Yosemite NP

We spent a couple of days at Yosemite. It is a very crowded NP even in the fall. We were amazed (as we always are when in the West) how many foreign visitors there are here. Some come on bus tours but it seems the majority rent small motorhomes--I don't understand how they manage since they for the most part don't know much English. We feel as if we are in the minority and don't know who to ask to take our picture. We look around and pick out someone, then ask them, guess what---they are foreign and they don't even understand us so you start pointing at the camera, but you can't explain anything about how to use your camera. The scenery in the valley is magnificent--huge boulders, the river, the waterfalls, El Capitan. We drove up the scenic drive to Glacier Point that overlooks the whole valley.



El Capitan


But the highlight of the trip was watching the mountain climbers on El Capitan----how crazy are those people!!!! Can you see them in the crevices just hanging by ropes and sticking their hands and feet in cracks.


Can you see these? Look right in the middle of the picture. We watched them several times during the day to see their progress. Then that night I had to google and read about them. I found some photographer who goes up with them and does a photo shoot of their climb. They even spend the night hanging on the side in cots!!! They also climb at night with lights on their heads. What some people do for a thrill.

We had to leave this area and head south to get to the other side of the Sierra Nevadas because of the snow that is coming. Snow in Northern California and wildfires in the south. What an unusual and varied state.