Day 2: Northern California Road Trip!
The next morning we got up to the tune of 0400 in the morning and headed on the one hour drive to Glacier point. Glacier point is 3,214 feet above Curry Village, where we slept the night before. The blue dot in the first picture is where our tent was from the view point!
Sun rise from this view was absolutely breathtaking. I had to pinch myself to believe it was real!
My camera was just brimming with absolutely jaw dropping photos
We headed back down into the valley and made our first stop to watch the climbers at El Capitan. El Capitan is a massive 3000 foot granite monolith, that climbers come from all over to venture up. As for me and my company, we brought out a viewing scope and sat in a gorgeous meadow to watch the action. I also managed to snag an photo of an old vw camper in front of the granite wall!
The climbers were mesmerizing and methodical!
Then we were off to take a nap after our early morning activities! But the views along the route back had me enthralled. The valley was one of the most beautiful places I have ever laid eyes on
Post nap I was off to adventure to a less traveled section of the park, Hetch Hetchy. This is in the northwest corner of Yosemite National Park bordering the Stanislaus National Forest. The story that most stands out is the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir created by O'Shaughnessy Dam, which provides water and power to the Bay Area. This once lush valley was said to rival that of Yosemite valley and sparked famous conservation debates, which were lost to industrialization. This area of the park was gorgeous and I am glad I went to see it. But it sparked such sadness and a sense of loss for a landscape I had never laid eyes on but feel the bite of industrialization.
I drove back into the valley and was met with a breath taking view once again
For sunset I was back to the meadow under El Capitan watching the climbers lights flicker on making them look like little fire flies
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