Friday, March 29, 2024

Memories of the Majestic Yosemite National Park

Dear Soul,

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.” – John Muir in “The Yosemite”, 1912

It’s been over a decade since we moved to San Francisco Bay area from Ann Arbor, Michigan, and I just realized I haven’t yet posted on Yosemite National Park. It’s likely because it being in our backyard, we visited it about a dozen times since 2013 (over half a dozen in the last two years) and I often forget how special it is. From John Muir to me, it inspired everyone in different ways every time with its new look in each season: spring, fall, summer and winter. We have seen and experienced the many facets: the gushing waterfalls (May-June) down to trickle (late summers), the river and meadows from frozen to flooded, chilling temps to sweating hot, biking to hiking on the valley floors, intense hiking like half dome and just wandering around, full of traffic to complete seclusion, white walls of snow replaced by white Dogwood blossom to vibrant all colors. This is by no way a detailed trip planner, but I will share my favorites in the park. 

Entrances to the park:

We entered the park mostly from West: from Big Oak Flat entrance (HWY 120) and Arch Rock entrance (HWY 140) and once from the South Entrance (HWY 41) mainly to see Mariposa Grove. In summer, there’s always lot of traffic closer to Yosemite entrance and we even had to wait over an hour  just to get to the entrance. It didn’t get any better once we got in, with bumper-to-bumper traffic going to valley and parking is hard to find as well. So, park entry is restricted by a reservation system during peak times. In other seasons, it isn’t bad and the drive is pretty too with fall colors or snow along the way.

Places to stay:

There are several options in/around the park that cater to all kinds and budgets for overnight guests. I highly recommend staying inside the park, within the valley. Other than camping options (that can be reserved at recreation.gov), there are other ways to stay inside the park like Curry village tents/cabins(our usual go to),  Housekeeping camp (rustic than curry village), Wawona(south), Yosemite valley lodge and expensive hotel The Ahwahnee (Queen Elizabeth II stayed here), which can be booked at https://www.travelyosemite.com/ We have also stayed earlier in Yosemite view lodge and Groveland (Airbnb with friends), outside the park and made day trips to Yosemite. So far, we stayed 1-2-3 nights in Yosemite, but we have also done a day trip once with guests which felt quite a long drive.

Places to eat:

Although there are plenty of places inside the park, we usually do Lunch picnic or at Base camp eatery near Yosemite falls and Breakfast/dinner at our cabin or Seven tents pavilion in Camp curry. There is also a microwave at the gift shop next to the pavilion to heat/prepare meals

Places we visited:

With Yosemite, the first thing that comes to my mind is its majestic Granite peaks (El Capitan and Half Dome) and gorgeous waterfalls, after that the beautiful meadows and many bridges on Merced River😊 Although there is so much more to explore, the valley is synonymous to Yosemite for us. It is beautiful with the Merced River (my moon river) flowing along, meadows surrounded by granite walls and waterfalls. There are walking/biking trails through out valley, highly recommend in peak times(summer) instead of driving or even taking valley shuttle, to enjoy the views.  Below are the attractions in the order of the driving in the valley:

Bridalveil Falls: These are the first waterfalls to see as we enter the valley. We got drenched at Bridalveil falls in May’23 (Epic waterfalls year) and still remember sliding down the snowy 0.2-mile trail slopes in Jan’13

Sentinel beach picnic area: We stopped here for lunch picnic and had a lot of fun playing in the shallow ice-cold glacier water.

Swinging bridge Picnic area: Another fun spot for lunch Picnic

Sentinel/Cook’s meadow and Yosemite Chapel: My Absolute favorite for views of waterfalls and half dome from the Sentinel bridge. With Yosemite Chapel in distance, it often reminded me of the West I watched on TV. We spend time walking on the icy river and playing in the sandbar.

Yosemite Falls: Top of the list and very accessible path to Lower Yosemite falls

Housekeeping camp: Camp fire by the Merced River was once in a lifetime experience for me. There was a bridge behind the campground with more beautiful views and we also saw a church service going on in amphitheater close by.

Camp curry/Curry village: Great alternative for tent camping if we don’t find spot in housekeeping camp, only thing there is no place to grill here, so we gather for breakfast/dinner in seven tents pavilion.

Vernal Falls: We can take the valley shuttle or bike to Happy isles, the trailhead to go to Vernal falls, Nevada Falls and John Muir trail to Half Dome. First time, we hiked up to the Vernal Falls footbridge (moderate, 400 Ft gain), and next time continued to the top of the falls (strenuous, 1000 ft gain); was quite an experience getting soaked head to toe on Mist trail (as name suggests). We also like to play at the Merced River access at the trailhead.

Half Dome: A day-long challenging hike with a steep ascent up the cables (permit required) and most  rewarding views 

Mirror lake: This is an easy 1-mile paved path to this seasonal lake with Tenaya creek along (for accessible drive) offering reflections of surrounding cliffs, so we always walk/bike here on the last day. We have seen it full, completely dry and then walked on the frozen lake and enjoyed breaking the ice.

Church Bowl Picnic area: We stopped here on our way back to a visit to the Ahwahnee (not a stay) for grilling and saw rock climbers here as well.

El Capitan Meadow: I am always in awe to watch rock climbers taking on the mighty El Capitan. At night, these climbers are often seen as a subtle point of light against the starry skies.

Finally, just outside the valley, we have also explored:

Glacier Point (via Glacier Point Road): End point of Four-mile trail from valley with fantastic views of the valley and Half dome. We had a lunch picnic at Taft Point/Sentinel dome trailhead and then hiked to Sentinel dome, stopping by the famous tunnel view going back into valley.

The Crane Flat Snow Play Area on Hwy 120: Perfect for snow play

This post was as special as Yosemite itself, since it gave me the chance to relive the memories from the park in the last decade and I look forward to creating many more with my beloved family and friends.

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Camping on Pinecrest Lake for Fourth of July

Dear Soul,

"A man cannot step into the same river twice, because it is not the same river, and he is not same man." -Heraclitus

A little backstory before we begin: This trip was very special for many reasons: Our first tent camping as a family of four, on a lake, with our very own and new ISUP (Inflatable Stand Up Paddle Board), which is the recent obsession of my DH. We were very disappointed when our housekeeping camp reservation at Yosemite National Park was canceled for possible flooding of Merced River just a day before the trip. What’s July 4th without camping and grilling? So, I desperately started looking for camping options on recreation.gov when I found a two-night window available at Pinecrest campground.  Knowing very little, but since it’s a lake, I went ahead and booked it. Little did I know how popular it was, and how lucky I was to find it at the last minute.  

Saturday, July 2, 2023:

Since it was a very hot day, we started early before 8 AM and the drive felt alike to Yosemite, as we drove past the Oakdale; we even stopped at our favorite picnic spot in Oakdale - Oakdale Cheese! It’s totally worth it with its beautiful Koi ponds, petting zoo, friendly cats, clean restrooms and grassy areas with picnic tables. The area around lake was crazy packed when we reached, so we had to park far on Dodge Ridge Road and walked to the lake. There were lots of canopies and tents set up on the beach already, and hundreds of people already grilling food (made me hungry), picnicking with music, adults and kids alike chilling in lot of inflatables in lake. The beach was nicely shaded by the many pine trees all around the lake, but the water was just COLD!


Pinecrest Campground (and others nearby) is in Stanislaus National Forest, located right off the Lake Day use parking lot(free), run by Dodge Ridge Corp by special-use permit administered by USFS. It is extremely popular and kid friendly with its proximity to the lake, several activities and amphitheater playing movies every night. 

Luckily, they let us into campsite by noon and we cooked a nice lunch using our new camp stove. We set up our tent, changed into swim clothes, took our new paddle board and went to beach. Played for a while on lake. DD2 took a nice long nap with me on the shore and we returned to campsite for a sumptuous dinner. We went back to amphitheater and loved the vibes there.


Sunday, July 3, 2023: Happy GuruPurnima

We started the day with hiking on the trail around the lake, but it was too hot so returned after the Strawberry dam. 

We spent the day on the lake, this time the girls and I had so much fun with floaties. A kind lady not only offered to inflate our floatie but also shared their cat floatie with us for the day. We went back to campsite for lunch and tried to nap, but it was just too hot. So, we returned to the beach and played for some more time while I read my book – “The Heartfulness Way” by Daaji. I thanked the gurus/teachers in my life who shared their knowledge and made this day possible for me. Of course, we had to have the best soft serve ice cream from the snack bar to beat the heat. Evening we made fire as it was little chilly and enjoyed Smores.

Monday, July 4, 2023: Happy July 4th

My DH went for a very early swim and hike around the lake and Sunrise was beautiful. 


We packed up everything and went to Aspen Meadow Pack station,  for horse rides as promised to the kids. Contrary to our expectations, the place was not busy and the owner was super nice to let the girls go around on two very friendly horses. 

We returned home early afternoon. This trip was truly memorable with good hearted people, and I am so glad we made it here.

 P.S.: Please drop a line in with your lake camping favorites/ recommendations around SF Bay area, so we can all share our love for camping in our golden state.

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

A day at Pinnacles National Park – Pinnacle of fulfilment

Dear Soul,

Happy First day of Spring 2024 :) "Where flowers bloom so does hope."- Lady Bird Johnson

After a very rainy winter and canceling long weekend (President’s Day) plans, on Saturday 2/24/24, we planned an early day to Pinnacles National Park, one of the youngest National Parks and closest to us. We packed our breakfast and lunch and started by 6:30am and drove through scenic Hwy 25 to the East Entrance of the park. The east and west entrances of the park are not connected by road (Only through King City on US 101), and we picked east side as it has more activities. We didn’t have to pay $30 park entry fee as we have my DD1, a fourth grader in the car, with Every kid outdoors initiative. When we reached at 8:30am, the bear gulch nature center lot was already full, so we drove back and parked at Manzanita Parking area. Important: Please do not park on the sides of the road to avoid parking tickets.

Pinnacles map

We took 1-mile Sycamore trail to nature center, which was very scenic with Chalone creek along the way and many wooden bridges and several ladybugs, clustered together for warmth just like we saw at Mt Diablo and Uvas Canyon earlier this year. 


Then we started our hike towards Bear Gulch Reservoir on the cool and shaded Moses Spring Trail, which has boulders on either side covered with moss.

To my surprise, Bear Gulch Cave trail was open (just the day before – Please check the status here before your visit) and the cave floor was all water with rocks lined up to walk in it. It was not just dark (we used flashlight from phones) but very loud with waterfalls gushing at places and cave crawling was quite an experience for kids and adults alike. The caves at Pinnacles were made when boulders fell down into narrow canyons and got stuck. Jumbles of fallen rock are called talus, and so these are called talus caves. This makes dark, quiet passages that are important for some animals, especially Townsend’s big-eared bats raising their young (hence closed May-July). 

Soon afterwards, we arrived at the reservoir which was very scenic and an excellent picnic spot.

We continued on the Rim trail to High peaks trail to explore towering volcano formations, but I returned to Moses Spring Parking area with my 4 year old DD2 via switchback trail while the rest of the group continued on the High peaks – Condor Gulch trail loop. The loop was strenuous especially steep and narrow sections, but is best to explore the park’s namesake pinnacles and condors up-close.

Meanwhile, thanks to my friend who offered ride to the Manzanita parking area, I got the car back to Nature center and waited for the rest of the group. I and my DD had lunch and strolled at the Chalone creek as the nature center is closed, but there was a ranger outside with exhibits. When the group reunited, we wrapped up by 3:30 and went directly to restaurant by our home at 5:30 very hungry. And our very thoughtful friend already ordered the food for us and we heartily ate the sumptuous meal, wrapping up one of the best days of my life.

Thank you for visiting my blog. You can find more about this hike on Alltrails at Condor Gulch Trail to High Peaks Trail loop. Happy exploring!