Last Day at Yosemite National Park – Tioga Road Pleasures (National Parks Trip #3)

This post represents another installment in the series documenting our West Coast National Parks trip in the summer of 2017.  Alan and I, along with our 18 year old daughter, Kyra, logged a total of 8,513 memorable miles of adventure over the course of five and a half weeks during the months of July and August.

Day #16 of our West Coast National Parks trip marked our third and final day in Yosemite.  It was definitely a whirlwind visit, but we did manage to squeeze quite a bit of sightseeing into those three days.  I have no doubt that we could easily while away at least two weeks in this magnificent Park.  Ah, if only we had the time.  The weather gods had granted us yet another blue sky day, and we wasted no time in heading out to explore the northern section of the Park.

Yosemite National Park - The Advenure Continues (National Parks Trip #3)

This post represents another installment in the series documenting our West Coast National Parks trip in the summer of 2017.  Alan and I, along with our 18 year old daughter, Kyra, logged a total of 8,513 memorable miles of adventure over the course of five and a half weeks during the months of July and August.

The three of us rolled out of bed early on Day #15 of our five week expedition, determined to fit as much sightseeing as possible into our day.  This would be our last visit to Yosemite Valley; the following day, we’d be exploring Tuolumne Meadow and the Tioga Pass area of the Park.  The first stop of the day was planned with “crowd avoidance” in mind.  We wanted an opportunity for a clear shot at one of Yosemite’s most iconic images, and we knew that the earlier we arrived the better our chances would be.  If you read my last post, and spent some time considering what this location might be, you’re about to find out whether or not you guessed correctly.

Yosemite National Park - So Worth the Effort! (National Parks Trip #3)

Early in March, Alan and I enjoyed our first snowbird adventure when we spent time in Florida, Georgia and Virginia.  Now that I’ve completed documenting that expedition, I’m returning to our West Coast National Parks trip in the summer of 2017.  On that trip, Alan and I, along with our 18 year old daughter, Kyra, logged a total of 8,513 memorable miles of adventure over the course of five and a half weeks during the months of July and August.

Yosemite National Park is a tough ticket to get.  Camping reservations within the Park are extraordinarily difficult to come by, crowds are extraordinarily easy to run into, and Mother Nature always feels free to throw one of her famous curve balls, making a ticket that’s tough to get even tougher to hold onto.  About a week before I began drafting this post, Yosemite Valley was closed to visitors for a number of days.  The record snowpack in the Sierra Nevada had started to melt, and above average temperatures were predicted, creating perfect conditions for the Merced River to reach flood stage and impact Yosemite Valley.  Visitors who had planned to arrive in late April and early May, had their hopes dashed, as the National Park Service closed Yosemite Valley out of concern for the public’s safety.  This year’s visitors aren’t out of the woods yet.