We have a long road ahead of us. The goal is to reach Yosemite today.

Map of the day:

At first it’s only highways between buildings, then the landscape starts to be a little wilder. The pictures show it better, they are in order from SF to the Big Oak Flat entrance of Yosemite.

Near the entrance of Yosemite we decide to go to see Evergreen Lodge, it is only 5 miles from the main road and maybe we will sleep here tonight. The lodges are quite nice, the woods nearby are very quiet, nice place to stay, we will think of it later in the day. We have the chance to see another coyote (but we missed the picture) and some deers.

Then, at around 1PM, we enter Yosemite. After a little more road we have our first view of the Dome:

The road itself is bordered by a river with such clear water. I would like so much to go swimming in it! But we have no towel and the temperature is around 36°F (2°C)…

Yosemite valley is surrounded by some of the biggest falls in the world. We do the popular 1 mile loop to see the Yosemite Fall closer.

Looking at the lodging facilities in the park, it soon appears that we will not sleep here tonight, too expensive compared to what they look like. Garbage and rubbish everywhere between the buildings, really a pity. We will either go back to Evergreen or go forward to Oakhurst, 50 miles to the South.

But we want to enjoy a little more Yosemite before leaving so we go ahead for a walk along the John Muir Trail. Almost 2 hours to go to the observation point (from where we see the cascade), we are tired but happy, it is so beautiful and no one around! However it’s already 4:30PM, the night will be on us soon and we have been told to avoid the bears at night… We never did any descent so fast! Less than 45 minutes!

Back at the car Adie is exhausted! We vote for Oakhurst. So let’s go! However the ambient light is so good that I stop for a last photo…

As we go trough a pass to exit Yosemite valley, we are blessed with a wonderfull sunset!

The 50 miles takes forever, with the night I don’t dare to drive above 25mph as the road is really curvy and I might have bears, deers, etc in every curve, as well as snow. But we make it, at around 8PM we are at Oakhusrt, we soon find a cheap motel (40$ for the room) and a restaurant (not good…).