On to Yosemite

On Thursday, we rented a car and drove out to Yosemite National Park. I went to Yosemite as a child and once as an adult and consider Yosemite to be one of the 'bucket list' national parks (along with Yellowstone). I looked forward to introducing Yosemite to my wife and to Kai.

We didn't have a dvd player in the car so Kai actually paid attention to the scenery as we drove. "I love California. Everything is so green and beautiful."

As we got closer to Yosemite, he said, "The bad thing about national parks is that the cellular connection is really bad." We tried to explain that people go to national parks to get away from their electronics but I think he had trouble grasping that concept.

It is about a three and a half hour drive to Yosemite from San Francisco, not counting stops, so after we checked in at Rush Creek Lodge just outside the park, we had time for one hike. We drove to the trailhead to Tuolumne Grove of Giant Sequoias. It would be about a mile hike to the start of the grove and then another mile or so to hike the loop through the grove before hiking back.

The grounds were covered with snow and the temps in the upper 30s. After the spring-like conditions in San Francisco, we were back in winter here. The snow added a bit of difficulty but as the hike to the sequoia grove was downhill, it wasn't too bad on the way there.

When we arrived at the grove, we saw the most massive, magnificent trees.

Kai's highlight was finding this giant pine cone (sequoia cone?). He got the biggest kick out of it. In the background of the following photo, you can see a fallen tree and get an idea of how big it must have been.

And here is the root section of another fallen tree.

One of the highlights of the grove is the dead Tunnel Tree.

You can see how massive it is.

The hike back was uphill and fairly tough. Despite the cold temps, we were all hot walking back. All of our walking up and down the hills in San Francisco were a warmup for this hike. I could tell that Kai was getting exhausted - heck, we all were. Kai grumbled a little bit, but I was pleasantly surprised that he mostly hung in there and kept walking. It was a huge change from past vacations.

We were quite happy when we made it back to the trailhead where we discovered a snowman that someone had made since we embarked on the hike.

After that workout, dinner at the lodge was especially good. Kai had steak, my wife had short ribs, and I had a bison melt.

One of the things that Kai likes best about the lodge is that they have s'mores by the fire pit every night.

Kai enjoyed his and went back to make another one.

Kai's other favorite thing about the lodge is that they have a heated swimming pool.

Well, they call it heated and I suppose it is, but it sure felt cold to me. I tried to join Kai in the water but I couldn't get more than halfway across the pool when my body froze stiff like a popsicle. Kai did several laps, though, saying he didn't want to forget how to swim. I just jumped into the hot tub.

We have more hikes planned so let's hope that Kai continues to hang in there.