A collection of travel and adventure stories

Yosemite Valley Tour

Description and Directions >>

Description:
Yosemite National Park is located in the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California. This 1,170 wilderness area offers views of tremendous glacier carved granite cliffs, river and lakes, meadows and forests, and fantastic cascading waterfalls. A 20-mile road travels through Yosemite Valley, where you can access trails leading to the falls and vistas of the granite mountains. Camping facilities and other lodging are available in the valley.

Activities:
kayaking, hiking, camping, picnicking, sightseeing

Directions:
We entered the park from the South Entrance, which can be approached along Highway 41 North from Fresno. The Wawona Road continues into Yosemite Valley.

To get to Yosemite from Sacramento, take Highway 99 south to Manteca. In Manteca, take Highway 120 east into Yosemite National Park.

Story Date 10/8/2004
Publish Date 11/18/2004

Story Perspectives >>

According to Mikala: Yosemite is one of those places that just takes your breath away. I am always amazed at the awesomeness of the views.

We had taken a trip to Oakhurst for the Chocolate Festival, which we saw on a Food Channel show. I had expected to spend the day eating chocolate every possible way I could. However, the festival did not live up to my expectations. It was more of a craft festival. The tent where the chocolate was located was too crowded.

Luckily, we had also planned to take a drive into Yosemite to enjoy the views and kayak on Tenaya Lake. I had been to Yosemite once before, and I remember it as being magnificent. We started our tour with a drive up to Glacier Point, where there are fantastic views of Half Dome and the valley below. We continued our drive down into the valley. We stopped to enjoy the view of El Capitan and some climbers heading up the face of the mountain.

We drove on to our final destination, Lake Tenaya. Here we enjoyed a very beautiful paddle on the lake (see separate story for more information). We made our return through the valley right as the sun set. We didn't quite reach the valley in time to take some great sunset pictures. We did get a couple pictures with some golden tips to the mountains.

To really enjoy Yosemite, you have to spend a few days exploring on the trails. We hope to do this in the springtime.