Yosemite National Park

September 23, 2011

Very Busy place, we stayed in Upper Pines campsite in Yosemite Valley village area, which we had to put our name in for a space at 8am, then be back by 3pm to see if we got an available campsite.While waiting for our campsite, we hiked and biked all around the Yosemite Valley/Village area seeing Yosemite Falls, El Capitan, Half Dome, the shops, the hotel, the information centers, and just loads of people, which we have not had to deal with on this trip at all. Then we met a really nice couple from san Diego who were a couple of sites across from us, Betty and Gary. They were married there in Yosemite years ago, and really knew their way around, So we went to a show with them to see Steven Lester portraying John Muir telling tales of Yosemite and environs. He's been doing that there for 27 years and he was excellent. Then the next day (Friday) we hiked with them over the Glacier Point Panorama trail, on down to Ililloyette Falls (5 miles up and back and 1300 ft vertical drop) - stunningly beautiful scenery, and we enjoyed soaking our feet and even taking a brief dip in the river at the Falls halfway through our hike to prepare us for the ascent back.