Yosemite National Park

Tent cabins Yosemite

Inside Tent Cabin Yosemite

Yosemite Fall

Yosemite Bridalveil Forrest

Yosemite Deer

Yosemite Bridalveil Fall

Bridalveil Fall

Yosemite - Falls

Yosemite top of Misty Trail

Yosemite Misty Trail Fall

Yosemite Valley

Yosemite Half Dome

Our very last stop of our California Road trip was Yosemite National Park, not even 3 hours East of San Francisco.

The Park itself is immense so unfortunately it was impossible to see it all. We stayed at Yosemite Valley, the most visited and iconic part of the area.

Or even more specific: in a tent cabin at Half Dome Village, a camping located at the foot of the famous Half Dome.

The whole Park handles strict 'Bear measures', which basically means that there is no food allowed in overnight parked cars and on the camp grounds. In fact nothing with scent, from empty wrappers to closed soda cans, was allowed in the tent or the vehicle for the entire stay. So basically everything we brought on this road trip that wasn't clothing had to be stored in our special food container in front of the cabin. And we ended up trying to find our deodorant and toothbrush between our bags of chips every morning. The Park even has a special 'Bear Watch Team' to see if you are following the rules, because if you don't (they tell you) a bear might break into your car or your tent...Which, strangely, doesn't mean that they don't have restaurants at the village. In fact, they have plenty. From a Burger Joint to a Pizza Patio and a complete buffet restaurant. With indoor space, as well as outdoor seating. Maybe the 'Bear Measures' were to make money, maybe they were legit, or maybe all of it was just a social experiment. I know I didn't see anything that looked like a bear, just fat squirrels (I didn't mind, don't get me wrong)...

Because we technically only had one whole day at Yosemite, we booked a tour guide to show us around. Well, he talked and hiked, but didn't really take the time to show us anything. Or I just didn't notice, because his pace was so high he was walking half a mile ahead of me the whole time...

What I did understand was that he took us to the 'Misty Trail'. This very steep path leads to the top of one of the many waterfalls at Yosemite and is so close to the water that it leads you through, you guessed it, a cooling mist while walking. Once you climbed the never ending steps to the top of the Fall the views are absolutely amazing! And (almost) make your sore legs worth it.

Besides booking one of the many tours through the Valley, a cheaper and no less interesting option is to simply take the bus. The Valley Shuttle takes you from the several camping grounds to spots like the Bridalveil Fall, the Yosemite Falls Trail, Half Dome, and the foot of iconic El Capitan. And if you're lucky you'll have a very enthusiastic bus driver who takes his time at every stop to explain what you're seeing and takes out his binoculars to spot the crazy climbers for you! And they apparently do have a lot of those. Yosemite is one of the top destinations for extreme climbers, so spotting them there is easy!

For a great overview of the whole Valley, take the drive up to Glacier Point. This viewpoint almost has a 360 degree view and provides great photo opportunities of the most iconic sights of Yosemite. And with that amazing view we ended our California road trip, to go back to our own fantastic backyard and the everlasting Arizona heat...