CA: Yosemite National Park

145 years ago today, Abe Lincoln granted Yosemite Valley to California "for public use, resort & recreation." For 20 years following that, John Muir lived and breathed this area and promoted it heavily. Around 1890, the Yosemite National Park was opened.
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My first and only visit to Yosemite was in 2004 when we took our kids on a two week tour of the west. Yosemite is breathtaking. Our first glimpse was looking down on the Yosemite Valley (pictured above), lush, green, big. We could see 2 climbers moving slowly up the face of El Capitan, the rock face on the left in the picture above.

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Yosemite includes the headwaters of the Tuolumne and Merced rivers. During our stay, we rented rafts and slowly floated down the Merced, snuggled between 8,000 feet of mountains, waterfalls and canyons. Rafting is generally open in June and July, depending on water levels.

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We lodged in the primitive cabins at Camp Curry, which was built in 1899. It's a village that has cabins and canvas tents, a restaurant, stores, a pool and a huge rec. room. What I liked best were the rockers on the patio at the rec room, a great place to drink my morning coffee.

At twilight one evening, Marj and I returned from the showers only to find a bear between us and our cabin door. We stood transfixed & took a few steps backwards. The bear caught our freshly showered and cucumber-lotioned scent and ambled off in favor of a meaty raccoon or something.
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During our stay, we also rented bikes, mainly for transportation, and we enjoyed the heck out of those bikes, taking many rides while Tommy was fishing. While pedaling along, we'd occasionally be stunned into disbelief that we were amidst such beauty. If you visit the park, you'll find you just have to stop what you're doing and look in awe at your surroundings several times a day.
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Tom and Tommy hiked the 7.2 mile hike (round trip) to Yosemite Falls, the tallest waterfall in North America. The upper and lower falls drop 2,425 feet. It was pretty much an all day trip and definitely a great hike.
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Another great hike, much shorter, is the one to Bridalveil Falls. The ahwahneechee called this place Pohono, "Spirit of the Puffing Wind." The winds swirl about the cliff, lifting the falling water and blowing it from side-to-side. Tom and I climbed to the top and got soaking wet. The falls have a 620' drop with a beautiful rainbow at it's pool. We were both surprised by the rainbow and thought it most excellent to be looking down on a rainbow for a change.

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The other most memorable part of our trip was our attempts at photography. We sprawled out on the grass each evening and tried to photograph Half Dome as Ansel Adams did so famously. This was as close as we got and either the moon wasn't out yet or I cropped it out of the photo, which is something I'd do. But it looks like it was just too early for the moon.

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Happy Birthday, Yosemite! Thanks for the memories!