Adventure! Day 22 - Yosemite
We saw the giant sequoias. We got up around 9 this morning and made a breakfast of all the left over bits of things, as we have not been to a grocery store since before Vegas. We had onions and sweet potatoes, fried tortilla with peanut butter and jelly, and baked apples. We also had trail mix, and I think Eli ate Stella’s left over salad.
We hiked Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias - home to 100s of giant sequoias, the largest tree species in the world. It’s a Monday so it was not crowded at all, though the bus was full to take us to the hike. We saw the Bachelor and the Three Graces and the tree you can walk through. It was a long hike, even if it was only 2 miles. We took a long time to do it and I was out of breath. As usual, Liam, Eli, Ollivander, and Tanner were able to run about like it was no big deal. It was hot but not unbearable.
On the way back to our BnB, we stopped at the grocery. It was small and didn’t have eggs, but it did have a great many other things and tonight we will grill. We also had a little treat because we expect that now after our hikes.
I think the hike was graded as easy; while I didn’t find it particularly easy, it was way easier than the easy hikes in Colorado, so maybe I’m getting used to the grading scale out west. Or maybe national parks grade differently.
When we got back, our power was out and I had a momentary gulp about all the refrigerated food we had just purchased and the laundry in the washer. But then I saw the power company’s bucket truck and Damien, Liam, and Eli went to talk to the power people. Apparently, the power grid has a safety override - when it thinks there is a fire, it trips out all the power in this area. The good news is that they were able to get access to the helicopter and didn’t have to walk the 200ft of line in these mountains to find out if it was fire or just the extreme heat that tripped it. Damien was told that they just turned that feature back on yesterday and today is the hottest it’s been all year. It took about 2 hours to get the power back on, but we were only home for an hour or so of that. I’m glad it’s back on.
We are planning a sunset hike and then packing the bus for an early departure tomorrow to drop Damien and Kayleigh at the airport and pick up Anna-Sophia. Then on to Ventura.
The sunset hike was the best hike we’ve done so far. Glacier Point had the most fantastic climbable rocks and seeing the sun set on Half Dome was amazing. The drive there was nuts but the speed limit is 35 or less so it felt ok. Even the drive back was cool. The color of the sky over the mountains looked like an advertisement for some outdoor thing. And our power went out right after we finished eating dinner but it was back on by the time we got back.
