Yosemite National Park ~ Day 1, The Four Mile Trail

 

There are many posts on this blog about Yosemite.  Les and I went there together for the first time in October 1989, just a couple of months after we started dating. It is where Les proposed on November 3, 1990.  Since that time we have been back many times - usually on Black Friday after spending Thanksgiving with my family.  We've never actually stayed in the area, it's always been up and back on the same day... until this year.

When we realized the wedding of Israel and Deborah was the Friday before Thanksgiving, in San Jose, we started looking at options for the days between the wedding and Thanksgiving.  We decided on Yosemite and it was a great decision!  (BTW, I'll have a wedding post in a few days.)

Taken from the balcony of our room

I started looking for a hotel that was close to the park.  The most well known ones such as the Ahwanee and Wawona were more pricey than we wanted.  I stumbled upon the Yosemite View Lodge in El Portal.  It is located on highway 140 and just two miles from the park entrance.  I took a chance and booked a room and we were so pleased!  Highway 41, the road to Yosemite from Fresno, is extremely windy and not one I enjoy at all.  Highway 140 was much better!  Our room was much larger than I expected with a king size bed, fireplace, mini kitchen with microwave, small refrigerator, and a two burn stove top.  We had a balcony that overlooked the Merced River which was flowing beautifully.

  

We took our time getting up on Sunday, but we were still in the park and ready to hike by 10:30.  We chose the Four Mile Trail.  I have no idea why it is called "Four Mile" because the sign at the trailhead says 4.6 miles and the website says 4.7 miles.  We were prepared for a long day with backpacks, water and snacks, and I had my hiking poles.  It was cool at the start but we knew we would warm up as we worked our way up the trail.

 

It took us a little over two and half hours to get from Yosemite Valley to Glacier Point.  We had just over 3,200 feet of elevation gain.  Fueled by Cliff Bars!

 

We took dozens of pictures.  It seemed the view got better with each curve we rounded.  

 

 

 

This is a really cool picture that Les took.  You can see Half Dome in the distance, but you can also see it on my phone.  He's so creative!

We spent about 40 minutes at Glacier Point before heading back down.  Total trip on the "Four" Mile Trail was about 10.5 miles!  It was a great beginning to our vacation.  I have so many pictures and we had so many adventures they just won't all fit in one post.  More to come.