As many people who visit Yosemite in the summertime know, the weather is great, the flowers are radiant… and the crowds are stifling. To be honest, crowds are what keep me from visiting Yosemite as much as I would like, and instead I find myself in the less visited wilderness areas that surround the Park. I have a hard time merging my nature experiences with thousands of people, and would rather take the trail less traveled.
However, a couple of weekends ago I was “forced” to put my feelings aside and took myself on a self-guided Yosemite field class I had enrolled in at my university….. I entered via Highway 140 through the Merced River Canyon, studying the geological and geographical history of the land around me the whole way. I will spare you from me sharing all the fascinating things I learned about the region’s natural history, but I did want to share the epiphany that I (and okay, millions of other people) have had: Yosemite is amazing!
I had forgotten that the reason that so may people come to visit this park, and the reason that John Muir fought so hard to preserve this area over a century ago, is because everything about this region is simply breathtaking.
Pictures can’t do justice to the awe-inspiring encounter of the truly grandiose magnificence that is Yosemite. And right now is a great time of year to visit. As I made may way through Yosemite Valley my first day there, it was surprising how uncrowded the park felt. Autumn colors were abundant and the maples and oak trees leaves’ bright oranges and yellows painted a vivid landscape that I couldn’t get enough of.
It was hard to be a student with so much beauty around me to take in!
The next day I drove up to the Wawona area to visit the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias, somewhere I had never been before. I took the seven-mile loop trail to the upper grove of trees and when I got there found myself completely alone, a tiny mouse amongst a world of giants.
I had an early start in the morning, and the sun was just starting to peak over the mountains. An isolated shower had covered everything in a few inches of snow the night before. As the sun’s warming rays touched the limbs of the giant sequoia’s way up high, the fine powder of snow that had settled on them fell off and floated down to the ground like fairy dust, as the snowflakes were illuminated by the golden beams of light that peeked through the forest. I stood in that grove for a long time, feeling more than privileged to witness such an elegant display of beauty by nature, in one of the oldest forests in the world.
I hope that you don’t let yourself miss out on Yosemite if you have the chance to go and visit this holiday season. Bundle up in lots of warm layers and enjoy the lesser crowds and changing scenery that this time of year has to offer. And let me know if this blog has helped to inspire to you to go!
Julia Stephens
CSERC associate