Today is Day 51 of our cross-country adventure. It’s crazy to think that we left New York more than seven weeks ago! We have a new president and everything (ugh). We’ve managed to keep expenses to about $118 a day and have been actively using Airbnb and Priceline to keep lodging costs down. It certainly has been a lot of bang for the buck as far as experiences are concerned. Everything, including the weather, has been great!

Today we ventured to the much less traveled northern section of Yosemite: the high country. This involved taking the somewhat torturous 1.5-hour drive into Yosemite Valley and then taking a 1.25-hour drive back up the other side. The roads are slow and endlessly windy. And one needs to be on constant watch for animals and falling rocks. It’s like a video game in real life.

As we wound our way out of the valley we made our way to Tioga Road which is oftentimes closed by the first week of November. It was actually closed a couple of weeks ago due to a heavy snowfall. In fact, there are still patches of snow along most of the route in the shady areas. We’ve lucked out a lot this trip with weather and park road access. There has only been one road we wanted to take, but missed (Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park) due to 3-foot snow drifts (and that was in October).

The road runs through miles of pine forests and eventually opens up to an area of bare granite slopes and domes. Rock fissures make angular patterns in the hills and glacial erratics are strewn all over the landscape. The feel is totally different than the valley and completely enchanting. We took the Olmstead Point trail and took in a different view of Yosemite Valley. The bristlecone pine trees and random rocks really stole the show, though.

The granite domes are fun to hike on!

Here are some fissures and glacial erratics that were dropped here by the melting glaciers.

Billy holding up a boulder.

Next stop on the road was Tenaya Lake. Surrounded by granite peaks and domes, its allure is irresistible. The temperature was much cooler in this area of the park and some puddles in the shade were actually frozen over.

Too bad it wasn’t warmer. This lake would be a magnificent kayaking spot!

Our last stop for the day was Tuolumne Meadow, a place we both were kinda “eh” about visiting after the sheer mind-blowing beauty of the valley. I’m so glad we got to see it. The place is utterly enchanting. I’m not sure if the meadow is normally green (I assume so), but today the grass was a golden yellow and stretched from foothill to foothill. Crystal clear streams meandered through the waving grass and colorful rocks and pine trees grew here and there. You could not imagine a more idyllic scene if you tried. We didn’t see any wildlife, but took tons of photos because every square inch of the place was pure magic.

Our first glimpse of the meadow, complete with some leftover snow.

While it is very dry everywhere else, the meadow had plenty of small pools and babbling streams.

Sunset in the meadow. So cold, but so pretty.

By the time we left it was almost dark. This was poor planning on our part since we had to drive through Tioga Pass to get to our next hotel. The pass brings you from 10,000 feet down to 5,000 through spectacular mountains on a narrow road. We did that in the dark. Oh, well. The three-quarter moon was bright enough to illuminate the snow on the mountains, so we at least had a tiny hint of the landscape.

Overall, Yosemite was a highlight for both Billy and I on this trip. It has everything…mountains, valleys, breathtaking waterfalls, lakes, streams, sequoia forests (which we didn’t visit), cliffs, and more. It’s pretty close to a paradise on earth. During yesterday’s hike there was even a rainbow in Yosemite Falls.

Almost unbelievable.

Tomorrow is a driving day as we make our way south to Joshua Tree National Park. I know nothing about the place except it has some interesting trees. Ciao for now!