Yosemite Tioga Rd and Mariposa Grove 2nd time

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Today we decided to take the Tioga Rd. (Hwy 120) across the top of Yosemite Park.  We were not how far we would take it when we started. 

Not too long after we got onto Tioga Rd, we saw this water flowing down the side of the mountain.  We had to pull over and walk back a little to get this picture.

Olmsted Point was noted as a highlight in our Yosemite map.  This is taken at Olmsted Point. WOW the views are breathtaking!

More wondrous views!

Olmsted Point is an awe-inspiring stop. The peak in the back right is Half Dome.

This picture of Tic is greatly zoomed in. Notice his pants are blowing.  It was very windy and cold. He was freezing and wanting me to hurry.

Now this picture still shows Tic except you can hardly see him.  I put an "orange arrow" to show where he is standing. We are still at Olmsted Point.  Every direction we turned the views were magnificent.

The pictures above and below are zoomed in on some rock formations that have changing colors and unique formations.

As we started to leave the Olmsted pull-out, down the road we could start to see Tenaya Lake. We stopped and snapped this picture. 

The picture of this mountain looks like it is covered in snow, but it is just very light colored rock.  This is the same spot the picture above was taken.

The road went along side Tenaya Lake.  We stopped here on the west end of the lake.  Look how clear the water is.

This sign is at the east end of the lake.  The Jeep was reading 37 degrees and it was very windy.  We decided to forgo the 2 mile hike around the lake we had planned to take.  Tic was in shorts (as seen above) and we only had wind breakers with us.
Tic is such a wimp when he is cold.

The east end of the lake had this sandy beach and picnic area.  We snapped this picture and left.

Since it was too cold to hike here, we decided to go back to Mariposa Grove and hike around there expecting temperatures to be a bit warmer. 

On the way to Mariposa Grove, we had to drive back the same way in to the park.  This is the Merced River running through the valley below.  

Here's another waterfall.  Yosemite is similar to the Grand Canyon in that it is all so magnificent, pictures hardly do it justice.

There are a couple of things I want to point out in this picture. See the road?  There is a shuttle bus on the road.  It looks so tiny because we are across the canyon.  Look at the massive and interesting rock formations.

We finally made it to Mariposa Grove.  It is beautiful today and NOT snowing.  We decided to take a 2 mile hike here seeing some of the larger sequoias.  The sequoia above is the same one we took in the snow and clouds.

Look how huge this felled tree is.  According to the information, this tree fell hundreds of years ago.  Because of the tannins in sequoias they do not rot and bugs don't like to eat them.  Even though they don't deteriorate they are brittle and aren't suitable for houses.

If I remember correctly, this is the Bachelor and 3 Graces.

This huge sequoia is called the Grizzly.  The large limb near the top of this tree has been measured at over 7 feet in diameter.  Compare that with the tree in your yard.  Wow!

This is the California sequoia and it has a walking tunnel through it.  It is the largest living tunnel tree.

Once we finished our hike, it was about 4:30pm so we decided it was time to head home.  We wear ourselves out some days!