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Yosemite to Lake Tahoe, CA

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On Sunday morning after breakfast we began the drive to Yosemite National Park where we were to spend two nights. We headed south towards the Park through a golden landscape


 which became more verdant the closer we got.  


We stayed in Wawona in the south of the Park. Our hotel - Big Tree Lodge (4012ft) - was a Victorian style hotel surrounded by giant Ponderosa pines and Redwoods.  

                                                                     Our hotel in Wawona


The lounge in hotel

It is almost impossible to describe the beauty of Yosemite in words. From the dizzying heights of granite cliffs such as El Capitan and Half Dome to the river Merced meandering through the valley there was always something to take our breath away. 
                                                                    View from Tunnel View

The Merced River



While looking at the sheer face of El Capitan (7500ft) we noticed people gazing intently at the rock. A young man leant me his binoculars so that I could see some climbers  moving precariously along its seemingly sheer surface. To the naked eye it just seemed like blue dots way up on the cliff face. It can take between 3 and 5 days to make the ascent. 

El Capitan

We left the Park by driving along Hwy 120 which offered spectacular views of the valley below. We left the park through the Tioga Pass (9945ft). This is highest pass in the Sierra Nevada. 

We stopped at Mono Lake to see the strange calcium carbonate Tufa tower formations. 
Tufa in Lake Mono

We finally reached South Lake Tahoe a seven hour drive; painfully slow most of the way due to the nature of the high twisty mountain roads and speed limits as low as 10mph.

                                                        Morning at South Lake Tahoe

Comments

  1. Rosaleen21 September 2017 at 09:21

    Wow, that looks and sounds just fantastic. I think I have a screen saver that includes pictures of rock climbers on El Capitan. U.S. citizens don't really need to come to Europe for the scenery, maybe just for micro scenery! I have heard so many of ours talking, especially in years gone by, of trips to Lake Tahoe. I think there are some retreat houses up near there.
    I'm delighted that you are up and running. The picture of your hotel reminds me of the one from The Shining!! Enjoy every minute of it all. It's getting autumnal here now so I'm sure you will experience something similar.
    Lloking forward to the next installment! Rosaleen

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown23 September 2017 at 15:36

    Looks amazing

    ReplyDelete

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