed one of the park’s oft-repeated messages, the old hikers’ adage “Take only photographs, leave only footprints.”
