Today I finally made it inside the Yosemite National Park. After the false start from yesterday, I knew it was going to be insanely busy as soon as the sun came up, so I got there just after 5am, while the park was bathed in semi-light by the sun rising behind the massive cliffs.
It was amazing to think that the entire valley was split by the force of glaciers. With less people, it would have been an unbelievable place. As it was, it was still pretty great.
I grabbed a quick breakfast at the cafe in the park, and went straight to the Yosemite Falls in the heart of the Valley.
By now, the park was getting busy, so I decided to just park my car and take the free shuttle that was going to be starting in half an hour. Unfortunately, because it was so busy, the busses weren't running the full route, so I had to walk to the Bridalveil Falls.
I teamed up with a man I met on the bus who was a retired maths and computer teacher, and we ended up hiking together for around 5 hours!
The views were totally worth the hike, and it was amazing to hear some of the park facts from someone who has been going to Yosemite since he was a kid.
After the hike and a quick drink, I decided the crowds were just too much, so I tried to go back to my car and head off. The shuttle bus took the best part of an hour in the traffic to get the 3km back to my car (if I had known, I would have walked!!)
But I did meet a guy who was carrying a sign seeking the legalisation of weed, whose entire life was backpacking around the western hard of America, so that was interesting...
After making it to my car, it then took 2 hours to leave the main park, but I went north around a road that is normally snowed in and closed, but was open, and got some more amazing views of the park.
I'm stopped for the night in carson City.
Tomorrow, lots of driving, towards Yelowstone xx