Yosemite National Park

I visited Yosemite for the first time 17 years ago with my brother when he lived in California.  I have two memories of the trip... the first is hiking to Mirror Lake and I could swear every sign we saw said 3 miles to the lake even though we hiked a good distance between signs and once we got there the lake was pretty much dried up.  Not the right time of year to hike to Mirror Lake. My second memory was walking back from Mirror Lake and my brother hitting my arm twice, me telling him to stop hitting me, and then him saying pay attention there is a bear in front of you! Eeek!  We stopped a good distance from the bear, it looked at us, then walked on and we stayed put to make sure it was good and out of our way before continuing. 

This trip was with the purpose to see the waterfalls in the park (which was good because we didn't see any wildlife). With all the rain California had this past winter and spring, the waterfalls have been strong and beautiful.  The only downside was it seemed like half of California had the same idea and traffic was horrible once we got in the park.  After stop and go for a good hour, we were finally able to park the car, get out, and really do some exploring.  We saw a few different waterfalls but the major ones were Bridal Falls and Yosemite Falls.  Both are very easy short hikes to get to the base and a raincoat or some kind of water protection is a good idea.  Even when it seems like the water isn't moving in your direction, a quick gust of wind can change that in an instant as we found out the cold, wet way at Bridal Falls.  There is something about getting close to a waterfall and hearing the rush of the water and feeling the power that comes rushing down from overhead that is intoxicating and magical at the same time. 

Bridal Falls

Yosemite Falls, of course, is the star of the show.  It is named after the park after all! Or is the park named after it? I'm not quite sure.  It is so tall it has two levels to complete the waterfall.  You can see it as you approach the area in your car and it makes you want to stop and stare in awe (probably part of the reason for the traffic jam to get there).  You can hike to the top of the falls but we weren't equipped and didn't have the time to do the trek this time but standing at the bottom and watching the water fall was amazing and every new angle I would see of the falls I had to stop and take another picture because it was just so beautiful. 

Yosemite Falls

It was cold and wet but completely worth it!

On our way out of the park there was a pull off vista that shows the most magnificent view of the valley with Half Dome and the waterfall laid out in front of you that you cannot miss when visiting Yosemite.  I still think the picture I took looks like a fake backdrop because it is just that incredible. It was crowded with tour buses and cars and people with selfie sticks but it was worth it to jostle through the people for even a momentary glimpse of the landscape.  The pictures speak for themselves.

And just because the place is so beautiful that I couldn't stop taking pictures...here's a few more.