Yosemite National Park- Glacier Point- Day Two

Tuesday night we didn't even eat dinner until 9 pm so we had a slower start this day. Our first stop was Glacier Point.

It is at Glacier Point that the is the famous Over hangin' Rock! (BTW the handwriting on these photos is my Grandma Elsie's hand.)

 (El's handwriting)

The more I learn about my Grandad, the more I understand where my impulsive behavior comes from!

And, you know, this IS a heritage-reenactment vacation...

But, surprisingly, I've learned to be cautious in my 60s (I want to see my 70s and 80s). So this is my version of Bill Munce on over hangin' rock! (Taken the day before at Olmsted Flats) Also, the rock is fenced off and folks are not allowed to go out there any longer.

One of Bill and Elsie's first stops was Inspiration Point. Aren't they so darling? Inspiration Point isn't too far from Glacier Point.

I have to say that my favorite of all the places we visited was Glacier Point! The views from up there are wonderful!!

HALF DOME AS SEEN FROM GLACIER POINT

(update 2107- this photo now hangs in my front room)

Grandad says of their hike to Glacier Point-

Our longest hike was to Glacier Point by the long trail, which skirts Vernal and Nevada Falls. It is 13 miles and that was tough going in some places. But the climb was well worthwhile, for from Glacier Point you can look straight down onto the floor of the valley. The stages looked like toys as they rolled along the road and the people looked as big as dolls. We went into the restaurant up on the Point and had our meal out on the porch, which was glassed in and was nice and warm. From here we could look out all over one side of the valley and it was marvelous. Vernal Falls is only a short distance away, maybe a mile, and it is so clear and bright you almost felt as though you could touch it. Nevada Falls is further back, but it completed a beautiful picture.

We returned to the valley by the short trail, which was 3 miles long and all downhill. This was only a narrow foot trail and animals were not allowed on it. It was unimproved and in a great many places the going was tough, on account of the rocks and deep gullies, and if you think your feet won’t get sore getting jammed into the toes of your shoes every step, just try it. Our feet and ankles were sore for a week.

YOSEMITE VALLEY AS SEEN FROM GLACIER POINT

Several years ago Rebekah and family took Camille to Yosemite on one of her summer visits. Rebekah, Camille, Tadhg and Caden ended up taking the hike down (and according to Grandad, straight down!) from Glacier Point to the Valley... IN FLIP-FLOPS! Bek says they got a lot of strange looks that day! Curtis and baby-Brock met them at the bottom. We decided we would forgo this reenactment since it cost $25 each for a bus ride to the top. Happy little Elio took us there for only a sip of gasoline!

HALF DOME AS SEEN FROM GLACIER POINT 2014

HALF DOME 1912

I will be back tomorrow, or the next, with more of our Yosemite adventures. I'm having such a good time remembering!

Yosemite National Park- A Heritage Vacation- Day One

Several months ago I gave a Primary sharing time about family history and shared a trip that my grandparents made to Yosemite in 1912. That started a hankering in my soul that needed to be satisfied. I knew that at 62 I would finally qualify for my Senior America the Beautiful pass. So with those two pieces of information I cooked up a Yosemite trip with Rebekah (who lives an hour away from Yosemite). I just wanted to go back needed to make a heritage vacation with Bill and Elsie in mind.

They traveled by horse and wagon and it took them 4 days to make the trip from Fresno to Yosemite. They camped near where their great-granddaughter would one day live on the second night.

We traveled from Yosemite Lakes Park, where Bekah lives, in Elio and made the trip in about one hour. But that first glimpse of Yosemite Valley is still just as breathtakingly beautiful.

Since there isn't an easy way from Bek's house to Utah (every route is 13 hours!) they frequently cut through the Park and then head out across Nevada and Utah on Hwy 6. They are always in a hurry to leave or get home when they pass through Tuolumne Meadows and don't take time to stop. We decided that would be would be our first destination. On our way we stopped at Olmsted Point for our first hike.

My beautiful Bekah... she kindly hiked at my Grammie pace.

Our next stop was Tuolumne Meadows. We hiked around the meadows, not across, and back to the Tuolumne River. The river was unusually low due to the severe drought affecting California.

The temperature was much cooler here, for which we were grateful.

I'll be back in the next few days to post more about our adventures.

Birthday Beauty

Miss Bitty, aka Fiona, is 1-year old! Wow, it's been a fast year. She had the wonderful family birthday party in her lovely backyard (with perfect weather). She is such a dynamic little person! Her sweet personality just radiates.

She totally enjoyed her cake. Especially the frosting! Eventually she grabbed a handful of cupcake after she'd eaten most of the frosting and was so frustrated that she had cake crumbs all over her frosting-y fingers. Grammie to the rescue! I wiped off her hand and she was good to go for another round.

This little girl brings so much joy to all around her.

And if you needed more proof... just look at this!

Seriously... does it get any better than this? We are so blessed to be near to so many of our grandchildren!