Yosemite Day Two

After a quiet night, we awoke to a cold morning and a great view. Because it was so dark the night before, we hadn't actually seen the surrounding area. Practically right outside our tent, however, was a huge rock face and a dramatic look at Half Dome.

When preparing for the trip, we had read that the Ahwahnee Hotel was a great place to have brunch, so after dropping off our key we bundled everyone into the car to go check it out. The hotel itself was very nice looking, as was the dining room itself. The brunch itself, however...not so much. Only when we got there did we learn that it would set us back $150, and consisted of a lot of seafood and meats.

Pancakes and waffles are more our speed, so back to Curry Village we went. We wound up having pastries in front of a huge fireplace, which everyone enjoyed. There was even a giant bear in the lobby where a nice gentleman helped us capture the elusive family photo.

After breakfast, we headed out to see some sights. First up was Yosemite Falls, which is among the top 10 tallest waterfalls in the world. Yosemite Falls actually has three parts, an upper and lower waterfall and a middle cascade section. We took a trail out to the lower part, and found a small route off the beaten path that got us right to the base of the falls, were we found a small green pool and a rainbow. There were some climbers out that day as well, who we watched for a while as they made their way up the face.

Next up was Bridalveil Falls. We had seen in from far away the previous day, but came back for a closer look. We didn't get quite as close as we did at Yosemite, because the rocks were more treacherous, but it was still a great sight.

Finally we drove out to the Tunnel View. This is the "picture" of of the valley that is most well known. From the overlook you can see many of Yosemite's most prominent features - El Capitan, Half Dome, Three Brothers, etc. It was really spectacular. It's called Tunnel View because there is a tunnel bored through the mountain just behind the overlook. We drove through there and caught some more views of the valley before heading back home.