Road trip: Yosemite

Up bright an early for the longest road trip of our honeymoon:  Vegas to Yosemite village. The route I had planned was to go west to a small town called Pahrump, through Death Valley and then north to Yosemite.

The drive to Pahrump was straightforward and we stopped to fuel up and get breakfast in the Walmart. Ironically this shopping trip cost more than Ceasar’s buffet! Once we were fuelled up we drove west and into Death Valley.

The further west we went the hotter it got, peaking at about 44 degrees. It was a long, windy road passing sand dunes, bare cliffs and several lookout points. The gradient change was awesome descending as low as -100ft below to 5000 ft above sea level. The end of this stretch of road was the best part with lots of sharp bends followed by long straights. Bobo was in his element. (Fiona was not).

When we reached the top of Death Valley we got our first glimpse of the granite mountains that border Yosemite. For 150 miles we travelled northward through Lone Pine, then Big Pine (which was ironically smaller than Lone Pine) before reaching one of the few entry points into Yosemite at Tioga Pass.

Tioga pass could not have been more different to Death Valley with lots of vegetation, beautiful lakes and more cars. There is safety in numbers! The road snaked up and down in between the trees for about an hour before we reached our destination in the centre of Yosemite: Yosemite village.

Our accommodation in Yosemite was the complete opposite of Bellagio. Firstly we had only one solid brick wall, the rest of our “room” being surrounded with canvas curtains. We had no running water, one electricity point and no bedding (later rented for $2.50). We also did not have a door and instead had a flap where anyone (including bears!) could enter. To “prevent” the threat of a bear entering the tent we had to put all smelly things in a locker next. Unfortunately Fiona could not fit.

I honestly would love to see a bear. The ones in Yosemite do not attack humans and are actually conditioned to be afraid of us. In fact the instructions if we see one were:

1. If in camp, make yourself big as possible, make noise and scare it away. Stand your ground
2. If hiking in woods, stop. Walk around. If charged stand your ground as it will be bluffing.

With everything locked away in the locker we headed to get some food. Pizza in the nearby Curry village (false advertising as there was no curry available). Curry village itself pretty much consisted of a patio with tables with a small shop, the pizza stall and a bar, and another campsite just beyond.

After food we had a hike back to camp where we crashed out, and managed to avoid any creepy crawlies.

Drive time:  8 hours: Milage: 440 miles: MPG: 24.8