Yosemite National Park was set aside as a national park on October 1, 1890, to preserve natural scenery unmatched anywhere. It has three major features - High Sierra wild lands, groves of giant sequoias, and Yosemite Valley. The park covers approximately 1200 square miles of wilderness in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in central California. The park is roughly the size of Rhode Island and is a United Nations World Heritage site. The park has innumerable lakes, meadows, forests and granite summits with endless unspoiled scenery. At the center is Yosemite Valley a half mile deep depression carved by glaciers during the last ice-age. It has 3,000 foot high domes and many powerful waterfalls,including three of the world's highest.
Bridalveil Falls plunges 620 feet and runs all year, though it diminishes in late summer. The wind often blows the falls sideways giving it the appearance of a "brides veil".
Yosemite Falls, one of the world's highest waterfalls. Its 2,425 foot total drop is divided into the great Upper Fall (1,430 feet), a middle cascade (675 feet), and the Lower Fall (320 feet) which itself is twice the height of Niagara. The falls fill the Valley with their thunder in the spring and early summer when the winter snows have begun to melt, but they usually run dry in late summer and autumn after the water source has disappeared.
We entered the park from the Lee Vining Canyon from the east off Highway 395. We turned onto Highway 120, the Tioga Pass/Yosemite National Park turnoff. The road climbs through a steep canyon, affording incredible views of the rugged landscape. We finally reached the entrance to the park at a height of 9,945 feet. This road is closed in winter, and it was easy to see why. We only spent one day in the Park but there is so much more to see!! Maybe someday a return visit.
The photo's really do not do the park justice....
More later, Candy and Johnny
