First of all, if you don’t pronounce Yosemite as “yo-sa-might” in your head, then… well, you’re lying.  Of course you do.  Yosemite National Park is one of the most popular National Parks in the country, with over four million visitors every year.  Which is a bit unfortunate.  But let me start at the beginning..

Since we were staying in the same place for two nights, we decided to take the convertible and travel together to Yosemite, with a goal of maybe doing the hike up Half Dome.  So naturally it rained.  For the first time in months.

Although rain is clearly needed in California, it’s a bit unfortunate from a touristing perspective, as it meant that they stopped more people from taking the Half Dome trail because the rocks and cables used for climbing got slippery, and the valley itself seemed to fade into the mist.  We were a bit amazed at how much of a village exists in the Yosemite Valley itself, with lodges, restaurants, shops, and even a grocery store there.  So much for getting away from it all…  But we were determined to hike, so got onto the trail to Vernal Falls.  We had thought of going to Yosemite Falls, but there’s no water coming over it at this time of year.  Although the path was paved the entire way due to the number of walkers there, it was a strenuous enough slog uphill, and led to some nice views in spite of the drizzling rain.

The falls themselves were only barely flowing, again probably due to the time of year, after a dry summer.

Although you’re not supposed to feed the wildlife… this little fellow knew exactly what he was doing, and gave us an amusing break in our hike.  With all the beautiful scenery all around us, we ended up with ten people standing around taking pictures of a cute squirrel!

After our hike the rain had mostly stopped, and we were determined to put the roof down for at least a little bit.  But it was cold and wet and I complained pretty much constantly from the back seat, so it didn’t last long!

Ok, so take two.  We had planned on having two days in Yosemite, and the second day showed much more promise, dawning cold by sunny.  We drove separately to explore on our own, and I actually had the heater on as I drove in since it was just about freezing.

I drove up to Glacier Point, getting there early before the crowds, and it was beautiful, clear, and sunny.  The column you see below is actually Half Dome seen from the side.

Hiking out to Glacier Point, I got the most incredible view of the whole Yosemite Valley, with Half Dome rising above it.  On a day like this, you just can’t take a bad picture!

I could look down below and trace our route from yesterday, including where we hiked to Vernal Falls.  This little bit of squirrelhood wasn’t interested in food, though, he was a nature lover, just enjoying the view.

After spending quite a bit of time hiking the trails at Glacier Point and staring out at the scenery, I reluctantly drove back down again and explored the valley floor a bit more.  Strangely, there almost seemed to be fewer people than the day before, but perhaps they were out on the trails instead of hanging around in the village in the rain.  I had a latte and lunch at the lodge, staring up at the cliff faces all around me, but eventually had to move on.  I took a different route out of the park, stopping frequently to enjoy the vistas.

So I didn’t really get to hike as much as I would have liked at Yosemite, and was a bit creeped out by the number of people there, but yes, it was beautiful.  I’d have to say that this is the oddest National Park I’ve been to so far, though.  I think because it’s so popular, the atmosphere of the place is completely changed and the feeling of wilderness that I associate with National Parks is almost completely lost.  It’s disappointing.  I’d like to say that it’s probably different once you get out on the trails, but talking to the rangers has convinced me that the trails are also pretty crowded, and although we never got to climb Half Dome, I learned that it’s so popular that you might as well be a line of ants crawling up the face of the rock.  Not my kind of thing.

So, having been here once, I can walk away satisfied.  Yes, it’s pretty, but there are plenty of places I like better, and I won’t need to come here again.  Beautiful, but over-discovered… no longer wilderness.