One Last Waterfall

We were due to leave on Thursday and had to be out of the cabin by 10. But that didn't mean we had to leave Yosemite right away. We packed a lunch and headed to the trailhead for Chilnualna Falls...one of the lesser-known waterfalls in the Park. In ways, it's not as grand as its cousins in the Valley. The full hike to the top, however, takes three-and-a-half hours. It's a long waterfall with lots of different cascades. And it's not as small as it might appear in that photo at the top. Here are the kids next to the same cascade. See them?The hike to the lowest part of the falls was a whopping 10 minutes or so and we weren't quite ready for our trip to be over, so we continued up to appreciate some of the other cascades.Finally, not so far up, we found a cascade with a pool where you wouldn't be washed over a cliff if you dove in. Mam, ever the enthusiastic water sprite, was first into a swim suit. Smunch refused at the get go. Mam never got further than her feet, however. It was COLD! Didn't stop me from diving in head first however. And, uh, it was COLD. One little lap over to the falls, where there was quite a current, was enough for me.I got right out and dried off on a warm rock. Daddy took a little swim too and agreed it was "refreshing". All dressed back in our hiking clothes, we set off back down the trail, got in the mommymobile and made one last stop at the grounds of the Wawona Hotel to eat our lunch before we set off home...where two lonely kitties and the announcement of the kids' classes for the Fall awaited...

More Haze and River Floating

I don't know what possessed us to take the drive over to Glacier Point on our third day in the Park. We knew the wildfire was burning on that road. And no, it wasn't a great, big dangerous fire, so driving the road was no big deal and the kids enjoyed seeing the little fires burning.

But the detour probably took us 90 minutes out of our way to the Valley and the views were, uh, compromised, shall we say? That part was pretty predictable, but we figured the smoke in the Valley was getting worse and the views weren't going to be better the next day, so might as well give it a shot. It didn't even look too bad for a while...you know, until we *got* there!Perhaps there is something slightly majestic about Half Dome rising over the blanket of smoke. Uh, maybe. You could hear Nevada and Vernal Falls from up there much better than you could see them.And the kids, especially Mam, were slightly annoyed that this little side trip delayed their opportunity to go "rafting" for the first time.

Because that's what we'd told them we were going to do. After all the complaining about hiking, I figured we needed something else. Anything else to get them excited about this trip. So, rafting the Merced River in the Valley it was. I made Daddy stop again along the way for some more pretty meadow pictures. I doubt the kids were thrilled about that either, but I wasn't in the car, so I didn't hear about it.Of course, we arrived in the Valley somewhat later and had a hard time parking. We finally made it, hopped an overcrowded shuttle to the rental place, filled out forms and stood in line. They're pretty particular about making sure kids weigh at least 50 pounds before they're allowed in a raft. You have to sign something saying that they are. But one look at our featherweight of a Mam and the guy at the window wasn't so sure. He invited her inside for a little weigh-in.

I was sure she was over 50 pounds, but honestly I don't weigh her daily or even weekly. I was suddenly struck by fear that maybe she'd somehow lost weight since she was last weighed. She hadn't. I guess her height makes up for those toothpick legs somehoww because she was about 55.

We waited for an "orientation"...which should probably be entitled "10 Dumb Things You Shouldn't Do While Rafting". And we finally got our raft and schlepped it over to the river. This would have made a good picture, but there were no extra hands for a camera.

For those who have been rafting, I should probably explain that this wasn't exactly rafting. It was more like floating-in-a-raft while dodging the occasional bridge jumper. Still, that seemed perfect for our timid Smunch. I'd half expected him to refuse to go altogether, but it turns out he was totally game and really enjoyed himself.And Mam wasn't even questionable. She was going to be happy regardless. We weren't hiking, after all and that was the best news she'd heard all trip.The views from the river were also predictably hazy, so I'm sure this trip could be more spectacular. But it was made spectacular by a couple of happy kids who couldn't wait to set back out as soon as we were done lunching on the shore.We made the trip in some time under the advertised two hours, dragged the raft out and waited for the bus to take us back. We treated the kids to some ice cream and decided to take a leisurely walk back to the car. After all, it's not a hike if you're just going to the vehicle that takes you back to the swimming hole, right?

Actually, we'd planned to go on another short hike to the waterfall by the cabin, but by the time we got back, it was already getting late and we opted just to stop at the swimming hole instead. Daddy and the kids watched a little girl using part of the rapids as a water slide and decided to try that out. I was pretty proud of the kids' fledgling swimming skills. They looked a little alarmed being whisked along in the current, but had a blast. It was fun for me too. I was a little sorry I'd left the camera in the car, but then, maybe it was more fun without it.

Yosemite

It had been almost four years since we visited Yosemite. I wanted to ensure we had an opportunity to go camping this year, so back in March, I checked out campsite availability in Yosemite. I found one spot available in the campground furthest from the Yosemite valley, but still inside the park. I figured it must be near the dumpster or prone to flooding. On top of a septic tank maybe? But no. It turned out that we were just exceptionally lucky. We had a beautiful spot, right on the Merced River.Of course, it was still hot and by the time Daddy and I managed to get our camp all set up, we were more than ready to jump in the water.We had a tasty spaghetti dinner, complete with campfire-cooked garlic bread and salad with veggies brought from the garden at home. We even made a little ice cream for dessert and ate it as we walked to the campfire program with the ranger.

In the morning, we headed for the Yosemite valley with the goal of seeing a few waterfalls and maybe bagging a letterbox or two. I'd made the tactical error of telling Smunch about the Mist Trail. I've taken this trail to the top of Vernal Falls before, but it's been a long time. It's only 1.5 miles to the top. What they don't really show on the map is that the 1.5 miles involves a gain of 1000 feet. Possibly not so appropriate for a 4 and 6-year-old. You think? We decided to go for it anyway, leaving our lunch in the cooler in the car rather than packing it up the trail with us (mistake!).

Here's the view from our starting point. There was also a lot of smoke in the air in Yosemite, so what looks like a little early morning fog is really nasty smoky air.And our intrepid explorers at the beginning of the hike...It's about 1.2 miles to "the bridge" where you can first see the waterfall. Not surprisingly, it's a lot of uphill. And Mam whined a whole lot. Daddy ended up carrying her more than any human being should have had to. But we made it to the bridge. Don't the kids look happy?Smunch will proudly tell you that he didn't whine even once. He was actually a terrific little kid the entire time. He was all excited to get up in the mist. And interestingly, even Mam was kind of excited to take the 0.3 miles of stairs on her own.I was ever so thankful that there was plenty of water in the falls and some mist on the trail. There's nothing like disappointing a six-year-old who has climbed all that way for the mist and hasn't whined at all!These days, the trip to the top of Vernal Falls, is more like some kind of pilgrimage. So many people are on the trail that it's really crazy. Old people, young people, women in bikinis. Women in saris. Men in full combat fatigues. Backpackers, day hikers, those headed for the top of Half Dome. People who make you wonder why they haven't had a stroke... It's a wonder Daddy didn't have a stroke with how much Mam-carrying he had to do. But we made it to the top!We hung out at the top for a little while, but without lunch we really needed to get back. Mam insisted on walking down the steps herself and too fast, so she ended up a little scraped and bruised. But it was Smunch who managed to face plant on the way down. Still, we made it down mostly intact.At the bottom, we all treated ourselves to popsicles and ice cream sandwiches from the snack stand before taking the shuttle back to the van and having a picnic lunch, doing a small bit of souvenir shopping and then having Smunch demonstrate a earthshaking natural phenomenon by cratering into a hysterical mass before we made it back to the van. Despite the screaming child, I hadn't abandoned my hope of taking a photo of Yosemite Falls (which I'd really wanted to walk to, but that clearly wasn't going to happen) across one of the beautiful meadows. It took us way too long to find the appropriate meadow, but I got a nice shot and a picture of some interesting meadow flowers too.Another trip to the river was clearly in order by the time we got back to the campground an hour or so later. I started our hot dog dinner while Daddy took the kids to cool off. We traded places once the fire got going. We had a great dinner followed by s'mores. The Smunchism of the day was when Smunch bit into his s'more and declared, "Now this is camping!"We spent a little time around the campfire...and everyone fell asleep quickly.

Sunday morning, we woke up early. We had new neighbors with some very noisy, crabby little kids. It reminded me that although I love camping, it wouldn't have been a great idea to take our kids when they were younger. We cooked breakfast and packed up our camp. I'd hoped to go see some of the big trees, but after learning that would be another long, uphill hike, we opted for a more laid back morning, puttering around Wawona's historic site, complete with a pretty, little covered bridge and an active blacksmith shop. Then we hopped the stagecoach and headed for home...