Nevada Falls - Yosemite National Park - 8/11/16

Nevada Falls - Yosemite National Park - 8/11/16

We drove into Yosemite National Park early to get a parking spot ... Our national parks are clearly being loved to death.  Picked up a sandwich from Dunegan's Deli ... Off to a crowded park shuttle to get to Happy Isles bridge to begin our day's hike to Nevada Falls from the valley floor.

A couple of decades ago, we took Sander on a hike to Vernal Falls (below Nevada Falls) formed by the Merced River flowing down from the high Sierra Mountains.  This time we followed the Mist Trail (leads to Vernal Falls) to the John Muir Trail to the top of Nevada Falls ... 5.4 miles RT,1,900 foot elevation gain.

An amazingly beautiful hike ... One step in front of another ... Searching for my "inner John Muir" ... He was one tough Scotsman!

Pack horses unwilling to give me a ride down the hill ... (Bringing down supplies/garbage from the high Sierra camp huts).

And, of course, I had to see the movie at the Visitor's Center ... It felt so good to sit in a cool, dark theater for a half hour before the ride home.

Amazing crowds in Yosemite Valley ... Truly stunning crowds ... Crowded shuttle buses (think of sardines ... Or the Japanese subways where there are professional "pushers" to stuff more people into the subway cars) ... Crowded sidewalks (think Times Square) ... Traffic jams on the bike trails ... A department of traffic management regulating the inflow and outflow of traffic from the parking lots ... (Note to self:  No more national parks in the summer!).

Yet, for all of the crowding, it was all well managed ... All of the staff in the park took their time to answer questions, worked to reduce the lines, smiled and greeted the polyglot streams of visitors ... And kept the whole machinery moving along ...  I doubt that I would have lasted a day if I worked here.

Hard to imagine that some people can express distrust and dismay in the government when these hard-working federal employees manage to make these experiences possible for the world to enjoy.  I would like to see a media campaign with the faces of these NPS Rangers making Yosemite accessible to the world with patience, knowledge and good humor.  Cheers to all of them!