Disneyland, oops, I mean, Yosemite National Park is now fully open from the east and the west. If you thought you had honed in your gaper skills hanging out around Emerald Bay this winter, get ready for the big leagues, because almost everyone in Yosemite is there to “Gape It Out”. And for good reason. From Tioga Pass, on into Tuolumne Meadows, and further into the heart of the Park, Yosemite if going off right now as just about every vantage point you get is looking like a postcard.
A wise man once said, “patience is a virtue”. This most certainly applies in Yosemite National Park as once you wait your turn coming in from Tioga Pass chances are part of your scenery is going to be somewhat comprised of an RV going -10/mph or at least something like this.
Fortunately, by practicing patience, the sheer beauty of Tuolumne will hopefully take over and all angst accrued from getting into the Park will soon vanish. Case in point, John Muir’s holy Cathedral Peak looking prime for a skin in, climb, and ski out.
As much as I wanted to do that last Sunday the plan was to head into the Valley to meet friends for some climbing, so Jillian and I opted for a quicker ski mission in between Cathedral and the classic Fairview Dome. Skinning with views like this were just as sweet as the skiing. [*Important Note-Dogs are ok in the Park as long as they are on a leash (refer to the actual Park rules for more info on where dogs are allowed). These renegade dogs came out of nowhere and hung with us for a while during our visit]
Although with so much granite in Tuolumne it was a little bit tougher to get to the exact point we were hoping to drop in from.
The views from the top of our line were unreal. I’ve always wanted to hang out in this section of the Park when there was still snow as the contrast between the sea of granite, snow, trees, and meadows in this great wilderness area are profound enough to stop any visitor in their tracks to gape without reservation.
The turns were actually pretty good too,
and the longboarding (when no cars were coming) was equally as fun.
Better get on the skiing part soon though, if you’re thinking about it, as the intense rays of June are fully having their way with the snow off Tioga and on into Tuolumne.
But the gaping is the real reason we come to Yosemite, right? Which is why cruising past classic landmarks and views like Fairview Dome,
Tenaya Peak,
and postcard,
after postcard,
make all the dealing worth it. And boy did we have some dealing this weekend. After our impromptu ski and longboard Jillian and I were just gaping our way down to the Valley when one of the belts snapped in our engine. This was an easy way to gain massive amounts of gaper points in one of the world’s most core gapercentric locales. We were stoked, although the next 2 1/2 days were interesting since our car was shot. However, we managed to adapt and do our best to capitalize on the fact that even though we were broken down, we were in fact in Yosemite.
The next few posts will showcase a 16+ mile downhill bike ride through the Park, ridiculous waterfalls, wildflowers, swimming, cragging at the base of El Capitan, jumping off a bridge into a freezing cold river with 10+ guys and gals, bouldering the infamous Camp 4, camping without a reservation, biking through Yosemite Valley, hiking trails galore, headlamp climbing, longboarding, and even a couple of turns, while also dialing you in for what to do if your car ever breaks down in Yosemite.
