I don’t know about you, but the first thing that comes to my mind when I hear “Yosemite” is the cartoon character Yosemite Sam. I guess growing up on the east coast in the 60’s is the reason. I never stopped to think about Yosemite National Park and all of the beauty and magnificent scenery found there.
The Yosemite area of California is unbelievable. One of America's most amazing natural wonders, Yosemite National Park features nearly 1,200 square miles of sheer in your face awe. From towering waterfalls to millennia-old Sequoia trees to daunting cliff faces and some of the most unique rock formations in the United States, Yosemite features jaw dropping scenery beyond description. Despite its enormous size, most of the activities that attract tourists and vacationers take place within a 7 square mile area in Yosemite Valley. This is where tourists find the park's most famous landmarks, Half Dome and El Capitan, as well as excellent hiking trails throughout the natural monuments. Even inexperienced hikers will find that guided tours and climbing lessons are available from local adventure outfitters.
Like any popular tourist attraction Yosemite is visited by a lot of people. That being said, don’t expect a quiet repose as you absorb the memory unless you do everything early. Like so many other American tourist destinations, Yosemite may be crowded during peak times. After all over four million people visit each year. The trick is to get there before the crowds arrive and you may see that Mother Nature's wonders will reveal themselves to you in a miraculous and serene way.
By merely standing in Yosemite Valley and turning in a circle, you can see more natural wonders in a minute than you could in a full day pretty much anywhere else. Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, El Capitan, Bridalveil Falls, Sentinel Dome, the Merced River, white-flowering dogwood trees are expected. If you are lucky you may even see bears ripping into the bark of fallen trees in search of honey.
In the mid-1800s, when tourists were arriving to the area, the valley's special geologic qualities and the giant sequoias of Mariposa Grove 30 miles to the south so impressed a group of influential Californians that they persuaded President Abraham Lincoln to grant those two areas to the state for protection. On October 1, 1890, thanks largely to lobbying efforts by naturalist John Muir and Robert Underwood Johnson, the editor of Century Magazine, Congress set aside 1,500 square miles to establish Yosemite National Park.
Because Yosemite encompasses so many square miles and thousands of acres, the options of where to stay and what to eat are many! There’s a Nevada side and a California side that offers hundreds of rental units, hundreds of restaurants and things to do besides visiting the Park (although I can’t imagine why you would choose something else).
Now, getting back to a remembrance of Yosemite from a person living on the east coast-the first photograph I can remember of Yosemite Park is a car sitting inside of a giant Sequoia tree. At Mariposa you’ll find the largest and oldest trees in the park. The oldest sequoias are over 3,000 years old, and rise to a height of over 200 feet. There’s nothing like that on our side of America! Come see for yourself!!