Half Dome

There’s a tradition in my house that for your birthday you get to take a trip. You get to pick where and when, and the other person has to plan it. These rules aren’t hard and fast, my husband isn’t a great trip planner so I usually help him plan my trip, sometimes the choice is mutual. Usually we go for a three day weekend. I chose Cape Cod this year, the hubby went for Yosemite. His sister and her roomie flew in from New York City and we were joined by another friend. It’s hard to pick a traveler of the week from this crew. The birthday boy? The NYC duo for getting back to nature? Definitely not our nameless friend, he’s fired for being too lazy to find his own driving directions (how hard is that!?).

The nominees for traveler of the week

This is somewhat embarrassing to admit, but I haven’t been to Yosemite since I was a kid (and then only once). I was fairly excited about seeing Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, El Capitan and all the other famous valley floor sights. I even brought along John Muir’s My First Summer in the Sierra to read. Yosemite is just as beautiful as it looks in all those Ansel Adams photos, but there was one thing I didn’t anticipate, the crowds. Yosemite is really crowded, and I heard it only gets worse in the summer. On Saturday we waited over twenty minutes to just enter the park. Mainly the crowds are around all the famous sites, once we got our fix of the falls and domes, and headed on some less popular trails (still gorgeous) we got a little more alone time with nature. So if you’re headed to Yosemite, beware of the crowds. Friday and Sunday were a lot less crowded, and I hear midweek is best.

But I digress. Yosemite is really amazingly gorgeous, and if you’re going to be in San Francisco, you really should try a day tour or overnight camping experience. It’s not to be missed. My favorite trail was the hike to Sentinel Dome: no crowds, and all the view of Half Dome without the killer hike.

The New Yorkers audibly gasped when they saw some deer, but to be fair they also got excited at the cows we saw driving up to Yosemite… yeah I think the birthday boy wins for traveler of the week.

– Kelly G

I am not the only Yosemite lover at Viator, Christine is training for the Yosemite Falls hike: 6 miles, but with over 3500 feet in elevation gain, so you won’t find me trying it!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007 at 3:42 pm and is filed under Destinations, Traveler of the Week, USA, Canada, Mexico. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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