Yosemite National Park

We arrived in Coarsegold, Ca. on Wednesday, June 13. We spent the first day setting up and getting things organized. The people at the RV Resort are all very nice and have taken good care of us. It is part of the Escapees Clubs which Cindy and I are members of and the organization is great. They have invited us to a Father’s Day celebration they are having and a social supper they have every Friday night. Coarsegold is not far from the south entrance to Yosemite National Park.

It is very convenient staying here. Coarsegold was established in 1849 during the gold rush of that era and was named so because the information we received the gold discovered here was coarse because of the running snow water from the mountains made it that way. Or so says the information we received.

Yosemite gets very crowded during the summer and everyone we talked with said if we were going there we should leave early. Also, there has been a rockslide closing the West entrance. Right before we got here one couple we ran into said there was a 7 mile backup the day before when she tried to go into the park. So we got up at 5:00 AM and left at 6:00 AM and arrived at the south entrance at 7:00 AM. They were not opened so we were able to drive through without checking in and receiving all the information. We were about the only ones on the road the first few hours but by 9:30 it started to get crowded and then by 10:30 it was very crowded. Cars were everywhere and so were the people. There are numerous lodges and other campsites where people stay inside the park and they were up, moving around. By the late afternoon you had to find parking and ride the shuttles to where you wanted to go because all the parking areas around it were full.

There are three or four Groves of Sequoia trees around the Yosemite Park but we were not able to go to any of them. One we tried to go to was a three or four hour walk round trip and this was in the afternoon and we were both already tired. We just did not believe it was in our best interest to take off on a trip that far and that long. The other Grove (Mariposa Grove) was closed for the summer although all the information we saw said it would be opened in the Summer of 2017. Not sure why it was closed unless it was the road being repaired. There was a lot of construction in the turn off area to the Grove, but nothing explained why you could not go there. The other Groves were closed because the snow had not melted there and the road was not clear. I talked to one man who said they were predicting the snow would not melt at Tuolumne area of the park. The locals are happy, because this part of California is in a drought and has been for four years, they say.

We had a picnic in the park again and stopped near the Three Brothers mountain, rocks, hills or whatever. It was a nice area and was realitively clean considering the crowds that come here. Bologna was on the menu again and it was good. I believe the good clear air and sunshine had something to do with the taste. Our last stop was at Glacier Point, which for us was on the way out of the park. It was crowded there and we had to park and ride the shuttle to the Glacier Point. From this area we were able to look down on the valley floor and also see several waterfalls and canyons in the park. It was a great view.

Here are your pictures.