US Travelogue Part 5 - Yosemite National Park

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Even though only a few days have passed, my memories are already starting to fade, so I am writing this while looking at my photos. My husband was horrified when he found out I was posting these and suggested I stop... but since I'm almost at the end, I feel like I should finish what I started. My biorhythm is still adjusted to that time zone, so I've been following a pattern of sleeping in the early evening and waking up at dawn... I think I'll have to force a reset soon.
Alamo Car Rental Center at San Francisco Airport... please let this go smoothly too... My prayers were answered. Phew... As a result, not only in Salt Lake City but also in San Francisco, I succeeded in renting a car using only my Korean English driver's license without an International Driving Permit (IDP). Everyone... you probably won't make the same mistake as us, so this might be unnecessary advice, but please don't forget to bring your International Driving Permit. I was seriously scared to death every single time I rented a car.
We headed straight to Yosemite. An endless stretch of meadow roads... unlike what we had seen so far, it was quite boring. Compared to the driving distances we had covered previously, the trip from San Francisco to Yosemite felt like a piece of cake... but strictly speaking, it is a long-distance trip equivalent to the distance from the Seoul metropolitan area to Busan.
After a day of rest, we set out for sightseeing in the morning. Hiking to the waterfalls is famous, but since I heard they are dry this season, I planned the itinerary around driving, which seems sufficient to cover everything in about a day and a half.
My husband's first impression of Yosemite was, "It's like Dobongsan." Even though it is dozens of times larger and more magnificent, he says the essence is like Dobongsan lol. And a natural fortress.






Tioga Road. I heard it is closed during winter and spring due to heavy snow and ice, and only opens during summer and autumn. However, from the moment we entered the park, there was a smell of burning, and as we approached this area, it was hazy due to smoke. After searching, I found out there was a wildfire. Fortunately, the Central Valley and Tioga Road are still open, but because the fire occurred in a very difficult-to-control area, they say only 15% of the total fire has been extinguished. It seems they are struggling with wildfires not just here, but throughout the entire California region due to the dryness.






Tunnel View. It is undoubtedly the number one viewpoint in Yosemite that makes you go "Wow" automatically. El Capitan is on the left, Half Dome is far ahead in the center, and Bridalveil Fall unfolds on the right; it is simply like a painting.


El Capitan. In Spanish, it means "Captain." Yes, it truly is a captain. Weeds have a tenacious vitality and take root and grow anywhere a little flat ground forms on a rocky mountain, but this place is so vertical that it is smooth without a single weed. They say it is a mecca for rock climbers worldwide, but I don't see a single person. I wondered if there was a warning issued due to the fire, but looking through the binoculars installed in front, I can see someone climbing the rock face. Gasp... I couldn't see them at all with the naked eye... It doesn't look that high from below, but it must be incredibly high in reality. This reminds me of when I was borrowing binoculars to look for mountain goats in the rocky mountains of Yellowstone. Since the roads inside the park are one-way, we kept running into each other while going back and forth from our accommodation, and at times, the mountain felt so imposing that it felt like we had to pay a toll to pass through. Like a bandit leader lol.



(For your information, that is not a person visible)
A family of deer appeared from somewhere. At first, only one was visible, then another appeared, and then another.

An old tree. It looks at least several hundred years old.

On the morning of the last day of our Yosemite tour, as soon as it got light, we drove to Glacier Point, known as the "Alps of Yosemite," but we were cut off at the entrance. It was closed due to the fire. An official was guarding it, leaning against a car like MacGyver.