What a View!

When we got up and left our hotel near Yosemite, we headed straight for the national park. After getting through the gates, we got a parking spot and caught a shuttle bus to one of the most famous landmark's in Yosemite National Park, known as the Mariposa Grove where some of the largest trees on Earth are located. These Sequoia trees are a few thousand years old, sometimes 25 feet in diameter, and seem to tower even over the size of the redwoods that we saw just a few days before. We took a two mile hiking trail to see some of the most famous sequoias in the park including the great giant California Sequoia who had a tunnel built into it in the 1800's and still exists today. Another one of the Sequoia's had a tunnel in it that a car or wagon could drive through but since has fallen to the forest floor due to erosion over time.

Another remarkable thing about the Sequoias and the enormous forest, is that these trees actually thrive off of forest fires, whereas many others of the National Forest trees fear this type of natural disaster. The reason is, when a Fir or Cedar tree is engulfed by forest fire and falls to the forest floor, this creates a very mineral rich soil and clears the lower levels of the woods so that these massive Sequoias can use this new material for their root networks. Otherwise, these other types of trees actually soak up some of the soil around the massive roots for Sequoias and actually smother their living space. So that's your Fun Forest Fact of the day.

Anyhow, after our hike and returning to our vehicle we made some sandwiches for the road and got driving toward Glacier Point which is a mountain high above the Yosemite Valley and supposedly one of the best views of the park that you can get to without taking an entire day hike. There are a few new photos up to your right where you can check out some of these great views over the Valley and of El Capitan, Half Dome, and the other major mountains and peaks that you can climb across from Glacier Point. After our photo shoot at 8,000 feet, we drove back down the mountain and stopped off at Bridal Veil falls, which is a pairing of waterfalls at the lower end of the valley. We got some great photos as the sun was going down and it made for a nice view right at the end of the day. After that we drove straight for Sacramento, as we had a midnight train to catch to take us up the west coast. Our train arrived late at the station, so we didn't board until about 1AM pacific time. Kelsey and I watched a movie and we all tried to get some shuteye as tomorrow afternoon we would be arriving in Portland, Oregon so that we could explore America's Northwest. Check out the photos we've posted and here is your updated playlist for our recent adventures.

Alcatraz - "Jailhouse Rock" ~Elvis
Yosemite National Park - "Waterfalls" ~T.L.C.
Pier 39 - "Under the Boardwalk" ~The Drifters