Yosemite Weekend Part 3

On the third and last day of our weekend in Yosemite, we decided to have an early start in the Valley so that we can leave earlier and beat the exit traffic. Our kind hosts packed a nice breakfast for us to take on the road and we left our comfortable B&B inn behind and to head, once again, back in Yosemite Valley on a cold -7C morning.

We weren't planning on any strenuous hikes this morning, instead we drove around the Valley again and stopping at every possible lookout point. We've seen the valley on a cloudy day and a sunny day but yet again, the valley looked different today under different light as we were here a few hours earlier than yesterday.

One of the most amazing views, if not the best view of the entire trip, that we came across this morning was Valley View (see below). The panoramic view included the famous El Capitan (on the left) and Bridalveil Falls (on the right). Surprisingly, it wasn't at all crowded when we got there though a tour bus did show up about 15 minutes after we got there.



Very reluctantly, we left the Valley after visiting all the lookout spots and headed towards Mariposa Grove, near the entrance of the park. Mariposa Grove contains the largest grove of Giant Sequoia trees, including two of the largest sequoias in the world. We didn't spend too long there though the trees were very impressive. Strangely, many parts of the grove appear to be have been burnt out, not sure if this was a planned burning or a wildfire.


From Mariposa Grove, we said our final goodbyes to the wonderful Yosemite National Park and headed back to San Jose.