El Portal is about five miles away from Yosemite’s west entrance and about twenty minutes from all the parks big attractions.With escaping the Oklahoma heat and humidity in mind we were welcomed to El Portal with a 115 degree day, but on the bright side, low humidity. Our second day saw 115 again then 117 on our third day. Great to be out of the Okie heat. After arriving and setting the trailer up we pulled all the shades down to block the sun, turned both air conditioners on full cold, added a fan and decided to drive around for an hour of so while the trailer cooled. (The rule of thumb for RV air conditioners is they will cool the inside of the trailer about 20 degrees cooler than the outside temperature so you can guess the daytime comfort level we were in for).
Stuart said he was coming with us in the air conditioned truck so the three of us set off to the entry station to get park information and to explore the city of El Portal.This year Yosemite (and a lot of other National Parks) require an entry pass to gain entry, each pass is good for three days and controls the number of people in the park each day as they slowly reopen from Covid. (Was a great idea to control the number of people in the park until Saturday when California showed up). We drove to the entry station and told them we were illegals today because our pass wasn’t valid until the next day but we would like to get park information.
The rangers were very friendly and helpful and loaded us up with maps, hiking trails and park information but we could tell they were keeping an eagle eye on us, they even sent two rangers out to help us make a u-turn and get no further than twenty feet into the park boundaries, a trust but verify kind of relationship. We thanked them because they really were helpful and bid them adios until tomorrow. Then we drove back to explore the city of El Portal.El Portal consists of a 24-hour unmanned filling station that was selling unleaded for $4.36 a gallon, diesel for $4.32 a gallon, and a small market (convenience store) but we were afraid to test the pricing scheme inside so we just filled up the truck and drove to the residential part of El Portal. It consists of several RV spaces, very small homes primarily for park employees and a park maintenance facility. And that was it, gave you the idea it was a company town. Then we drove back to the trailer to check the temp, it was tolerable but not at all cool. Stuart liked it because he is cold natured and likes to be warm.
On day one in the park legally for the first time we decided to get the longest drive out of the way and took the Tioga Pass road all the way through the park and to Lee Vining, CA. And we can’t wait to get back to Lee Vining, they were selling unleaded for $5.59 and diesel for $5.49, making El Portal pricing seem like a bargain. We stopped at Mono-Cone (a take on the name Mono Lake) for ice cream then headed back to the park because we wanted to stop at a few places we had passed on our way through. Tioga Pass summit is just under 10,000’ and can get 30 feet of snow in winter. A ways past the summit is Tuolumne Meadows a beautiful mostly flat area for hiking, sightseeing and game watching. Then we stopped at Tanaya Lake, a high mountain lake surrounded by granite topped mountains, and a great place to take a dip and beat the heat and a lot of people were in the lake doing just that.
Then we stopped at a turnout that had a volunteer with a high powered viewing scope, she told us the little peak in the far off distance was the back side to the famous Half Dome that overlooks Yosemite Valley.She was letting people look through the scope and you could just see a line of tiny figures going up the back side of Half Dome, one of the parks more difficult but popular hikes. The back side of Half Dome is so steep the park service has implanted poles into the granite and connected a chain to the poles.
To climb to the top you have to hold the chain and help pull yourself up. Then you have to come back down. She said there is an area on top about the size of two football fields that is pretty level and the hikers can rest and view the area. They are not allowed near the face of Half Dome and can’t spend the night. A permit is required for the hike and it takes 14-16 hours to complete. We were able to get a few good photos of the tiny specs climbing up Half Dome with our telephoto lens but if certainly does not look line an easy, peasant hike. Guess it must be the “I climbed Everest” mentality. And the area all around the scenic pull out had very unusual geology with all the granite mountains and hills that have been carved and shaped by glaciers, almost did not look real. In fact, several of our photos of the area look more like photos of paintings instead of the real thing.
Day two took us into the Yosemite Valley to get familiar with where things were and it was a good choice for the day, most of the roads are one-way, narrow and windy. It is difficult to see well because the road is mostly in the shadows of the thick trees. At first the signs pointing out what was where was very confusing but then became clear after several turning errors. It was pretty nice because if you miss a turn, just keep gong and you’ll come back to where you were after a few miles.
The surprising thing to me about the Yosemite Valley was how small it really is, very compact. The valley is very steep and narrow with cliffs of over a thousand feet and all the famous sights, El Capitan, Upper Yosemite Falls, Lower Yosemite Falls, Bridalveil Falls and Half Dome are all very close to each other. The photos and paintings of the valley make it appear to be much larger, I had the same feeling at Lake Louise, thought it would he very large but both are really quite small. But it is still a very, very beautiful valley.We had no cell service or WIFI at our RV park so going into the valley and finding cell service became a daily adventure. We found the best spots for our cell service was near the Yosemite Lodge, The Ahwahnee Hotel and parked at Tunnel View where if we were just in the right spot we could get one bar. When you’re in the valley with thousand foot cliffs all around it is difficult to get that little cell signal. Phone calls were pretty good at the few places we could get service, texts were hit and miss, attachments were a no go and emails were impossible. Communication was slow but ok.
The most disappointing part of the park was our trip to the Mariposa Grove, a grove of giant Redwoods. The brochure said the hike was 1.9 miles and had an elevation gain of 500’. The 1.9 mile hike was pretty accurate but we think the 500’ elevation gain was sorely underestimated. Also, there was no information about a bad storm last year that snapped the tops off several of the tall Ponderosa Pines which then fell onto the convenience center at the top and did quite a number on the structure and closing it for good. The brochure also did not mention that after the 1.9 mile hike it was another 2 mile round trip hike to see all the famous trees. It also did not mention there was no water available at the center because it had been destroyed the year before.
We had brought what we thought was enough water to get to the top but hiking uphill in 90+ temps for two miles had exhausted our supply. We were both tired and my hips were trying to cramp so I said I would stay at the center and Priss could go on. She left but came back in pretty short order and said without water she didn’t think the extra hike it was a good idea. We were not alone, a lot of people were complaining about not being notified about the water situation. All the Yosemite visitor centers were still closed and unless you happened to run into a ranger and ask the questions the right information was hard to find. One ranger told us to return via the road because it was flat and all down hill so we started back to the bottom. My hips kept getting worse and I finally told Priss I didn’t think I could make the walk to the bottom. So she went ahead to get the truck while I hobbled along. The ranger told her vehicles on the road were not allowed unless they had a handicapped tag and if Priss didn’t return in ten minutes she would call law enforcement and report the infraction. Luckily I had made it about a mile when Priss picked me up. We were back at the lower ranger station within the time allowed so they Nazi vehicle patrol didn’t have to call out the swat team. Not sure what they did with the rest of the people but there were many that had run out of water by the time they got to the top and still had to go back down either by the trail or the road and I don’t think most knew about going down the road.
All were complaining about the lack of communication and there were a lot of them that did not attempt the two mile hike to see the Redwoods. All in all a big disappointment.We left Miracopa Grove and drove to Glacier Point. Just before arriving at Glacier Point we noticed several cars stopped and people outside their vehicles taking photos. Sure enough, a Yosemite bonus, a brown bear was in the small meadow slowing foraging and doing its thing. We were able to watch it for a few minutes and take photos. I did not know there were brown bears in Yosemite, I had thought all were black bears, but this one may have been a cinnamon black bear. Then we drove on to the Glacier Point which is on a very high point and overlooks the entire Yosemite Valley. From there you can also see Vernal and Nevada falls which had the most water flow in the park this time of year. The big ticket features of Half Dome, El Capitan and all the valley floor are visible. The road to the point is narrow and the last mile is narrow in the extreme, steep and very winding. Paying close attention is not just a suggestion.
The next day we ventured to Hetch Hetchy a reservoir in the far north of the park. The area boasts the beautiful reservoir and two beautiful water falls. The road to Hetch Hetchy is really rough, narrow and windy at best then about three miles before arriving a road sign tells you “Road Narrows”, and you get a new definition of a narrow road getting more narrow. When two vehicles passed there was enough room but just enough room. When we got to the ranger entrance we were told the two water falls were not water falls this time of year but we could put our imaginations to work and the reservoir and the hike were beautiful so we proceeded to the parking area. When we arrived we found out people and watercraft were not allowed on the reservoir. All the water was for the sole use of San Francisco and it needed to be in pristine condition.
The information didn’t mention if they treat the water after it arrives or not but if it arrived pristine condition there would be no need to treat it. We walked to the point where we could have seen the first waterfall if it had been a water fall, the day was very hot (but we had plenty of water for this trip) and decided we would turn back, it would not be the same without real waterfalls. We will return earlier in the year some day when more water is flowing throughout the park.There was a big wild fire south of Yosemite near Oakhurst that we kept an eye on and on Wednesday night a new fire started inside the park and was growing fast. We drove back to Glacier Point and the smoke from the fire was very easy to see, and maybe 5-10 miles away. It’s a shame fires have to happen so often it takes decades for the forest and land to return to normal. The wind in the park blows from west to east so smoke was not an issue except on two days and the views were quite hazy.Had a great week in Yosemite (or as a friend of Priss’ calls it, Yo-se-mite) and will return in the spring some day to experience the snow melt at its peak and see the beautiful waterfalls in full.
Until next time.
-Tom