Glacier Point

Half Dome and Yosemite National Park

After visiting Mariposa Grove we were kind of thinking, hey Yosemite is pretty good, the trees are pretty amazing, but we were wondering where the wow factor was.  I mean this place was like the second National Park in the world right, there's gotta be something pretty special for that to have happened right.  And I mean big trees are kind of cool, but second National Park in the world cool?  Hmmm I think not.

But then we went for a drive out to the end of Glacier Pt road and we got our answer.  This was one of the first touristy view points in the Valley, and standing there I can see why.  I don't really need to say much, I think the photos speak for themselves, outstanding!

Dave with half dome

Probably the most famous feature in the National Park is Half-Dome, to climb it you need to get a permit.  Apparently you can do it in a day, it's a 1400m elevation gain, and you have to climb the last 400m holding onto chains.  The whole time we were in the park we never saw anyone on the top  of the rock though, so I'm not sure if the top is actually a fair way back from the edge or what, or maybe our binoculars weren't as strong as we thought they were.

Looking down to Yosemite Valley, we climbed to the top of the escarpment the next day

Three arches at Yosemite Valley

Yet another wonderful view