Yosemite

Half Dome over the Merced River, Thanksgiving Day 2025.

I'm finally getting around to writing up my experience at Yosemite National Park on Thanksgiving Day of 2025. I think I put it off because the experience was, well, off-putting. I think I will avoid visiting a national park again on a holiday. Even though it was the "off season," the park was so crowded as to be absurd. If you are going, go on a random weekday between holidays.

Upper Yosemite Falls

Despite getting an early start, I found myself waiting in a line of cars that stretched off into the distance and disappeared up a hill. This was somewhat due to me staying in Visalia, close to Sequoia but a solid two hours from Yosemite. When I first made the hotel reservations, I hadn't realized that Yosemite was within range so it became an add on to the trip. So I left early, but still arrived mid-morning, along with thousands of other tourists.

Lower Yosemite Falls

The Yosemite Valley is, no doubt, one of the most beautiful places I've personally visited. It abounds with towering mountains, rushing streams, waterfalls, and wildlife. There is also some history there. The highlight was probably slowly trailing a hunting bobcat at a distance. The cat is obviously acclimated to human presence. It was a rare opportunity.

Someone warned me of a "lynx" on the trail. I suspected it would be a bobcat and it was.

I basically played tourist for the first few hours, before planning out a proper hike to be completed before sunset. My visit was at the time of year when the day is shortest, and in the valley it is even shorter due to the mountain shadows. I settled on Mirror Lake.

Mirror Lake, doing its thing.

The hike to the lake somewhat parallels a road, but eventually the road crosses over Tenaya Creek and the trail continues on the other side. There were fewer people, though it was hardly a solitary experience. Mirror Lake turned out to be a wide spot in the stream, a natural pool backed up by bedrock. The whitewater paddler in me eyed it with promise but the flows were too low on that day to actually paddle the river (not that I meant to). Half Dome looms over the pool, though from near the base, I found it difficult to recognize. It's better viewed from a distance.

Bonus pic with rainbow!

The drive back ended much after dark and I found it a little stressful. In middle age, I dislike driving at night. I realized that I had driven eight hours the previous day, then driven perhaps six on Thanksgiving Day. It was two hours or more to and from the park and the park itself is huge, requiring a lot of driving at low speed to access different points of interest. That was too much driving two days consecutive.

I realize I'm sounding old and complaining too much. Just make sure you visit Yosemite on an off day and I would recommend staying as close to the park as possible, or better yet, inside the park. If you are up for it, backpack and get into the back country, as far from the roads and visitors as possible.

I decided to take the next day off and enjoy some local cuisine instead of trying to visit national parks.