The Big Country

Every once in a while we go somewhere in America and I find myself thinking it ain’t such a bad place after all.  I almost feel like I’m being disloyal to my blog when I say that, but take away the people, the politics, the fast food, crap TV and LA traffic because I can knock those to my heart’s content, but even I can’t fault the landscape.  Sometimes there is no other word to describe it other than stunning.

Yosemite National Park is a six hour drive from LA and it really is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited.  The scenery is breathtaking.  The view from the top of the 9000 ft Glacier Point is spectacular – the magnificent El Capitan Rock basked in sunlight, the impressive Half Dome, a huge mound of solid rock that looks like someone has literally sliced it in half; massive waterfalls thundering over granite cliffs and way down in the green valley below the Merced River, meandering through meadows; it was like looking down onto one of those picture perfect model villages complete with matchbox cars and airfix boats.

Of course there is a downside to all this wondrous beauty – Yosemite gets very busy; the hike up and down to Vernal Falls – one of Yosemite’s must-do’s according to our guidebook and obviously everyone else’s – was like trying to make your way along Oxford Street on a busy Saturday afternoon – on the vertical of course.  Unfortunately just a week or so beforehand three hikers had stepped out into the raging water at the top of Vernal Falls (why?) and had been swept over the 300 ft high waterfall never to be seen again. The hike to the top is pretty spectacular and definitely precarious.  We quit about three quarters of the way up – the spray from the waterfall covers the roughly hewn stone steps making them decidedly slippery when wet; there’s no handrail to cling onto and whilst I felt confident enough about making it up, what really worried me was coming down – especially as the path was getting so crowded.

I’m not a seasoned hiker and as I’ve spent most of my life living at sea level and I mean sea level – until moving to California I’d always lived within a 10 minute walk to the coast – the high altitude in Yosemite was definitely putting us all slightly off kilter.  Despite all that extra time I’d spent in the gym there was an awful lot of heavy breathing going on.  And whilst I have spent most of my life living by the sea, I’m not a sailor either as the rest of my family will happily confirm.  Hiring a raft to paddle down the river might well have seemed like a good idea at the time but put me in an inflatable rubber dinghy with a paddle and a bulky life jacket in the middle of a fast flowing stream and I’m really not the best company. Nor am I a camper – my camping days are long gone – but accommodation in Yosemite is at a premium and the majority of visitors do camp, despite the bears.  Fortunately travelling in style is something I can do well, and I’d been lucky enough to secure a couple of nights at vast expense in a private log cabin complete with hot tub.  It was a great relief to head back at the end of an exhausting day to relax in the tub with a glass of champagne and set up for the evening’s bear watch.

Unfortunately the bears were not forthcoming; although plenty of mosquitoes were.  We did spot a mangy coyote sniffing its way along the road and the next morning as we headed out of the park through the gorgeous Toulumne Meadows, herds of deer sprang across our path. Snow capped mountains framed the backdrop as the babbling Toulumne River wound its merry way across fields filled with tiny alpine-like flowers and it seemed the ideal spot for a picnic.  But then I remembered those bears, maybe I wasn’t so keen on spotting one after all…. 

If you ever plan a trip to California I’d give Los Angeles a miss. Drive out of LAX and head up north. LA might well have all the gorgeous people but Yosemite National Park is natural beauty at its very best.