Places like Yosemite are few and far between – that’s a good thing because otherwise humankind would never get anything done because what would be the point? The vast scale and earth changing results of the movements of Mother Nature, of the Earth’s crust create an environment and vista that leaves you breathless and at the same time thinking what possible meaningful, long lasting impact could I ever hope to have with my somewhat ridiculously tiny number of years on this planet? Let’s say for generosity’s sake – you get a hundred years. If some of those sequoia trees could emote you’d be lucky if they graced you with a slightly raised branch of disdain – a hundred years to them is a mere blink, a slightly elongated section of root system. To the monoliths that grace the park – it’s not even a flinch of an eyelid. Yes one could be moved to somewhat fatalistic and maudlin musings in such an environment but I refused as usual – too caught up in all the places I had to check out. Again another visual feast for the eyes and the camera!

We got up really early (6am is early when you’re on holiday!) and hit the road at around 6.30am as we knew we had a long drive to get on into Yosemite National Park.  We said goodbye to Tonopah as the sun rose and as it faded into the distance in the rearview mirror I did wonder what prompted the Tonopah inhabitants to want to stay in such a town.  I whine about Perth being isolated but really Tonopah was probably slightly bigger than a place like Eneabba in Western Australia.

I’d like to think this is probably the standard of notell motels Sam and Dean Winchester frequent.

Tonopah! Come for the … and leave so you can go somewhere else!

Sadly no check in from the Winchesters but that National 9 Inn did us alright.

The Mazda 3 is a smooth albeit fairly gutless ride (I miss my V6 Ford I must admit, but probably not the filling it with gas part – I’m calling it gas instead of fuel or petrol because I’m assimilating with Americanisms) and I was doing mostly 80mph (around 130kph) on the very long, vast stretches of the Hwy that took us west into Yosemite. We did pass one Highway Patrol car coming the other way but at that point I was a mere 76mph so he didn’t even pause. (Speed limit was 70mph in case you were wondering – and I have been very good obeying it to the point of being overtaken on most of our driving jaunts). But long, flat straight roads did have me yearning for that Dodge Charger STR8 or a Chevy Impala – the Nevada and California roads lend themselves much easier than our Perth roads to the enjoyment of a powerful car. But I digress.

So pulling into Yosemite Park (after enjoying a lovely stretch of road signposted with the warning Dips for the next 3 miles – these Dips were less Dips and more like a roller coaster for automobiles, fun but slightly disconcerting going 55mph over a crest you can’t see the back of) there was a short line of cars in front of us. The height of summer seems to be popular with travellers from all over the world. The Park Ranger gave us a friendly hello, asked where we were from and upon receipt of our 20 dollars gave us a seven day pass to the park. Sadly we’ll only get two days use out of it but it’s still well worth it.

We hit the trail heads after checking out the Ansell Adams gallery (where you can pick up an original gel print black and white Adams photograph for a cool 45 THOUSAND dollars) around 12ish and managed to get some short hikes in that gave us quite few good photographic vantage points. This is where Tim’s camera lens is in its element as he had the widest lens on his. But I still managed to snap about 70 photos I liked – 10 of which I’ve selected for this post.  The main impression I have had from Yosemite (besides the absolutely wow factor in terms of scenic views and pictures) is mostly that Mother Nature is having a good chuckle at how small and insignificant the tiny puny humans are that are pottering about all over her surface. We will be heading back in tomorrow to do a few different hikes (Tim may or may not join me on those depending on the steepness levels) but I do hope to get some more views of the park.

Trusty Mazda 3 – it tells you if it feels your tires are too soft.

This guy wasn’t so much as tame as more like “I’m old and I’m mottley and I really don’t give a rat’s arse about some bipedal species that skirts around me like I’m some sort of nervous nelly”

Half Dome

El Capitan

Tonight we are staying in the Yosemite Bug Rustic Mountain Resort and as I suspected Rustic is a euphemism for no phone or wifi in the rooms (although I must say the hippy eco alternative lifestyle family friendly community style kitchen homemade food is surprisingly good) – so this post will be uploaded retrospectively once we hit Lake Tahoe (the next planned road trip stop after we leave Yosemite tomorrow).