Yosemite Day 3

Today we woke up early thanks to some kids playing directly next to our tent at 6:00am. Camping etiquette is nonexistent out here. We had a breakfast of more sweet potato pancakes then headed out to the valley for our day’s activities.

Today’s big activity was horseback riding through the park, but we didn’t have to be there until 12:00, so we took a little hike to Mirror Lake first. It was only a couple of miles so it wasn’t a huge hike. Mirror Lake is a temporary lake and usually dries up by the time summer is over. Yosemite had a late winter this year so the lake was still there, but not very impressive since we saw it past its peak time. We still got a good shot of why it’s called Mirror Lake though. We took an unexpected detour on the way back, but we found our way back to the path.

We had lunch at a little taco stand in the park that was surprisingly good and relatively reasonable for the national parks. Pretty much all the food in the national parks is vey expensive. I really thing the parks service is messing up here, but I guess it’s like any theme park. Once you’re in, they have you so why not make some money off of you.

We got to the stables and checked in and they set us up with our mules. We thought we were going to be riding horses, but it turns out they had mules waiting for us. Kate’s mule was named Roxanne and mine was named Guinness. Mine was the biggest mule I have ever seen! It was half draft horse so it towered above the rest of the mules. It’s hard to tell from the photos, but it was a long way down to the ground from where I was riding. I had to dodge my fair share of limbs too because I was sitting up so high. He was a good mule though and he took care of me. When I got off, the inside of my legs were so sore because he was so wide. It was like riding while doing a partial split!

We rode through the park up the John Muir Trail. It was pretty steep and pretty rocky. I thought it was a lot steeper than the Grand Canyon trail and definitely felt a little more scary. The mules are trained to go to the outside of the trail, but ours seemed to take that to the extreme. There were plenty of times when we jerked the reigns back toward the trail because we were both uncomfortable with the path they were taking. Still, it was a good ride. As far as the ride and scenery, it was probably the best one we’ve taken yet. We got to see a lot of the park on the ride and the top was a great view from Clark’s Point where we could see the entire valley. As far as the guides, I was less than impressed with them. We had two with us and they couldn’t have been more than 23 or 24. Not than a young person can’t ride a horse/mule, but they didn’t really interact with us at all. The lead guide had a frisky horse that didn’t want to go where she wanted it to so she had to move to the back, which made me nervous. The other guide that came up to the front stayed so far ahead of everyone that you never really saw her. I’m sure they have to deal with annoying tourists all the time, but if we weren’t their giving them money, they wouldn’t have a job so I would expect a little more. We also felt like the mules were not as well trained as in other places we’ve gone. I had to control mine a lot more than I’ve had to in other parks. Even the people in the ticket stand acted like it was a hassle to do anything. Oh well. Normally we tip our guides quite well, but we didn’t feel compelled to do that this time. Their loss. Even with that, it was still the best ride we’ve been on yet.

After the mule ride, we went to the Ansel Adams gallery their at the park and Kate took a couple of photos in black and white in his honor.

We got back to our campsite to see that our neighbors, a new set, had set up camp in their site and partially in our site. They had 5 tents set up (the maximum is 2) and had 3 big vehicles, one of which a big truck which took up part of our parking space. I was pretty mad when we pulled in, then they offered us hamburgers for supper so I forgave them pretty quickly. We ate and talked with them for a while then went to bed.

Overall, Yosemite is a beautiful place that I feel has been a bit over developed. There are people everywhere and it’s hard to take in the beauty with all the people around. I think it would be a great place to go in September or even June, but July is not the time to go. Of course we were there adding to the crowds, but I wouldn’t feel compelled to go back.

Tomorrow we head to the coast!