In early September of 2020, we were ready to fly to Yosemite National Park for Megan’s brother’s wedding. Unfortunately, wildfires closed the park at the last minute, resulting in the entire wedding (which was fortunately small) shifting to Garden of the Gods in Colorado.
Eric and Alex were able to postpone lodging, catering, and everything else wedding related until the same week this year. I have a few posts planned about flying during the pandemic, having a private chef for a night, and bears, but today I just wanted to focus on Yosemite itself.
When I asked Eric, Alex, and Megan why they liked Yosemite so much, they pretty much summed it up by saying: “It’s just so big.” This didn’t necessarily seem like a selling point to me, but now that I’ve been, I much better understand the grandeur of the park. Not only is it massive in size–lots of driving is required–but the views are vast, the sheer cliffs extend endlessly into the sky, and even the sequoia trees are some of the biggest in the world.
The scope of Yosemite means that there’s always more to do. Eric, Alex, and Megan had already spent a full week in Yosemite a few years ago, and even though we hiked every day, they only repeated one of those original hikes (and there are still more on their list). We hiked Taft, Sentinel, Yosemite Falls, Nevada Falls, up to the base of El Capitan, and Mariposa Grove. I highly recommend dipping your feet in cool mountain streams at the end of any hike where that’s an option.
Yosemite’s intrigue has only increased due to the Free Solo and Dawn Wall documentaries, as you can walk right up to the base of those rock faces (as we did). I’m a novice climber, and I still couldn’t figure out how they’d even start their routes, much less climb for hours or days to the top.
Also, it’s a beautiful place to get married (or renew vows, as Eric and Alex did).
Overall, I think Yosemite was a great reminder to me that photos cannot capture the size, grandeur, and beauty of a place like Yosemite. You might look at a photo of El Cap and think, “That’s a big mountain,” but you really can’t comprehend it’s size until you stand right next to it and realize that you can barely perceive climbers halfway up it. Same with the sequoias–I knew they were big, but I had to stand next to one (and even inside one) to fully comprehend it. For that, I highly recommend visiting Yosemite as some point in your life.
If you’ve visited Yosemite, what are your thoughts and recommendations? Are there other places you’ve visited that absolutely must be experienced in person?
I’m so glad you enjoyed Yosemite–it’s a beautiful natural place! Also, I completely agree with you that it’s a place that must be experienced in person to fully appreciate its grandeur. I tend to think that of many natural places, however. In Yosemite’s case, half of the park is north of the road that most people take to enter, and almost everyone only sees the park’s south side…it’s vast!
When I think of other places that must be seen in person, the #1 place that jumps out to me is the Grand Canyon. I’ve been many times and I always tell myself how incredibly expansive it is, yet each time I’m amazed at how incredibly expansive it is. Pictures cannot do it justice!
Other natural experiences that just seem beyond pictures for me are seeing truly crystal blue water (anywhere really) as well as seeing such water captured in a sky blue glacial wall or cavern. I also add standing on top of a 14er with thousands of feet of elevation gain from the base–the views are impossible to replicate. Although I’ve seen these pictures of these things many times, the real experience far surpasses what a picture can provide. I’d put lots (most? all?) of New Zealand in this bucket too!
There are a number of manmade views I’d add to the list too — the Eiffel Tower, Neuschwanstein from the bridge above the castle, Tuscan villages…and many that I’d like to see that I imagine would make the list — Petra, pyramids, Stonehenge, the Great Wall & Macchu Picchu.
I’m glad you included a few man-made structures on this list too. Stonehenge in person is absolutely incredible.
Your comments over the last few days have given me regrets that we didn’t suck up the cost of places to stay and visit some of these places while we lived in the US.
Seven years living in Vegas and somehow we never made it to Yosemite, The Grand Canyon (just too hot whenever we had time off), or Bryce. For the last mentioned, we did make it to Zion (have you ever been there?) and really enjoyed it.
We should have done more road trips. Other than Zion our only other good one was when we drove out to Rachel and visited the outskirts of Area 51. We drove right up to the point where the signs say you might be shot if you continue, and there was a black SUV parked up on a hill watching us.