February 5 & 6: Yosemite National Park is probably the most visually amazing place I have ever been. I walk around looking upwards all the time. Yes, I am getting a crick in my neck.

Getting here was not so fun. It was almost 3 hours of narrow, winding, two lane roads. And that was before I got into the park itself. Amazing scenery all around but it was hard to see much of it because I was so busy watching the road.

Darrel was probably one of the few people who knew how much I hate narrow roads with a cliff to the side of you. The many times we went over Chinook Pass my palms and feet would sweat. And I swear he would drive extra close to my side of the road just to freak me out.

Well, I was doing the driving this time and, yes, my palms were sweating at times. The worst part was going down from 6,000 feet on the winding road with speed limits of 25 – 35 mpg. The signage could have been better for turn outs and/or view points. By the time you came upon them it was too late to pull in. I was trying to be a conscientious driver and pull over whenever there was a car riding my ass.

I finally managed to slow down and turn in at one view point where you could see some of the fabulous granite formations. When I got out, I could smell the brakes and then I saw smoke coming from the driver side. Freaked me out, to be sure. I went and took pictures then walked around the truck. Nothing was smoking anymore, but I was pretty leery about driving the rest of the way down the mountain.

No one was behind me so I went very, very slowly and used the low gears to slow down at curves instead of the brakes. Luckily, it was only a few miles until I got to Yosemite Valley.

I made it to Upper Pines campground and pulled up to check in. Misty had been a good little trooper for the 4 hours of driving but when I opened the window to talk to the ranger, she was ready to get out of that truck. I had a hold of her harness and then put on her leash, but she was crawling all over me trying to get out.

The ranger said there had been a bear spotted a few hundred yards from there a couple hours earlier and that there was a family of coyotes living in the park that might be interested in Misty! She said the coyotes would come right up to your fire and sit like they were a member of the family. When I do let Misty out of the camper I always have her on a leash and stay with her for the most part. I would be extra cautious here.

I found my spot and got set up. There were quite a few open campsites around me and no one next to me on either side. The campground is surrounded by towering sequoias. It was still light out but there were so many trees that the campsite was in the shade and was very cool. I went inside, warmed up leftover Chile rellenos, listened to my book on tape, watched another episode of Altered Carbon and went to be early.

The morning dawned bright and clear. I had my coffee then walked around a bit to get oriented. At one point I heard a noise and looked and saw a Pileated Woodpecker a few yards away at the base of a tree. Then I saw another one on the tree next to it. They looked huge! We have them in Seattle and last summer I saw three on the utility pole outside the house. That was the first time I had ever seen them before. These didn’t seem to mind that I was just a few feet away they were so intent on their feeding.

The park has a shuttle service that has around 24 stops all over. I had read all the brochures and guides I was given and wanted to take the shuttle to various places around the park. I was so glad there was a shuttle since it is a pain to get the camper all ready to drive again and then come back to the same spot. I have really enjoyed staying for two nights in the same place the past few days.

I packed my backpack with maps, money, and water and walked to the Half Dome Village to catch the shuttle around 10:00. They come along about every 10 minutes at that time of day. I went to the Yosemite Village and got off. I started at the Ansel Adams gallery and spent quite a time there looking at all his amazing photographs. Then went through the Visitor Center and Bookstore. It has exhibits that show how Yosemite’s landscape was formed and information about the flora an fauna.

The Yosemite Museum Indian Cultural Exhibit was quite fascinating. It had a lot of traditional baskets, headdresses, clothing, and other things. Behind the museum there was a walking tour of a Indian village with signs telling about the various trees and plants and their uses by the Indians. Very interesting.

After that I walked to the Lodge past the Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls. I thought to get lunch at the Lodge but it was like a cafeteria style with lots of pre-packaged foods so I passed it by. I caught the shuttle to the Majestic Yosemite Hotel. A beautiful old building with a grand sitting room with views out into the trees and upwards at the craggy peaks and granite domes.

I had lunch in the Majestic Bar. It had a more limited menu than the dining room but was less expensive too. I had a cup of spinach and vegetable soup and a vegetarian flatbread wrap with arugula, peppers and mushrooms. Both were very good.

The day was sunny and clear and for a short time around the Yosemite Village I had a signal on my phone. The temperature said it was 68. I talked to one man who said this was totally unusual for this time of year. A woman I had talked to back in Jackson said the same thing. She said that it was usually in the 30s there in February but was in the 70s and supposed to get to 79 later this week. (BTW, I had a comment that I hadn’t said where my last stop was. It was the Jackson Rancheria casino RV park. Jackson, California is about an hour or so east of Sacramento.)

I took the shuttle back to Half Dome Village and walked around there. It has a lot of tent cabins but I don’t think it was open yet as I didn’t see any action in any of them. There was one building that had a veranda with old wooden rocking chairs on it that I found very quaint.

I went into the store which had groceries, prepackaged foods like salads and sandwiches, camping supplies, and clothing. I bought a Yosemite t-shirt as a memento, then walked back to the camper. I think Misty had spent her day sleeping, as usual.

I built a fire and really felt like I was camping. There is cut wood all around the campground. Most of it is fairly new cut and seemed fairly wet but I had found a lot of small dry pieces and a few larger ones that seemed fairly dry. It is funny they have all the wood around but the rules say not to gather wood, pine cones or needles. That was one rule I didn’t follow and neither did anyone else from the looks of it.

I had Misty out with me and she was walking around a bit on her leash. There are large ravens around and one was above me cawing quite loudly. Pretty soon, he had called in about ten of his friends. They were circling around above me and Misty making a lot of noise. The man in the camp behind me came over to see what all the fuss was about. We figured it was Misty attracting their attention. They didn’t do any dive bombing and he said maybe it is because she is sleek black like them.

I ended up picking her up and holding her then we went for a walkabout on the leash. The crows totally lost interest and left. She actually did very well this time, trotting along with her head and tail up instead of slinking. That is until I wanted to head back then she dug her paws in and I had to carry her.

After sitting around the fire and eating the last of the leftover Mexican burritos, I went into the camper for the night. At one point, I opened the back door to make sure the fire was died down and saw a coyote loping through a few feet away. He just looked at me and kept going.

It was a great day.