We both slept like rocks after the long day driving and beginning our tour of Yosemite. Ron was speaking to our neighbor and he highly recommended we drive the Tioga Road, over the pass into Inyo National Forest and Mono Lake. So we did.
Tioga Road is a 56 mile road that traverses the entire length of Yosemite rising to 9945 feet with spectacular views and waterfalls. It descends into meadows for more awesome landscape then rises again once traveling into Inyo National Forest.
At every turn the views were incredible and we did our usual OOOHS and AAAHS!!!
There were waterfalls everywhere from tiny trickles to huge blasts of torrents. All equally as beautiful. I’m not sure if mentioned before but the waterfalls were flowing the best in ten years because of the record snowfalls.
As we continued to climb in elevation we ran into more and more snow. The entire length of Tioga Road had only been open for two weeks.
Wild Flowers Growing Out of the Rocks
The vistas became more spectacular and the mountain range more visible as we road over the Tioga Pass.
We decided to stop for a picnic lunch on the banks of the Tanya Lake. The lake is incredibly beautiful and a heavenly place for quiet and solitude. We didn’t want to leave but pried ourselves away because we had more vistas to see and enjoy.
As we entered the meadows we were impressed with its beauty and serenity.
There was a turn around before leaving Yosemite National Park but we decided to continue on into Inyo National Forest to see what it had to offer. WOW! Were we happy that we decided to keep going.
Our first stop was at Ellery Lake at elevation 9,538. Just an incredible viewpoint of what was to come.
We were told to check out Mono Lake. What a incredible blue color but the story is even more interesting. See link below.
www.monolake.org/about/story
This one picture says it all. Beautiful Country, Beautiful Flag!!!!!!!
On the drive back over and down Tioga Road we talked about what we enjoyed the most. Being able to do and see was top on our list.
We decided to take the 2 mile R/T hike to see some giant sequoias. Little did we realize that the one-mile uphill trip would nearly do us in. Out West it doesn’t get really hot until around 4 PM and that is when we started our hike.
The walk down was easy but going back uphill was very trying. The road was paved and we have found that we have a really hard time on paved roads. We do much better on uneven grades.
Back at the CG we discussed filling the Jeep with gas. The prices in and around the park were exorbitant at $4.79 and $4.69 per gallon. We had done well the entire trip and never paid over $3.99 per gallon but that fantasy was over. Ron wanted to check out the gas prices in the local towns but after a 30 mile R/T ride we still paid $4.69 per gallon and wasted $5.00 worth of gas. LOL
Another pretty sunset. Does anyone see a theme going on here?
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