After a fascinating stop at Mono Lake, we got back on the road for the drive to Yosemite National Park. Our route took us over Tioga Pass, the highest route across the Sierra Nevada at almost 10,000 feet (3,000 metres). The timing of our trip meant that we would be very close to the point at which they close the road for the season, but luckily for us, there hadn’t been any significant snowfall and we had a beautiful day to drive through the mountains.
We stopped a few times to take in the scenery and went for a short walk around Tenaya Lake. Even although we had only just entered the National Park, it was interesting to see the rounded granite domes that the area is famous for.
From Tenaya Lake we continued on through the park towards the trailhead for North Dome. We were too late in the season to hike the famous Half Dome, but we thought that the trail to North Dome would be interesting.
The trail itself was pretty easy, with a well-formed track leading through the forest. Despite being in the heart of Yosemite we only saw a couple of other people the entire time we were hiking. After undulating through the pine forest for a while we came to the sub-dome. After a bit of searching for the trail, we realised that we could walk down the sub-dome to get out onto North Dome.
The views from North Dome were fantastic, it felt as though we were face to face with Half Dome whilst still having views up and down the main Yosemite Valley.
We spent some time walking around North Dome taking in the views and the different perspectives of the Yosemite Valley and the entire park. Having entered the park from the less popular Eastern Portal, the views from North Dome were such a great first impression of the Park.
We reluctantly left North Dome and started on the gradual climb back up to the road. Our plan was to do a quick loop through the main Yosemite Valley before heading off to our campground for the evening.
We continued on Tioga Pass road through the park towards the valley, and although we knew that our campervan met the length requirements for the park, we often felt like it was the width that was the challenge on the narrow mountain roads. We were glad to reach the valley floor and by luck arrived just as the last of the sun was hitting the rock faces. We stopped for a while to watch the climbers on El Capitan before continuing along the Merced River.
As the sun started to set we continued out of the park towards our campsite for the night. We hadn’t managed to get a reservation in the park, but were pleased to find a little campground just outside which had great facilities including the ability to plumb our campervan into our campsite – quite a luxury!
The next morning we headed back into the park, and took some time to wander the various trails that crisscross the meadows on the valley floor. The hiking trails provided us with ever-changing views of the valley and we were delighted to be able to spot North Dome where we had been hiking the day before.
From the valley floor North Dome looked much more imposing and it was hard to imagine that we had been standing on top of the giant rounded dome just the previous day. We were once again pleased that it had been our introduction to the park as it provided us with a landmark to watch as we travelled around.
After winding our way through the valley floor, we made our way back to the campervan so that we could head out towards our trailhead for the day.
Our plan was to visit Glacier Point and to walk some of the trails in that area. At this time of the year, you are able to drive the entire way, which was great from the perspective that it made planning easy, but was a bit of a challenge when we were driving a pretty large campervan. We made a brief stop at Tunnel View to take in the iconic view of the Yosemite Valley before continuing on to the road end.
The views from Glacier Point were stunning and we got an even greater impression of not just the Yosemite Valley but the wider area. We were also pleased to be able to pick out North Dome (and the neighbouring Basket Dome), sitting proudly opposite Half Dome.
From Glacier Point we put together a loop hike that took us up Sentinel Dome which provided 360-degree views of the park. From Sentinel Dome we followed a trail through the forest towards Taft Point, which we enjoyed just as much as we had views over the Yosemite Valley where we had been walking that morning.
As we walked along the cliff-edge trail at Taft Point, the low sun seemed to light up El Capitan, making it almost glow in the weak evening sunlight. Despite the crowds at Glacier Point, this section of the trail was very quiet and we were able to take our time and enjoy the views.
The trail eventually took us back to the car park at Glacier Point and we were able to get back in the campervan and continue winding our way back down before turning south towards the Wawona section of the park where we were camping for the night.