It started with a brewery. Tioga-Sequoia Brewing Company in Fresno. Well it’s a long way to make it all the way up to Yosemite on a Friday night after work, and we were only nipping up for the weekend. So we stopped at a motel in downtown Fresno, which just happened to be in close proximity to the Tioga-Sequoia. A fire pit in the middle of the table was not only welcoming, some would say essential given the tables were outside and the temperature a bit cooler than we’re used to. Put it this way, the woolly hat didn’t come off.
We had heard some horror stories about the state of the national parks since the government shutdown. ‘Non-essential’ workers in certain government sectors were not working (nor were they being paid), and this includes national parks. Earlier in January, we had read about the 27+ tons of garbage overflowing the rubbish bins in Yosemite, not to mention the health hazards from human waste. At the time of our visit, this weekend marked the longest government shutdown in US history so we weren’t optimistic about what we’d find.
However, it seems the news reports had spurred on certain efforts to address the declining state of affairs. Thanks to skeletal staff re-focusing efforts, local business attention and volunteers mucking in, we were greeted with portaloos stocked with toilet paper and empty bins. Not only that, but the aforementioned horror stories had deterred other potential visitors so we practically had the place to ourselves. Even the deer were wandering along the footpaths without a care in the world.
There’s a certain beauty about Yosemite in winter, the granite walls made all the more impressive by a light dusting of snow highlighting the contours. In the valley, we walked to Yosemite falls, the rainbow at the base reminding us how lucky we were to have sunshine and blue skies when the forecast had been overcast and drizzly.
After overnighting at a motel in the ‘gateway’ town of Mariposa, the scenic drive back into the park took us up the steep, windy road to Tunnel View with sweeping views of the Yosemite valley, backdropped by the iconic Half Dome, El Capitan and Bridal Veil falls.
Up at Badger Pass ski resort, we strapped on our snowshoes and headed off into the wilderness. I’d like to say all was silent apart from the crunch of snow underfoot. Except the crunch of snow under snowshoes is nigh on deafening. No chance of surprising any wildlife with those on. Although we did see a lone coyote, his fluffy winter coat making him appear much larger than our local desert coyotes, sniffing and snuffling his way across a snow-covered meadow on an endless search for food.
Snowshoeing makes for slow but rewarding progress, the pace akin to a meditative pilgrimage. The snow was crisp underfoot, the trail thankfully already broken by previous hikers. After a 2 hour snowshoe workout, we finally made it to our turnaround at Dewey Point, with a view to die for. Yosemite in Winter! ❤️
Our return trip home was also to die for, although not in quite the same way. The rain and snow that had been forecast was merely delayed by a few days, and decided to fall with a vengeance as we drove south. The Santa Clarita Valley (clue is in the name) sits just south of a mountain range that we have to go over on the I5 freeway in order to get home. As we approached the ascent up the Grapevine Pass, the rain turned to sleet, the traffic slowed, and the freeway became a car park. Long story short, the pass was closed and our alternative route involved a 100+ mile detour along an only slightly less treacherous road (overturned lorries aside). Our 4.5 hour journey home became a nearly 8 hour journey home – so much for just nipping up to Yosemite for the weekend!
