DAY 43 - Back to Yosemite

I was looking forward to a return to Yosemite but the fates, or at least the weather conspired against us.  A shroud of grey cloud to the west held signs of what was to come.  We left promptly and turned into the Tioga Pass at 9am.  The cloud was swallowing up the higher peaks and soon the snowline was down to the roadside.  By the time we reached the National Park entrance at 9,945 feet above sea level, the snow cleared from the roadside was at least 2 feet deep.  This time Tenaya Lake was only a photo stop and nobody lingered very long at Olmstead Point despite the fantastic views (with added snow). 

Heading downhill again we came across a warning sign, “Smoke on the Road”.  Was this really smoke of some local terminology for mist or fog?  It turned out to be smoke and a few smouldering patches were resisting the cold, ice, snow and wet.  It underlines the severity of the fire risk in such a place.

Our first stop was the Bridal Veil Falls where it was hard to say if there was more water than on my last visit but there was definitely more people.  Only later on, when trying to buy stamps at the closed Post Office did I find out that it was Columbus Day and therefore a Public Holiday.  I didn’t realise he’d discovered the USA as well!

From here it was a return to Miraposa Grove where the giant Sequoias were still impressive in the full (but diminishing daylight). 

The drizzle gradually became more persistent and plans to visit Glacier Point were shelved and we headed to the Pines Campsite which was right in the Yosemite Valley to set up before the rain got worse.  A couple of hours were killed in the Visitor Centre and surrounding stores before I got on with producing food; not a pleasant experience working under a single lantern and getting wet every time I stepped beyond our somewhat limited tarpaulin.  It was almost with a sense of relief that I went to bed early, having not felt up to speed for most of the day.  Perhaps old age is catching up