Yosemite National Park

I didn't look into Yosemite campground reservations until about a week before our trip. Big mistake. This park is ridiculously busy, and so of course everything was booked solid. I started to look at private campgrounds outside the park and even considered just bagging Yosemite all together. On a whim, I rechecked the campground reservations website a couple of days later, and thankfully there had been a cancellation and I was able to get a spot at North Pines campground in the main valley.

Aside from all of the great scenery, I was excited to check out Yosemite's 3000-foot granite cliffs that have produced some impressive rock falls in recent years. The Utah Geological Survey produced a study on rock-fall hazard in Zion National Park and we employed some of the same methods pioneered in Yosemite. You don't need a geology degree to see that many Yosemite structures, campgrounds, and crowded hiking trails are in high-hazard zones.  Yosemite rock falls have killed several people in the past, and more injuries and fatalities are a certainty in the future. The high risk has prompted a new, comprehensive cooperative study between the National Park Service and the U.S. Geological Survey that has resulted in set-backs, and plans to permanently close or move some park facilities.

Lower Yosemite Falls.

Rafters on the Merced River below Yosemite Falls.

Bridge over the Merced River near North Pines campground.

Small pond near North Side Drive.

Tenaya Creek and the lower slopes of North Dome.

Glacier-carved Tenaya Canyon and Half Dome. The massive 2009 Ahwiya Point rock-fall scar and debris field can be seen downslope and slightly upcanyon from Half Dome.

One advantage of going to Yosemite early in the season is all of the waterfalls. My guess is that many of these thinner falls dry up by midsummer.

Nevada Falls from Glacier Point.

Bridalveil Falls.

Mirror Lake lives up to its name.

Yosemite Falls from Glacier Point. A 1980 rock fall struck hikers on the Upper Yosemite Falls Trail killing three and injuring 19.

Classic Yosemite scenery as seen from the Tunnel View overlook. 

Sequoia National Park

A felled sequoia along the Congress Trail in Sequoia National Park.

I knocked a couple of National Parks off the old bucket list last month. No huge climbs or anything. It was nice to just relax and do the usual tourist stuff. We enjoyed having our friends Millie and Casey along. Good times.

We camped at the Potwisha Campground  and spent one day in Sequoia. We camped the next night in Yosemite Valley--those photos are coming in a separate post.

Millie and Casey on top of Moro Rock. The high Sierras fill in the background.

Moro Rock. Susie photo.

Group of giant sequoias along the Congress Trail.

Congress Trail.

The General Sherman tree.

Susie and Millie mingle with roots of the Buttress sequoia. This tree was estimated to be about 2,300 years old before it fell without warning in 1959.

Crescent Meadow Road, Sequoia National Park. Casey photo.

Congress Trail.

Congress Trail.

Congress Trail.

Kaweah River, Sequoia National Park.

Congress Trail.

Congress Trail.

Getting close to the Tokopah Falls of the Kaweah River. Susie Photo.

Tokopah Valley, Sequoia National Park.

Tokopah Falls.

Day 3 in the San Rafael Swell

We were all pretty tired from our hike down Muddy Creek the day before, so there was nothing too strenuous on the schedule for our last day in the San Rafael Swell.

From our camp at Tomsich Butte, we could see the ore chutes and dark tunnels of the Dirty Devil uranium mine complex just begging to be explored. State and federal government have been reclaiming many historical mining sites around the state including tearing down mining-era structures and sealing off mines. For whatever reason they haven't reached this area yet, and you're free to poke through the remains and peak inside the tunnels which date back to the 1950s.

Great views of Hondu Arch can be found from the Dirty Devil mines.

On the way out of the Swell, we stopped at the pictograph panel in Temple Wash. The graffiti there has gotten out of control and I didn't feel like I could get a decent photo.

The disappointing Temple Wash pictographs meant we had to find the much more elusive, and thankfully nearly pristine pictograph panel in Wild Horse Canyon.

A shallow slot with moderately good striped crossbeds makes the sand slog up Wild Horse Canyon bearable.

The Wild Horse panel will not wow you with its size or color. What makes this site so special is the incredibly fine detail that is so exquisitely preserved. You can see tiny drops of blood dripping from a snake-like creature's mouth. Locks of hair and a flying serpent's feathers are all clearly visible.

To properly end the adventure, we enjoyed burgers at Ray's Tavern in Green River and then said our goodbyes.