December in Yosemite
On Sunday 30th Nov we headed out of the city and drove into the Yosemite National Park. We decided to stop outside the entrance and found a motel where we were pleased with ourselves for negotiating the price down.

Monday 1st dawned with a beautiful blue sky and we were up and off quite early. After paying the $10 each for a week's pass we entered the park...wow! Brent was wowed well and truly by the views of El Capitaine and we stopped a few times for photos. We also had a shock when a baby deer ran in front of the car. The windy roads were as spectacular as I remembered. By 10.30 we were in Yosemite village and exploring the visitor centre and store. We'd hoped to find accommodation in the valley, but after a wait for the shuttle bus to Yosemite lodge, we were told that only the Ahwahnee hotel/lodge had vacancies starting at over $200! Oh well! Brent was very disappointed but I wasn't really surprised. All the camps were closed up for season so only the rich and famous were accommodated in the park. We decided to do a shortish walk to Mirror Lake, which I remembered from my last trip here. As we strolled along the path I felt slightly uneasy: it was very quiet an I was aware there were bears about.Anyway suddenly we heard voices and on a parallel cycle track about 100 yards away saw a couple waving frantically at us. We went over to them and they told us that 10 minutes further up our path were 2 brown bears! We'd have loved to see them, but wanted to live to see New Zealand...ha!ha! so quickly moved to the cycle track. I couldn't believe how different the lake was when we got to it: harldy any water, but still got a good photo. Walked back hoping to see bears from afar, but no such luck. We did see a koyote and lots of deer, which was lovely. We decided to head out of the park by a different route ( 140 instead of 120). After rejecting the first motel as it was over $100 dollars for a room, we shortly found a really nice motel at Incline. We registered at reception having accepted a price of $79 a night and couldn't believe the room... it had a 4 poster, ginormous bed, a spa bath for at least 2 people , a double shower, flat screened TV, comfy armchairs and to top that continental breakfast was included. We decided to stay an extra night! The only downside was the diner, where the food was pretty grotty. Next morning we headed back to the park and by 10.15 had parked up at Curry village ( weird to see all those empty tents) and were walking towards our trailhead to Vernal and Nevada falls on John Muir's Mist trail up Half Dome. What a fantastic hike. It truly was awesome and as we neared the top of the Nevada falls we found a fantastic spot for a quick tai chi session. On top of the falls we met up with a french girl who was waiting for her american boyfriend from Seattle. They were doing the hike from Glacier Point and he'd decided to explore the start of the trail up to the top of Half Dome. She was a bit worried as he wasn't back at the arranged time... that walk looked fab too but we decided to move on and explore a bit more of the state before Eureka.

The walk back down was really easy after the steep climb up and we did the round trip in around 5.5 hours. Back at base we made full use of our facilities before dinner and next morning were up quite early and off to Maripose, where we are now (Wed 3rd Dec. 12.00) njoying a latte in a typical american coffee shop... great!