Our first morning in the Sierra Nevadas is absolutely splendid – the sun is shining brightly, there is not a solitary cloud to be seen and the temperature is pleasantly warm. What more could you ask for. We are some 35 miles from the centre of Yosemite Valley, but on this day it is a wonderful ride through the foothills of the Sierras. The road winds along the banks of the Merced River, and its' white foaming water illuminated by the bright sunlight. After passing through the entrance to the National Park area we make our first stop at Bridal Veil Falls. These falls leap off the edge of a precipice and fall down 620 feet to the valley floor. You cannot exactly stand underneath the fall but you can get pretty close to the pool at the base and the stream that flows from there. The effect of the water tumbling over the cliff creates a light spray through which the sun shines creating a wonderful rainbow effect. The tiny droplets fall down dousing us, fortunately we are prepared for this in our waterproofs.
Now it is time for the main event – continuing down the valley towards the Visitors Centre we drive by the massive granite monolith El Capitan, its 3000 foot vertical cliffs a favourite challenge amongst the climbing communities. In fact it was first conquered in 1958 by Warren J Harding, Wayne Merry and George Whitmore in 47 days (6 years after Everest was first climbed). Nowadays the improvement in equipment means people take 2 or 3 days to summit this peak. Today we are here just to observe its grand magnificence and take a few pictures. It is a such a beautiful day as the signs of spring are all around with the forests and meadows brimming with the yellows, oranges and blues of blooming spring flowers, which seem all the more finely set amongst the backdrop of granite spires and deep greens of the forest. No wonder people have referred to the Yosemite Valley as a cathedral. The Visitor Centre is set amongst the sprawling buildings of Yosemite Village and has the splendid backdrop of the Yosemite Falls. These falls are powered by the melt waters from the snow covered peaks of the Sierra Nevada, and cascade down the granite cliff from 2425 feet to the valley floor, making these the highest measured falls in the United States. The best time of year to see these falls is the spring as in the summer the snow has disappeared -ending the source for these magnificent falls. Also visible from the Visitor Centre is the other great symbol of Yosemite, Half Dome, its striking granite crest rising more than 4,737 ft above the valley floor.
Our timing is perfect as there is a Ranger led nature tour from the visitors centre. Our guide is the wonderful Eric who introduces us to the fauna and flora of the valley. He tells us how distinguish between corvids (the genus of crows, ravens and rooks) and gives us a jolly good impression of their calls. We nearly all knew the name for a group or collective of crows; “a murder” of crows, but no one knew the term for ravens. As it turns out it is called an “unkindness” of ravens. Unfortunately it is spring break in parts of California so hanging around the Visitor Centre in the middle of the day is not the best place for seeing too much wildlife, but we do get introduced to the acorn woodpecker who work in a pack (actually the collective term for woodpeckers is “descent”) to peck holes in dead trees and fill these with acorns. Other common spotting in the area included the stellars jay and ground squirrel. Nothing too exciting but still we learnt some more information about these common animals that we would not normally turn our heads for. Before leaving we take the trail to where the Yosemite Falls finally reaches the valley floor. The final section of the fall is a mere 320 feet but is still quite spectacular, and we ignore the signs like everyone else and climb across the rocks to get a closer view. A truly wonderful place and a truly wonderful day.
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