Yosemite Trip 2012-Days 5 & 6

Post date: Jun 12, 2012 3:8:37 AM

The morning of our last full day in the park, we woke to cool temperatures with mostly sunny skies. Today we were switching campgrounds to Lower Pines and taking it easy. Around 10am, I went to our new campsite to see if the previous occupants had left already. When I got there, they were just getting ready to leave. Britt and I quickly put our tent and sleeping bags into the car and checked out of North Pines. Our new site was #38 and it had a fantastic view of Half Dome as well as open access to the Merced River. We enjoyed our campsite for as long as Mother Nature would allow. However, around noon the clouds blew in and so did the cold rain. We stuck around for a little while before deciding to check out the Ahwahnee Hotel.The Ahwahnee Hotel is located at the northeastern end of Yosemite Valley adjacent to the Royal Arches. The area around the Ahwahnee Meadow was the site of a former Miwok village. Many iconic Yosemite landmarks can be seen at the hotel including Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, and the Royal Arches. The hotel was opened in 1927 and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987. There are a total of 123 rooms (including cottages) that range in price from $400+ to $1,000+.We were lucky to find a parking spot in the front row and quickly walked around the building. Inside we found a large great room (above-right) with tall ceilings and two-sided fireplaces at either end. There were lots of other people here relaxing on the couches and chairs spread across the room. Many of the original rugs and artwork are displayed along the walls. Britt and I walked around a little before finding a nice couch in front of the back side of one of the fireplaces. We spent a few hours here relaxing, reading, and people watching. At one point, I wandered toward the hotel reception area and token gift shop. After wandering around there for a few minutes I returned to the couch to read a little more. We stayed at the hotel until late in the afternoon.For dinner we went to Curry Village again to escape the weather. We weren't the only ones with that idea. In the dining hall there wasn't a table, couch, or chair available except within the buffet "boundaries". We thought that the price for the buffet was too much, so we ended up having pizza for the third time this trip. While I was ordering the pizza, Britt was on the lookout for a place to sit. When I came back after ordering she still hadn't found anything. However, by the time our pizza was ready she had found a large chair in the corner. We sat cozily pressed against each other on the chair eating and listening to the commotion around us. When we were finished we got some hot chocolate from the little coffee shop there (they also have good, cheap ice cream) and spent the rest of our time here reading.Once we finally decided to leave, we headed towards the showers but found them closed for cleaning. We decided not to try and come back later since we hadn't really gotten that dirty during the day and it was our last night in the sleeping bags. Instead of returning to the campsite, we decided to go to Tunnel View and look at the valley with a little bit of snow on it (above). Back at our campsite, we quickly got ready for bed, read a little more, and tucked in for a cold night.The next morning we woke up to the brisk temperatures and clouds still hovering over the valley. The cold temperatures really weren't that bad and we both slept pretty well. After getting all of our camping gear packed into the car, we checked out of our campsite and headed towards Yosemite Village to check on the status of the Tioga Pass Road. We found out that the road was temporarily closed due to the snow that had fallen the night before, but that it might reopen in the afternoon. However, we didn't want to wait that long so we decided to take the longer way home instead. After filling up the car at the Crane Flat Station we noticed a couple of cars heading up the Tioga Pass Road. We decided to follow and see if they had opened the road earlier than expected. Nope. There was a line of cars waiting that we could not see the front of. We turned around and headed off on the longer route.Along the way, we stopped at the South Fork Tuolumne River to check out a few waterfalls. Rainbow Pool Falls is a popular stop just upstream of the bridge over the canyon, but we were heading for the waterfalls further downstream at the confluence with Middle Fork Tuolumne River. As we walked down the steep and narrow road, Britt found a few wildflowers that we had never seen before including California larkspur, mariposa clarkia, alumroot and butterfly lilies (above), which made the short trip worth it for her. At the confluence of the the two rivers are two waterfalls with a bridge between them. The South Fork one is 25' tall and the Middle Fork one (below) is 182'! Just downstream of these are at least two more (51' and ~25'). There is also probably another one just downstream of the third one along the South Fork. When we were here the road was closed to cars due to a rockfall. This occurred at the second waterfall along the South Fork and tape was set up at the far end of the bridge. It appeared that some work had been done to clean up some of the debris, but there was still quite a bit on the road. These waterfalls really are fantastic and best of all see far fewer people than the smaller (but easier to get to) Rainbow Pools Falls.