My wife and I traveled to northern California to visit the Great Waterfalls in the United States, the Yosemite Falls. Located in Yosemite National Park, these waterfalls are one of the tallest and highest in North America. Here are some of the photos we took in Yosemite National Park.
Yosemite is one of the tallest and highest waterfalls in the world. It’s about 2400ft high, considered to be the highest in the United States.
This is the view from my car when I first arrived in Yosemite National Park. I was amazed by the rocky mountains and tall trees in the area. My wife opened the moon-roof and took pictures of me watching the mountains.
We set up a tent in one of the campgrounds inside Yosemite National Park. Tips: arrived early as 8am to get some spot for camping. Most of the campground is per reservation basis. We are lucky that we got one even we don’t have a reservation.
Check out our Grand Canyon Trip Here
Campground
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| SET UP TENT WITH GAZEEBO |
This is at Hodgdon Meadows Campground. Some areas that have first come first serve basis are Tamarack Campground and Crane Flat.
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| REA WAS GRILLING SOME MARSHMALLOW |
After we set up our tent, we relax for a while and grilled some marshmallows.
If you like our tent that connected to our canopy, It’s Ozark Trail Connect Tent (click for more info) and you can just get any canopy you like. But I suggest getting this type of canopy, it’s cheap and sturdy.
We chose this one because we like the idea of it and you can get shade all the time. The only cons were if you don’t have a lot of space in your campground, I wouldn’t recommend it.
The campsite was terrific and beautiful, there’s a lot of logs and branches scattered all over the places, so we didn’t have to worry gathering it to make fire. About an hour past, we decided to drive down east to Tuolumne Meadows Visitor Center. While driving, we stop at the Olmsted Point, Tenaya Lake, and Fairview Dome.
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| MAP OF YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK |
Here, I posted the maps and encircled the places we visited. We start driving south from our campsite and then pass through Tioga Rd. This road is not open all the time, so make sure you check the Yosemite National Park Website for more details about this road. Tioga Rd. usually closes during the winter because of heavy snow.
Our first stop was in Olmsted Point where you can view the Half Dome from there. There was a single tree living in the top of the rock where people usually go and took their pictures.
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| A TREE STANDING IN THE TOP OF THE ROCK |
Tenaya Lake
During summer, there’s a lot of people wanting to take pictures with this tree so you better be patient and probably wait a little longer.
After the Olmsted point, we keep driving east and stop at Tenaya Lake. This lake was beautiful and even in summer, we can still see the snow laying on the top of the mountains across the lake.
Here are some of our pictures taken from the beautiful Tenaya Lake.
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| Tenaya Lake |
My wife and I took some time here to enjoy the view of the mountains and the lake.
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| The Beautiful Tenaya Lake |
After in Tenaya Lake, we head east to Tuolumne Meadows. But before we reached it we stopped by in Fairview Dome. It’s popular with people who want to rock climbing. But of course, we did not do that. So, if you are physically fit and hardcore, I suggest climbing this dome. After we reach Tuolumne Meadows, we rest a bit and head back to our camp. We ended our day with a good dinner of some Spam and rice and slept early for next day hike.
The next day, we woke up early in the morning and after breakfast, we head south from our campsite on to Yosemite Valley Visitor Center. We visited the Center and some historical landmarks and museums in the area.
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| HISTORICAL LANDMARK OF YOSEMITE VALLEY |
Yosemite Falls
We also visited the Yosemite Falls where we took pictures of the Lower Falls and Upper Falls.
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| LOWER YOSEMITE FALLS |
From the Yosemite Valley Center, you could walk to the lower falls or take their shuttle system. But if you have all day and you like a little bit of exercise, walking is better. The only hard thing about visiting the center is the parking. Yosemite Valley Center is a crowded place because there are multiple campsites and RV sites in the area so it’s really hard to find a parking spot. You’ll be lucky if you find one near the valley center. That’s why we decided to just to walk around this area.
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| VIEW OF UPPER YOSEMITE FALLS |
Hiking
After we visited the Yosemite Falls and had some lunch, I decided to take a chance hiking the Upper Yosemite Falls and I totally regret it.
So if you like to hike the Falls Peak and you are not totally prepared for this hike, I warning you, it’s hard. I suggest that you plan ahead and assess yourself and your condition if you really like to hike. Falls Peak is a high, long and steep climb. the distance was about 7.5 miles long (round trip) and 2,600 ft elevation.
Hiking this Peak is not a joke and you should be prepared. So we actually didn’t reach the top of the Falls Peak because we are not physically fit and prepared to finish it. We had too many rests and it was about 3pm that time and we still half way. About an hour later, we decide just to go back because we are too tired and we drank all our bottled water. Here is some information if you plan to hike Falls Peak. Click Here
This is the highest we reached going to Falls Peak.
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| VIEW FROM FALL PEAK TRAIL |
When we came back to our campsite, it was already 7pm and we just had some canned sardines and rice for our dinner and rest for the night.
The next day morning, we packed up our things and went home. On our way going south, exiting the park, We stopped by to one of the viewpoints in Yosemite National Park and take one last picture before heading back home.
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| YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK |
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| VIEW OF HALF DOME |
I could say Yosemite National Park is one of the beautiful places I visited. And truly a treasure of California, USA. I would definitely come back and maybe hike to Fall Peak once again.
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