Baby
you a song, you make me wanna roll my windows down and cruise. Down a back
road, blowin’ stop signs through the middle, every little farm town with you.
In this brand new Chevy with a lift kit would look a hell of a lot better with
you up in it. So baby you a song, you make me wanna roll my windows down and
cruise.
- Florida Georgia Line
How do you top a day of snowy wonderment at
Yosemite National Park? Easy, the clouds clear during the night, taking those
heavy falls east, and you wake up to a perfect morning: sunshine and blue
skies.
We had a quick breakfast and headed off
into the snowy woods on the trail to Yosemite Falls. Actually two separate
falls – Upper and Lower – Yosemite Falls is the tallest in America, and this
morning, mostly alone, we got to wander amongst the fir trees to the bottom of
the lower section, and could look up to see snow breaking off and crashing down
to the rocks beneath, accompanied by a sound a lot like thunder. It was pretty spectacular!
The Yosemite Falls track is a loop, and
after we left the falls and headed back into the forest, we saw a deer looking
deep into the snow drift for some nourishment. It didn’t seem at all perturbed
by the humans, going about it’s business as though there was no one around. It
was an amazing thing to watch.
We were incredibly lucky to have a day of
snow tomorrow and a day of sunshine today. Walking through the forest as the
sun melted the snow was a wonderful thing. Lauryn and Trevor both remarked a
number of times on how quiet it is. There’s endless silence, only the dull roar
of the snow falling off Yosemite Falls and landing on the rocks and the
crunching sound of your boots in the snow as they make footprints in untracked
snow. It’s hard to describe exactly the sort of freedom you get.
If I haven’t already made it sound like
Yosemite National Park is one of the best places on earth…well, it is. You must
visit if you’re ever in the area. Summer, winter, spring or fall, it’s worth
making the effort to go. There are vistas here like you won’t see anywhere else
in the world. It’s particularly amazing to Australians. I can generally draw a
comparison between something here and something back at home, except here in
Yosemite. There’s nothing at home that can match this. The grandeur and the
immensity is unmatched. The sorts of earthly shifts that had to occur to make
this natural wonder really are mind-boggling.
Sadly, our time in the park came to an end.
It’s not an easy place to leave. We could have spent days and days, just
wandering along the many trails that do the park. After visiting the
world-famous Tunnel View, we drove out via a mountain road of epic proportions,
out via the Oak Flat entrance and into the beautiful western sunset, arriving a
little after dark at Stockton, where we’re staying overnight ahead of a trip up
to Lake Tahoe for some skiing.
Can’t wait!
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