Wednesday, August 4th--on to Yosemite

We began our adventure into Yosemite today with a trip from Merced northeastward into the Sierras, barely visible if at all from the valley floor. We were headed to Crane Flat, where we had definite reservations for two nights, but hoping to catch a site at either Tuolumne Meadows or Yosemite Creek, two sites that we'd heard good things about. The trip up from Merced was a very slow gradual climb quickly out of any population centers past grassy yellow foothills and towns like Coutlerville and Greeley Hill--small mountain town with a just passing through look. At a nice supermarket at Greeley Hill we restocked with foods such as eggs, pop tarts, milk, sausage, and other car camping staples. We had been forewarned by others that they had very good sandwiches, so we ordered a couple for the road, as well.

Just prior to then, as we left the Monterey Aquarium, we reached the "why don't we turn back now" phase of the trip--a reliable occurrence on all trips after a certain point where it's possible to go home, and that particular choice seems to be appealing--in our case due to the sheer length of the trip and the hotel trap that CA seemed to have us in, draining money pretty quick. The kids seemed a little tired and we were sympathetic with their missing of the comfort of home and their pets.

Nonetheless, lacking any very good reason to turn back other than discomfort, we carried forward with what would be the most satisfying and interesting part of our vacation--seven days in Yosemite.

By the time we got to Crane Flat it was early afternoon. The ranger told us that Tuolumne Meadows was full, but that Yosemite Creek, a long 4 mile dusty downhill ride from the main road, about 45 minutes away, was typically not full until the weekends. We picked up a Natural History book for the Sierras and were on our way. In the park, the roads gradually inclined, but were well kept and not very crowded headed across the park. Our hearts sank a bit when we got to the spur road--Old Tioga Road--that lead to the campground 4 miles below and read a sign that said "Campground Full". Given the remarks of the ranger, that seemed unlikely, but the rumors were that Yosemite was always crowded, so perhaps it was true.

About a third of the way down the road, already into very rutted dirt and cobble, we ran across a couple in a vanagon who needed some water for their radiator. They said there were many open spots at the campground, not to worry. As we discovered 15 minutes later, they were right--the campground, which spread along the Yosemite Creek as it opened into a small valley between gently pillowed granite bluffs and the trees that lived upon them, had many avaiable spots. Alice traversed the park while the boys and I squatted on the one site that we liked well. She eventually found an even better site near the other end of the campground, right on the creek near a waist deep pool with an easy crossing to the other side of the creek to the granite slopes.

We had found our home for the next week or so! We spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking and climbing around the rocks nearby.