~Day one, Wed. May 28th.
We left Aliso Viejo, California at 5am and arrived in
Yosemite approx. 10 hours later.
This crow greeted us we drove through the park's entrance.
~ After driving through a long carved in rock tunnel you come out to what is called
"Tunnel View" ~ for obvious reasons!
on the left is El Captitan, on the right you can see Bridalveil Falls and way in the back hiding under a cloud cover is Half Dome.
~ Here, Brian and I pose in the parking lot for
Bridalveil Falls.
~ We arrive at
Camp Curry, but it's drizzely and Dyllan is still asleep so Brian and his Dad,
Jim, head off in the rain to the camp's front office. I shot this photo looking up through our sun roof.
~ This is the "Welcome" sign to the Camps.
~ Here is our tent. Everything is canvas except the floor which is wood. We had a double cot and a single, one chair, a bed side table with drawer and a single light bulb hanging from the tent's ceiling.
~ We were lucky to score a parking spot semi close to the tents and had to make several trips from the car to the cabins since it
was raining and we were having the darnest time keeping Dyllan from jumping in some whale sized puddles!
~ We also had to follow strict guidelines for what you
can not leave in your car!
all
Food,
Drinks,
Ice chest,
Toiletries and
other scented items, any
trash, and last of all
Children's car seats. The
Car seat went in the cabin and the other smell related items went in the green bear locker which you see to the right of our cabin, secured with a home brought lock.
The penalty for not following the rules was a fine up to $5,000 plus the posibility of a bear breaking into your car! Bears are imprintable. Once they know a red car, car seat, ice chest has provided them with food in the past...they will go after it again, even if there is no food. Plus their sense of smell is remarkable.
I took a risk with my cherry scented lip balm that I
can not stand to with out...but if I were in some of the more secluded earlier number tent cabins, I might have put that too in the locker.
~ Here we are staying out of the rain eating a packed lunch.
Grandpa Jim, Brian and of course Dyllan.
~ It's cold, wet and raining. With nothing else to do we decided to catch a
Valley Shuttle Bus which is provided FREE by the Valley .
~ View of Yosemite Falls while walking around.
Above is the Main Post office for the valley.
~ A un-inhabited (thank god!) Bear Trap.
~ Here is Dyllan trying out his new flash light in one of the
Miwok Homes.
Of Course, I had to visit the Cemetary!
Click
here to get the lay out and rich history!
~This marble headstone marking the grave of John C. Anderson must have been brought into the valley at considerable effort. No marble exists here. The headstone tells us that he was killed by a horse. Anderson, a stage driver, was buried at first at the base of the Four Mile Trail near the residence of George Fiske. Later the grave was moved here. Tradition says that his locust wood switch was stuck in the ground to mark his grave; that it took root and that the locust trees now common in the valley (there are several here in the cemetery) are descendants of Anderson’s switch.
~G. B. Cavagnaro’s grave is marked with a fine stone marker and iron fence. Mr. Cavagnaro was a storekeeper in the Old Village here in the valley. He was said to handle everything from a box of paper collars to a side of bacon. Visitors of that early day had to be supplied even as they do today, and here was the man to do it.
~Albert May was a carpenter and caretaker for Mr. A. G. Black. Black’s Hotel was near the base of the Four Mile Trail
~
James Chenowith Lamon lies beneath the tall granite spire with the stone and chain fence. Lamon, a generous and kindly man, was the first to build a cabin in Yosemite and to stay through the winter. This he did in 1861-1862. The apple orchard near the Camp Curry parking area was planted by Lamon. His cabin was near Camp 12, and the fruit from his trees and his excellent vegetables were welcomed by the tired and hot visitor.
~Please go
here to read up on this row of wooden un-named markers.
~ Grandpa Jim went on to the village to catch a show and Dyllan, Brian and I walked across this path at the meadows.
~ A realistic
"Bear Warning"
~ All tuckered out.
It was so cold! Good thing we brought our sleeping bags for extra warmth. The coldest it got in the tent? 45 degrees. Imagine having to go out in
that for a potty break.
So this was my re-cap on Wed. Stay tuned soon for Thursday, then Friday and lastly Saturday!
