With a roughly 3:1 ratio of road miles to trail miles, Yosemite National Park could never be properly seen from a vehicle. Not to say that there won’t be some stunning images framed by your open car window, but these are but teasing hints of what lies beyond. Shuttered blinks of glory. For anyone who loves the outdoors, the urge to park the car and escape into the wilderness on foot will be as compelling as the first drawn breath of a diver breaking surface water.
Wilderness tracts such as Yosemite call for complete immersion, or at the least, a little strategic planning. Last summer, lacking the time I’d normally devote to such an experience I researched, vowed to appreciate all Yosemite could share in my short time there, and promised to return.
An overnight stay in Merced, California put us within an easy morning drive of the park’s Arch Rock entrance. Our gas stop in the teensy but functional town of El Portal provided an opportunity to stock up on water and food. Gone were the towering buildings of San Francisco and the suburban amenities of Pleasanton, California. It had been but 150 easy miles according to MapQuest, a distance that belied the actual journey. And the narrow road into Yosemite promised to take us much further…