Yosemite: Tuolumne Meadows and Merced Groves
Ah, Yosemite National Park--obviously (or arguably) the quintessential national park of the United States. Known for Half Dome, giant sequoias, and numerous waterfalls, Yosemite sees about 4 million people visit its extensive wilderness. Many choose to drive through Yosemite and stop to take photos at lookouts; but many still choose to plunge right in to nature and hike one of the park's many trails.
We were in Yosemite for three days, which I think is the minimum amount of nights you need to get a decent taste of the park's grandeur. A lot of the trails are longer than five miles round trip, so unless you're a fast hiker, be prepared for those to take all day. On our first day we opted for a shorter hike in Tuolumne Meadows. If my memory serves me correctly, it was about a five mile round trip hike.
Tuolumne Meadows has several short day hikes and is a good place to get your feet wet and your muscles primed for a longer hike during your second day in the park. But I digress. We hiked the Lembert Dome portion of the "Dog Lake and Lembert Dome" hike and then branched off to hike along the forks of the Tuolumne River back to our car.
Though steep, hiking up to the top of Lembert Dome gave us a spectacular 360 view of the area. (No, this isn't snow--it's just the color of the rock!) Definitely wear a good pair of hiking shoes as flip flops on a steep granite face just aren't going to be comfortable. After we hiked over the dome and down to the river, we took a break and just enjoyed the scenery and calming sound of the rushing water. The river was unbelievable and wonderfully clear--I would have been content hanging out in the spot all day!
After our short hike we tried to go to Mariposa Groves, but unfortunately found out that they had just started renovations in that area and it was going to be closed for two years!! We were pretty disappointed because it's supposed to have the best example of giant sequoias in the park. (For those of you going soon, it opens up again in Spring 2018.) Soooo, instead we went to the next best thing: Merced Groves!
Merced Groves is a three-mile round trip hike that is an easy hike out to the trees, but a more arduous hike back up to your car! You definitely don't noticed how steep it is (there's a 600 ft elevation difference) until you turn around to make the return hike back, so be forewarned! Though the grove is small with only about 20 giant sequoias, it is less trafficked than Mariposa (though I can't vouch for that a year later!) and you almost feel like it's just you and the trees. However, make sure not to step on their shallow root systems--you'll see signs advising you of this. Also, check out how huge sugar pine tree pine cones are! It's two thirds the size of my torso! In contrast, giant sequoia pine cones can fit in the palm of your hand.
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