I started today on the coast and ended north of Yosemite. I had been warned that Yosemite has a lot of traffic and, as I was driving out there, I almost didn’t want to go. That would have been a huge mistake. The traffic turned out to be OK and the sights were amazing.
The park was breath-taking. When I got to the entrance (where I was charged $20), I asked the ranger (yet another young, attractive woman) where I should go. She advised me that the road that crosses the park from west to east, which runs around 70 miles, is one of the most scenic roads in California. Having just driven on the Pacific Coast Highway, I was skeptical. While I am not sure it beats the PCH, in my opinion it beats the Grand Canyon. It was much more interactive than the Grand Canyon. At one point I stopped in the park and got out of the car for a few minutes. It was so nice out that I had to put the top down on the car. I left it down until I stopped for the night.
While I was driving top down, I noticed that it was starting to get cold. Then I saw snow on the ground. It caught me a little off guard. I knew that there was snow when you got to high altitudes but it still surprised me. I checked my altitude and I was 7,200 feet! For a good part of the drive I had windows up and heat blasting and it was wonderful!! The east entrance to the park had the highest elevation… 9,993 feet. I really wanted to break the 10K mark. I should have taken the unit out and jumped up and down or climbed a tree or something. Thinking about it... I started the day at sea level and almost got to 10,000 feet.
Mileage: Started 76,032 & Ended 76,415 = 383 miles
Stayed in Minden, NV (near Lake Tahoe and Carson City)
States Visited: California, Nevada
At the beginning of Yosemite:
Snow! And you can hear it in my voice how surprised I was to see it:
Shot of Yosemite a few miles before the official enterance:
Tall trees (note the people standing near the bottom):
Small waterfall near the road:
The Cobra top-down near at the waterfall:
Cool shot:
Me at Yosemite!:
This was a meadow at like 8,500 feet. It just seemed out of place but very cool:
Cool shot of the Cobra. This area was just an amazing place in the park:
Sunset in Nevada:
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