We headed to Yosemite not knowing what was in store. It was Mother’s Day weekend, we were arriving
on Saturday and the park is notoriously busy without those factors! So we drove as close to the entrance as
possible before stopping for the night in an Elks Lodge parking lot – does the
variety never end?! A night with an
unusual power connection (we live on solar usually) meant charging everything
in sight from computers to razors to cameras and the toothbrush and we had a
special treat of a movie ‘night.
Yosemite was again another breathtaking experience. We entered the park from the windy and steep
south entrance working our way to the spectacular Yosemite Valley. The first stop was famous Bridalveil Falls
where we realized how gorgeous but crowded the park was. Squeezing our 30 foot home in a not quite
made for it space, we managed to catch a peak at the falls before getting back
into the stream of cars.
We didn’t have a campsite and headed to the office to get on
the wait list - #35! The lottery happens
at exactly 3pm when you gather as they call off names on the list matching to
campsites left unclaimed for the day. Realizing
our chances were slim, we jumped right into exploring all we could in the 8
hours we had before needing to be on the road and over the mountains before
dark.
With the shuttle buses filled to capacity, we headed out on
foot. Wandering in the midst of lush
green meadows, towering granite cliffs and spectacular waterfalls we worked our
way around the valley floor. Stopping at
the visitor center to watch the parks movie we learned that water was the most
valuable visual asset of the park.
Being spring after a huge snowpack from the winter, the
water this year was plentiful. The named
falls were particularly awesome but it seemed that water was flowing over every
rock and down every crevice in sight. We
climbed the trail to the beautiful lower Yosemite Falls with the massive upper
falls sending torrents of water just above.
The rivers below were engorged
and the surrounding area covered in rich fresh green vegetation. 
Having easily wandered away our first 5 hours, we headed
back to check on our campsite fortune.
The tension was building as each person walked up to the gathering
place. Some names were on the list from
4 in the morning - #1-20, to be exact.
The rest of the 40 names in waiting were just as anxious. “#1, Smith”.
Congrats, here’s your site! #2 …
no show, #3…no show – and on. As the
list progressed, applause started to break out as no shows were called and the
excitement built. Turns out that everyone that showed up filled
exactly the number of sites available! SCORE!!!
We moved Moonshadow to her home for the night feeling
incredibly fortunate and excited. Of
course we instantly started making Holy City friends. Our campsite host, Dale, and his wife along
with just arriving Dees and Jen, full timer RVers, joined us for a celebratory
beer before we finished the day with yet another hike to Mirror Lake with water
like glass and abounding birds and wildlife.
The next morn Dees and Jen joined us for our final hike to
Vernal Falls on the Mist Trail. Mist,
nothing! We hiked up the gorgeous canyon
along yet another raging river up 1000 feet
until the mist was so thick it was
more like a shower! Another gorgeous
sight. Water cascading over massive
granite cliffs and crashing on rocks below.
Rainbows appearing and disappearing each moment. An amazing finale to another amazing park.
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