California

We arrived in San Francisco before 9am. Gaining time is the nice part about traveling from the East Coast to the West Coast. We got our rental car and were on the road before 10am headed south to Carmel. Big Sur lodging is expensive, infrequent and rustic, so we opted to stay in Carmel which is about 30 minutes away, felt less touristy than Monterey and closer to our travel to Yosemite. We stopped in Santa Cruz for lunch at the Crow's Nest which had an excellent salad bar with a view. We walked the beach for a bit and then continued on to Carmel.

Our room at Carmel Lodge was admittedly not stellar. While it was clean, had parking and great front desk service, the rooms lacked central air so were musty and it was motel-style meaning doors open to the outside. A "light breakfast" was served at 7:30am at the earliest. Timing was a challenge for us and they wouldn't deliver it the night before. Probably wouldn't stay here again and from the sounds of other guests we encountered, they felt similarly.

That afternoon we meandered around Carmel exploring the shops, galleries, alleyways, and stopped into the Carmel Bakery for a treat (the macaroons!). We walked down to the beach and along it to view Pebble Beach golf course, then ate the blue plate special at Pangaea Grill, a delicious 3-course meal for $27 each. We fell asleep by 6pm, pre-sunset .... the challenging part about traveling from East Coast to West.

We awoke at 2:45a, ready to go. Hmmm... we dozed and then by 4am just decided to get up, pack and plan for our day of hiking Big Sur. Then it was 5am, still dark with sunrise not for another hour and a half, so we decided to go for a run. Shawn found a great place just 5 minutes from our hotel called Carmel Highlands which had a dirt path along the coastline. It was perfection. We arrived in that pre-dawn period just light enough to see. The path was short but we made several loops around it to make a 3-mile run while watching the ocean waves and scoping out the pretty homes in the area. Then we went back to the hotel, showered and ate the itty bitty breakfast, a meager pastry and a little bit of fruit, provided by the hotel.

Big Sur has several State Parks to visit along the coastline. For $10, a pass will get you in to any state park for the whole day, you just pay cash when you arrive to the first one (either to the ranger or by an honor system). Andrew Molera was our first park (we did not go to Garrapata but it sure seemed by the cars that a lot of people do!). We did an 8 mile loop: Bluff Trail to Panorama Trail to Ridge Trail. It was open and exposed and we sure did get hot, but the ocean views were pretty the whole way. After our nice lunch spot atop Pfeiffer Ridge, we walked through a shaded redwood forest and then back to the open landscape where we encountered a charging buck. We had rocks in the ready in case we had to fend him off, but he finally veered off into the brush. Hearts racing, we hurried down the hill back to our car.

Next stop: Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. Many trails were closed here and in Julia Pfeiffer State Park due to trail maintenance issues, so we hiked Valley View. The first half-mile of that hike through the redwood forest was my favorite, but the view from the top was average. Good exercise though. We meandered through the redwood exhibits and along the river path for a bit before heading south again to JP, stopping at a grocery store for ice cream :). At JP State Park, again, many trails closed but we did get to see McWay falls from afar.

After a meandering drive back to Carmel, we got cleaned up and went to Carmel Craft Brewing Company for dinner. The scene was unexpected: an older crowd, a jazz band, and some good old-fashioned dancing. The beer was good, the pizza from Allegro Pizzeria mighty tasty (pass on the salad), and the people-watching unparalleled.

We again woke up at 4am and decided to forgo our included snack, I mean breakfast, and hit the road for Yosemite. Although still dark, the fog was impressively dense so we didn't miss out on any potential views. After a hearty truck-stop breakfast at Casa de Fruta, several other comfort stops for Shawn and a small spat about spending our vacation at gas stations for coffee and bathroom breaks, we made it to Yosemite by 11am still married. Oh, we also stopped for groceries in Merced. Food in Yosemite is $$ and average at best. For $60, we bought breakfasts, lunch, snacks, water and drinks for the week.

Lodging in Yosemite Valley, while central to activities, is pricey - even the economy-minded Curry Village - but it's convenient. Staying outside of the park adds an hour-plus travel time each day and is not worth it in my opinion. I had reserved a cabin w/ bathroom at Curry Village, which I think is the best value in the park, 6-8 months prior to our vacation. Three weeks before our departure, I got a nice email that Aramark (the park concessionaire) cancelled my reservation due to winter storm damage that occurred 6-8 months ago. When I called to inquire, they told me I was lucky to have been informed in advance and that they had no alternative lodging in the Valley to offer me. Lucky? After some choice words that as you'd expect didn't matter, I just checked back to the website every day hoping for a cancellation, and eventually there was at Yosemite Lodge. It was more expensive, but at least it all worked out.

Our room was not ready, so we changed clothes in the car and walked ~7 miles of the Yosemite Valley Loop trail north by Yosemite Falls, to Mirror Lake, through Curry Village and back through the meadows to the Lodge. In our 4 days, we traversed nearly the entirety of the 20-mile, fairly level Valley Loop trail and highly recommend it as a way to escape the crowds and enjoy the Valley. We were surprised by the heat: nearly 90 degrees in September. We had packed for 60 degree weather per our Weather app, which we realized must use Tuolomne temperatures. Oops. Like I mentioned before, not much water in autumn at Yosemite: Lower Yosemite Falls was a trickle, Upper Yosemite Falls vanished, and Mirror Lake was a puddle. The impressiveness of the rock though makes up for it all. We also really enjoyed watching rock climbers, looking at the trees and other vegetation and scoping out the Ahwahnee which is where I worked many years ago. It looked exactly the same!

We meandered back to the Lodge, got settled into our room and ate early dinner at the Mountain View Lounge. We were again asleep before sunset, deciding at this point to just stay on East Coast time.

Tuolomne is my favorite part of Yosemite, though realize I'm using this to loosely describe everything north of the Valley (basically Tioga Road and north). The hiking is fantastic and remote, flowers abundant in the spring, beautiful meadows and a great opportunity to spot wildlife. The elevation is much higher so in summer months it's cooler than the Valley. I also refuse to hike to places people can drive to, so hikes from Tuolomne allow you views of the Valley and park that most people can't get to.

Choosing which hike(s) to do in Yosemite is tough. The website yosemitehikes.com is fantastic for the real skinny and it really helped us get an idea of the offerings, views, crowd factor, expectations, etc. Note all of the elevation changes listed on this website and on the NPS sites are start to peak elevation. Rolling hills in the middle not included! We chose Cloud's Rest for the unique view of the Valley and Half Dome from a really high elevation, a moderate elevation change which would be a good warm-up to Half Dome, and we expected few people because of the length. It's billed at 14.5 miles with 1700 feet elevation gain, and difficult. I think our watches clocked it at 2450 cumulative elevation gain. We started our day again pre-dawn so we arrived to the Sunrise trailhead at around 6am, about an hour's drive from the Lodge. This is a spectacular hike: easy, then hard, then easy, then moderate up to the top. Cloud's Rest is a fin of rock so at one point, there are pretty shear drop-offs on either side of you but not nearly as scary as Angel's Landing at Zion. Trust me you have plenty of walking space, it's like a 6-foot wide balance beam of nice sticky granite. Just don't walk and text or take pictures at the same time! At the top we rested, got accosted by bees and a chipmunk that climbed into Shawn's pack and grabbed his peanuts, and chatted with twin brothers Dan and Darren from San Fran who gave us an excellent tip about starting Half Dome earlier than we had planned. We were very grateful!

After snapping some photos, we made the journey down and continued onward to the Meadows and then to Lee Vining for 'dinner' (it was 3pm). This sounds weird, but the Mobil gas station in Lee Vining has the BEST food. It was a pilgrimage back in the summer that I lived there, and it still has delicious offerings 16 years later!

Half Dome is the quintessential Yosemite hike. It's is billed as a 14.2 mile hike, 4880 feet elevation, but our watches clocked in at 17 miles and 5100 cumulative feet. Like I mentioned above, you need to enter a lottery to secure a reservation to use the cables. Print out and bring your reservation, there are literally park rangers way out there checking. You also need a pair of grippy gloves to help you scramble up the chains and a head lamp for the wee hours of the morning. Many people we saw used harnesses. We didn't but I can understand why they did.

Our neighbors had us up at 4am. They, too, were making the pilgrimage and wanted to let the entire hallway know. So we just decided to make a go of it right then. We drove up to Trailhead parking and were walking by about 5am. We thought we'd be alone, but no. I wouldn't say it was a cattle trail like Tongariro in New Zealand, but we saw headlamps both in front of and behind us. The first section is the Mist Trail up to Vernal Falls. This part was really challenging, but it was luckily cool while dark and only being able to see the step ahead of us made it go by pretty fast. The sun then rose as we made the ascent up to the top of Nevada Falls. While both falls were still impressive even in the fall, I bet this is a treat in the spring and early summer!

The trail leveled off for a few miles and then we started a fairly long ascent up to the base of Half Dome. The ascent never felt brutal to us though, kind of like a wheelchair ramp. Hard to find alone-time to pee in this section, so I advise using the bathrooms at the top of Nevada Falls.

We reached the park rangers at the base of Half Dome at about 9am. After checking our passes and receiving a safety brief about the value of patience, we ascended up some pretty darn steep stairs headed up to the base of the cables. The loose gravel made it treacherous in places and I won't lie, I was nervous here. And then there we were at the base of the cables. The closer we got to the cables, the less scary they seemed. I'd always envisioned it as being straight upward, like a ladder, but the incline is about 45 degrees, maybe a little steeper in a few spots. There are two chains and about every 10 feet there is a 2x4 between the posts that you can rest on (note some may be loose). The rock is slick due to wear, so the cables are necessary. I have no upper body strength and I did better than the ripped guy in front of me. We had luckily arrived early enough that there were very few people going down as we were going up, so the ascent was quick, maybe 15-20 minutes.

The top gives you another beautiful look at the Valley, with El Cap more visible than on Cloud's Rest. It's funny though, to me the magical vista of Yosemite includes Half Dome, and obviously when you are standing on it it just feels like something is missing. We rested, ate our PB&Js, meandered the length of the Dome, then prepared for our descent back down. This part required more coordination. Even though only 300 people do the hike per day, 75% seem to arrive at the same time - this must be the 6am departure group! That tip really did come in handy. The practicality of the descent was that you needed to talk to everyone around you: 'I'm coming down! I'm coming up! I'm huddling here clinging to this cable while you go around me! I'm exhausted and terrified!'. There was an older woman in front of me so I was on the descent much longer than Shawn, but it didn't seem scary to me. Like the ascent, just one stair to the next. I also went down backward so that my center of gravity was toward the rock. Felt safer to me but no one else did that.

The descent back to the Valley was long and arduous, hard on the knees after being on the legs for so many hours, so we took it pretty slow especially on the stairs. Also a lot more people to contend with in the early afternoon as the Mist Trail is very popular. We were back to the Lodge about 3pm, tired overall but feeling good. We ate an average dinner at the Base Camp cafeteria where your 'made-to-order' burger was ready as soon as you paid.... After texting my sister and our boss that we were still alive and well, were asleep by 7pm.

Half Dome is probably in our top 20 for great hikes because of the unique cable experience and the waterfalls which add excitement during the journey to the destination. But if you are looking for an easier hike with better view, Cloud's Rest wins. Even though the elevation change and distance were greater hiking Half Dome, Katahdin still takes the top spot for the hardest day hike we've ever done.

Our plan was to sleep in and rest this morning, so naturally we were up by 5am and were walking the Yosemite Valley Loop trail by 6am. Kinda felt nice to stretch out the cramped legs. We leisurely walked for 3 hours down to El Cap and back. We had the park to ourselves. We watched the climbers on El Cap, and as we were meandering back toward the Lodge, found a rock on the riverside and perched on it for at least a half hour enjoying the silence of a Yosemite morning.

Next stop was Yosemite Village for a walk through the Visitor's center and to pick up a patch for Shawn's backpack. We headed to the Ansel Adam's Gallery, which we thought would be a photo gallery but was much more like a store. We still enjoyed the nice pictures, some of which were on sale for > $70,000! I've always wanted to eat in the Ahwahnee dining room and lunch was the plan - pretty much the same menu and half the price of dinner. We started with a pesto flatbread, I ate a southwestern salad and Shawn had fish. The food was good, the location unforgettable. We also ran into Darren on our way out who was at a retreat at the hotel, and thanked him for our start-time tip which we are paying forward if you are reading this (4-5am start time, folks!).

After lunch, we bused back to the Lodge and headed south to the Mariposa Sequoia Grove, about an hour drive from the Valley. It's here we saw the greatest devastation from the wildfires a few years back, but took heart that forests need fire for regrowth. The Wawona area of the park is much quieter, it feels like being in another time. I've never spent much time there but I'm sure it could be enchanting. There's also a golf course there. I'm not sure why people would go to a national park to play golf, but to each their own.

The Mariposa Grove is a must-visit. A free bus took us to the start of the walking path through the grove. We felt like we were in a movie set, how can these trees be real? But they are and they are just epic. Crowds were fairly thick up to the Grizzly Giant, the 25th largest giant sequoia in the world. From there, crowds thinned out and we enjoyed a leisurely stroll up to the Faithful Couple and the Clothespin Tree. We were still pretty tired from yesterday all in all. On our way back to the Valley, we stopped in at the general store for an ice cream sandwich. We were planning to watch sunset at Glacier Point but were kind of tired of driving after following a fella going 10 mph under the speed limit for > 45 minutes. Coming back into the Valley is Tunnel View which everyone must see. It's the classic, postcard photo of the Valley and it's phenomenal.

As I've mentioned on other pages, we usually like to spend one day in the city. I had booked us lodging in Sausalito at The Gables B&B which I would highly recommend. Sausalito is quieter and was less expensive than San Fran proper, and the B&B was right next door to a bike rental spot. We left Yosemite at ~6am and were to San Francisco by 11:30am, hitting only minor traffic and stopping for breakfast at Farm Boys. We rented electric bikes in my continued quest to re-create our Tuscan experience. We rode those broncos across the Golden Gate bridge fighting pedestrians for sidewalk space into and around the Presidio, to Ghiradelli Square, Lombard Street and finally to the Painted Ladies houses which all the people our age who grew up watching Full House will recognize. The fog lifted entirely and we made our second journey back across the bridge, fighting the wind the whole way instead of the pedestrians. Luckily they were electric bikes because I'm not sure I could have done it. When we were going around each tower, the wind was so strong it brought us both to a dead halt! It was scarier to me than the cables of Half Dome. I was convinced the wind was gonna lift me off that bike and throw me over. Deep breathing exercises were necessary, and then it was over and I was glad we'd done it, as most are after conquering fears.

Our B&B had a wine and cheese reception that we enjoyed and then headed out for a small dinner at an unmemorable restaurant with a nice view of downtown San Francisco. We slept really well that night and headed to the airport early for our flight home. Another excellent trip in the books!