Yosemite

Yosemite. This is the place to come if you like trees, there’s literally millions of them, a forest I think it’s called. We are in a wilderness area here and there are a few dangerous animals to look out for, including black bear and mountain lion. The local advice if you are attached by a mountain lion is to fight back. Words of wisdom there.

I woke up this morning to the news that scientists have discovered a link between Alzheimer’s and Obesity. Apparently, large people are more likely to develop dementia, or is it that stupid people are more likely to become fat. Controversial I know, but that’s how Sue sees it. Anyway, inspired by this story, I selected a harder than usual hike for the day’s excursion in an attempt to hang on to the few remaining brain cells that I possess. With Mags under the weather, I set off solo for a 4 mile hike to Chilnualna falls. I have no idea how that’s pronounced so I call them the Chimichanga falls in honor of all the Mexican restaurants in California. Around 20 minutes in I came to a very impressive waterfall with water thundering down at a tremendous rate. I took a few pictures congratulating myself on being in better shape than I thought. I was about to head back down when I bumped into David from Virginia. After the usual pleasantries: “You must be pleased to be out of the London fog” and “No, I didn’t go to the royal wedding” he said how pleased he was that there was this little fall so early on in the walk. “Little” – it looked like Niagara to me. Anyway, a bit more walking to do. After 2 hours of uphill wheezing I arrived at the said Chimichanga falls, even more spectacular with the water consumption of the UK cascading down every second. Back home pronto for a few cold beers.

We’re in a small cabin at the southern end of the park in a small community called the Redwoods. There are lots of holiday cabins dotted amongst the pine trees. Its very tranquil with a creek babbling through around 20 yards away.

Yosemite valley is about 30 minutes drive away and, although fairly busy, really is an extraordinary place, carved out through glacial erosion, giant granite cliffs spill water into the valley from an incredible height. The scale of the valley is hard to take in as it really is gigantic, everything is super-sized. The Yosemite falls is the predominant feature; it stands 2,425ft above the valley and is the largest in North America, spilling more water than a losing Aussie cricket captain.

The park is beautifully maintained with plenty of walking and cycling trails for all abilities. We managed a few walks around the valley and a slightly more strenuous climb in Mariposa where there is a grove of giant Sequoia trees. There’s less people here, thinning out the higher you climb. Near the top, where there was still plenty of snow, we watched as the Rangers felled a pine which crashed to earth with an impressive boom echoing through the forest.