Yosemite was a zoo.
As with any zoo there are the exhibits and there are the people who go there to see them. I found it impossible to keep my sight skywards, towards the immense waterfalls and rock formations which towered hundreds of feet into the air, when, right in front of me I could see America in it’s many shapes and forms. America came in small shapes, and big shapes, sunburned shapes, and shapes that didn’t speak English. America rode motorcycles, drove RVs, and the brave few took to the park on foot. Everywhere I looked I was overwhelmed by stars, stripes and people who looked like they would die in the mud to keep the flag flying.
The great American Family vacation has been reborn. A hurting economy means people are ditching airplanes in favor of automobiles and are slogging around these great states to see what has been on their doorstep all along. By the looks and sounds of it, most are pleasantly surprised.
Of course there are also the international tourists. Asians carrying more technology than their slender frames can handle, Germans peering intently at maps, and Brits, constantly complaining about sunburns.
All these are really a given at any National Park. What made Yosemite unique was simply the volume of all the aforementioned. Finding parking spaces often involved staring contests with mini-van wielding mothers and quick clutch / accelerator action.
Being slightly more vertically blessed I had fewer problems raising my camera over the heads of the masses, however those of smaller statures must have had to battle to see anything at times.
I suppose you want to hear something about the park then?
Well, its incredible. It seems like rivers spill over the valley walls everywhere you look. The water falls for so long, its just mist by the time it gets to the ground. Standing next to one for more than a few minutes will probably leave you with hypothermia. The wind these things generate is unbelievable and chills a person right to their bones.
The view from Glacier point was well worth the 45 minute drive thought it was slightly doubtful wether the Golf would make it up all those inclines.
... Despite my efforts, my brain refuses to string words together any longer.
The photos speak for themselves.
Click them to make them bigger.
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