Sunday Sept 27
We got up to a hot and sunny Los Angeles day, had our free breakfast (which was about a 1 out of 10) collected our hire car and finally got on the road to Yosemite by about 10am. It was a 4+ hour drive but we added a couple of stops (shopping, lunch, gas) and arrived at Tenaya Lodge just outside Yosemte National Park at 3pm. After settling in we had an early sundowner in the outside bar.
We had dinner sitting outside by a roaring gas-fire pit to take the chill off the cool evening. We shared a giant pork chop and went to bed very early (8:30pm) as we were still jet-lagged from NYC.
Monday Sept 28
The day was cloudy and cool - (7-23℃). We had a reasonable buffet breakfast in the restaurant (at an additional total cost of $40 for cold buffet only) then set out on a recco of the park - which is huge with considerable driving required to get between sites.
First stop was Glacier Point - which took over 1 hour to get to - it has outstanding views and is the trailhead for many short and long hikes. We walked around and took photos but did not do any long hikes as we wanted to check out the valley area.
In the valley, which has a “village” (a lodge, campsites, general store, post office, and information center), we stopped at Ahwahnee Lodge for lunch. Ahwahnee had been our first choice for accommodation but was fully booked many months prior so we booked Tenaya. After having lunch and a look around Ahwahnee we were very happy with the outcome. Ahwahwee at 50% more expensive looked a bit run down and the rooms were much smaller. To op it off, our lunch was pretty ordinary.
After lunch we drove around stopping at various scenic outlooks before driving back to our lodge. We stopped at a small general store and bought stuff for breakfast (yoghurt and juice) - planning to eat in our room as they had a great expresso pod coffee maker.
We had dinner at Embers, the fine dining restaurant at Tenaya - it was OK but not worth a repeat visit - we both had fish - halibut and seared tuna.
Tuesday Sept 29
It was pretty much the same weather as the previous day - cloudy and cool but eventually warming to the mid 20’s. We set off at 9am for Glacier Point parking just before the top at the trailhead for the Sentinel Dome and Taft Point walks - we did both of these quite challenging walks in about 3 hours - the views were amazing - unfortunately due to the clouds the photos don’t do it justice.
We had brought a box lunch from the deli in our lodge (one sandwich, a packet of chips, a cookie and a banana) - we shared the sambo at the trailhead saving the chips for fives'es and the banana for the following day’s brekkie - we nibbled on the cookie.
Back at the lodge we had fives'es at the outdoor bar by the fire then dinner in the Sierra Restaurant - one shared appetiser (free due to a promo), Dieter had wild salmon and I had chicken pasta - the salmon won the day.
Wednesday Sept 30
Again a repeat of the previous day weather wise. This time we drove to Yosemite Valley and did the Vernal Falls walk - very tough - steep, including a final assault of 600 steps - we took a different but longer way down - we also saw the Nevada Falls. Both falls were still running at about 10% (estimate) - one could only imagine how magnificent they would look at full flow. There were also great views of all the surrounding mountain peaks - up to 4000m.
Back at the car park we had another shared sandwich for lunch while sitting on a log - and saw a black bear very close by - probably only a juvenile as it was small - it meandered by and down one of the tracks.
Back at the lodge - we again had fives'es at the outdoor bar by the fire and dinner at Sierra - wild salmon for me and black cod for Dieter - both excellent.
Thursday October 1
So it was farewell to Yosemite and off to King’s Canyon and Sequoia National Park - about 2.5 hours drive to our first stop at General Grant’s Tree - the second biggest Sequoia in the world - they had just re-opened this area the previous week after being closed due to bushfires - many areas in the park are still closed and some may not even open next year due to fire damage. (Note if you are a former US Army General and don’t have a Sequoia tree named after you - you probably were an imposter).
From here we made our way - another 45 minute drive to our lodge - the Wuksachi “Village” at 2200m - it’s amazing we made it given the bogus directions from the Garmin.
Check-in was a schnozzle and did not leave a very positive first impression; however, we recovered - settled in and went for dinner. We could only obtain a reservation at 7:45pm but we went to the bar just after 7pm so see if we could get a bit of jump on this time. We ordered a bottle of red and were finally seated just before 7:45pm. Things improved from here - our waiter was very friendly and we had an excellent meal - a shared roasted veggie appetiser and a shared main course of prime rib - plenty for 2 and delicious.
Friday October 2
Finally a totally sunny day which started off very cold, around freezing - there was even frost on our car. We fronted up for brekkie as soon as it opened at 7:30am and to our surprise the buffet breakfast was excellent - we did not bother with the hot food as the fresh fruit was about as good as it gets - raspberries, blueberries blackberries, strawberries, melon, peaches, ….. a real delight.
We started out at the General Sherman Tree (the largest, by volume, tree in the world) just up the road. From here we hiked the Congress Trail (walked really) - checking out many famous trees/groups of trees - The President, The Senate, The House, …. amazing, Dieter took more tree photos than he took penguin photos in Antarctica. From the Congress trail we took another loop to the Circle Meadow with the Founder Group of trees (recognising the park founding fathers) then looped back via the Lincoln Tree and Mckinley Tree. There are so many un-named amazing trees - we each selected one and named it after ourselves. No photos can really do these majestic specimens justice but Dieter did his best.
We shared another unmemorable sambo on a park bench and then visited the Giant Forest Museum and finally made our way back to the lodge fairly tired after 4.5 hours of walking.
Saturday October 3
We got up, had brekkie, packed up and set off with a couple of final stops in the park then drove back to LA and the Residence Inn. We had dinner at the near by Marriott hotel (as our hotel does not have a restaurant) then hit the sack.
Sunday-Tuesday October 4-6
Off home - LAX-NRT in First class connecting to NRT-SYD in Business class on Japan Airlines - a long trip - we arrived home around 8:30am Tuesday - whacked.