Here we are, the prime destination of our trip. On the edge of Yosemite National Park. And… we will be waiting to see it. It has been pouring rain for several hours, with several more to go in the forecast.
We have been grateful for outstanding weather to date. And this area needs water. It’s getting it today! Thankfully, we got a campsite not far outside of the park that does NOT have a winter storm warning; where we initially intended to be tonight is still forecast for 9 inches of snow today. We’ll get there, just a little later in the week.
To build on the precipitation analogy, things are fluid right now. Jim Cantore has taught us well, as we study the different elevations and type/amount of precipitation, as well as the upcoming forecast to see how quickly any accumulation will hopefully melt. We’re just going to have to wait and see, and we’re glad to be away from the snowfall as it happens. We’re hopeful to still get two nights of camping directly in the park in the coming week, and will definitely explore/hike every bit of it that we can. We had already heard that the waterfalls are spectacular right now, and so that should only improve for us.
The drive here was another beautiful challenge. Lots of up and down, some narrow roads with twists and turns. We drove through the town of North Fork, whose big claim to fame is the “exact center of California”. So there you have it, we are now officially in central CA. We have been in and out of the Sierra National Forest a half dozen times, after being in and out of the Sequoia National Forest in a similar fashion a few days ago.
About 20 miles out, we started to see the grandeur of this area. There were huge mountains and rock faces on either side of us, in a very steep valley. Steeper than we have seen to date. At one point, there had been a rock slide several years ago (see this link) which they are still working on, and will be for several years. We could see it, and it was quite unnerving. In order to keep the road open, they have a one lane road and bridges to get around it. We can’t imagine the delays “in season” and are hopeful that this bout of rain doesn’t start anything else!
We’re going to enjoy a nice pasta dinner and a good bottle of wine tonight. We don’t normally do that kind of cooking in Livvy that requires more than one step and/or one pot, but this hibernation day is perfect for it. Salud!
Our cute, small campground is literally right along the river just before you get to the park. We were less than a mile away and thought “no way will there be land for a campground around here”. They definitely make the most of the space, complete with a hotel, restaurant, gift shop and indoor pool on property. We’ll have to see that later in the week when things dry up again.
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