If you approach Yosemite from the south you enter through a tunnel, the second longest tunnel in the national park system. And then there’s a parking lot where you can get your first view of the Yosemite Valley and Bridal Veil Falls.

My first priority, finding my tent in Curry Village. Just follow the deer.

A mule deer wandering past my front door as I was moving in. It was like, “Welcome to Yosemite.”

In front of each tent is a bear box. Inside the bear box goes all food and anything else with a scent like toothpaste, soap, shampoo, etc. Here’s my breakfast at the bear box. Glad I remember to pack the table cloth.

One of the best things to do at a national park, or state park, is a ranger walk or ranger talk. You can learn lots of neat information. This is ranger Erik, who received part of his training at UW-Stevens Point.

At my first ranger walk (I did 4), ranger Erik announced that the following day there would be a special guest, the lady who wrote the book on bees. Then Lola, who was standing next to me, said, “You mean this book.” And he said, “Yes, Olivia Carell is coming.” So the next day Olivia Carell showed up along with a half dozen of her grad students, and boxes of bugs she had already collected in the park.

Soon the whole group was out in the meadow, collecting bugs with their butterfly nets. And then Olivia explained what was cool about each one. It was like a master class in entomology. There were even three guys from Western Carolina University who happened to be in the park doing mosquito research.

In addition to the ranger walks, I was eager to hike some of the scenic trails of Yosemite. The Four Mile Trail (actually 4.8 miles) was the first to get my attention. I decided to hike down the trail from Glacier Point.

I reserved a seat on the bus that goes to Glacier Point each day. This is the view from Glacier Point: Half Dome, plus Nevada Falls and Vernal Falls.

Lots of beautiful scenery on the way down the trail. This is one of the views of Yosemite Falls. Paul from New Jersey was headed down the trail about the same time and we were fast friends by the time we arrived at the bus stop at the lower trailhead three hours later. One of the best parts of this trip was the people I met from across the US and overseas.

The next day I was back at Glacier Point to try the Panorama Trail, twice as long: 8 miles.

Lots of interesting things to see along the trail, like giant pine cones. I also learned that ponderosa pines smell like butterscotch. So I sniffed a few trees along the way.

When it was time for dinner, I hopped up to sit on this fallen tree trunk and enjoyed the view as I nibbled my granola/energy bars.

I was walking along and I saw this splash of brilliant red, that turned out to be a snow plant. It’s a parasitic plant with no chlorophyll. Instead, it gets its nutrition from fungi attached to tree roots. Panorama Trail ended at Nevada Falls. Then there was another three miles to go to get back to my tent, steeply downhill past Nevada Falls and Vernal Falls (Vernal Falls shown). It was a six hour hike, ending at 9pm just as night was falling.

After 4 days in Curry Village it was time for a change of scenery. I moved out of the park to Auto Camp, about a 45 minutes down the road. Auto Camp is a resort where people stay in Airstream trailers. This is where the wedding party was staying. I arrived just as the rehearsal was getting underway.

The next morning found us all back at Glacier Point for the early morning wedding.

Congratulations Joe & Michaela! What a stunning location for a wedding.

Then time for some more hiking with Sam and Fiona.

We hiked to Taft Point. I gave Sam my camera and said, “I’m going out there and then you take my picture.”

We also visited the redwood trees at the Maricopa Grove.

While at Yosemite I was able to connect with a fellow University of Wisconsin alumnus, John Muir.

Muir had a presence all over Yosemite. He was overwhelmed by its beauty and campaigned to make it a national park, even hosting a visit by Teddy Roosevelt.

Yosemite’s beauty attracts visitors from all over the world, in such overwhelming numbers that a ticketing system has been instituted to handle visitors.

I always wondered what it would be like to spend a week in a national park. Now I know. It was a wonderful experience. I didn’t win the lottery to be able to do the grueling hike to Half Dome, in four attempts. But maybe it’s just as well. The 18-20 mile hike might’ve been the limit of my endurance. At the end of the Panorama Trail hike I ran across a couple from Australia returning from Half Dome and disoriented. They didn’t have a map and their phones weren’t helping them. I was able to get them back on track. Lots of good memories and short friendships. But now it’s time to head for home.