Mariposa, our next stop, is just outside Yosemite National
park. Yosemite is to rock climbers as
Mecca is to Muslims, Everest is to mountaineers, Las Vegas is to gamblers, trees
are to dogs and Bathurst is to petrol heads. Anyway, you get the picture.
We had two days
craning our heads upwards looking at the vast vertical granite cliffs of El
Capitan, The Sentinel, the Cathedral Spires and Half Dome. There was a sprinkling of snow on the tops of
the highest peaks. Waterfalls cascade
from the mesa above the cliffs. Yosemite
Falls is the highest in the States and we had a half-day hike up past the
Columbia Rock to get a better view.
Comets of water falling over 2000 feet, rainbows shining in the spray,
and loud crashes as snow avalanched off the ledges half way up the falls.
Seeing the spectacular Vernan Falls also took up a half day. No climbing planned on this trip but I
stepped up the first few metres of The Nose on El Cap to get a feel of what it
would be like. Completely vertical for nearly 3000 feet, with over 100 different
climbing routes, the easiest of which takes an average of 5 days. The star climbers can do it in less than a
day.
And for the uninitiated, Yosemite does not rhyme with Vegemite.
In the evening we retreated to Mariposa, where the food is
good and accommodation is reasonable.
It is a short drive to the next National Park, Sequoia,
named after the giant trees growing in groves above the snow line. We ascended up in to the mist, which gave the
forest a suitable eerie atmosphere. The
trees are simply amazing; so huge, so old, so peaceful, so majestic. We paid homage to the biggest tree in the
world, named “General Sherman”. Survivor
of many forest fires, the General was more than 200 years old when That Famous
Carpenter was born, 2012 years ago. This place is well worth a visit.
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