Yosemite in Winter

01.27.08 | 2 Comments

It’s the first time I’ve seen Yosemite with snow… what a treat! We were there last weekend with friends and snowshoed to Dewey Point.

Justin and I rented a pimpin’ mini-van and took our friends Joy, Kyle and Marcia on the winter adventure. We totally took our time to get there, but were just in time to witness a beautiful sunset on Half Dome.
We stayed in one of the heated canvas cabins in Yosemite’s Curry Village.They were really fun, pretty warm and could fit all 5 of us (well, Kyle slept on the floor… but it seemed OK, I hope!).

The next day, we started the snowshoe adventure at Badger Pass (45 minutes away from Curry Village), went up Glacier road and took the “hard” trail to get to our destination. It went up and down and up and down. The landscape was beautiful, we stopped to take pictures (probably too many times because we ended up in a rush to head back and make it to the snowshoe rental return time).

Right before our destination, we stopped to have some lunch… Hot Dogs that Justin cooked on our little camping stove with buns, ketchup and all! Other people passing by looked jealous… hellz yeah we’re cooking in the snow! (Joy has some evidence!)
We were almost just going to turn around because we were pressed with time, but some cross-country skiers told us that Dewey Point was really just around the corner. Ok… we went the extra few yards.

Man it was worth it!!! It was like ending up on top of a cliff, covered with snow with no security railings whatsoever, with a view of all of Yosemite Valley. It was actually pretty scary and we made sure not to go too close to the edge where snow could have just decided to slide off its support and drag us into the mountain abyss. Seriously, I wonder if people ever fall? Anyway, let’s not get into dark and depressing things, we’re all alive and enriched by the stunning view.

Dewey Point Yosemite
Justin and I at Dewey Point (courtesy of Joy).

We then turned around and took an easier route (thank goodness!) to get back to the rental place. Gotta say, that chunk of the journey was the hardest! We were all tired, it got really cold, our joints were starting to hurt and muscles were quiting.
The clock was ticking, we had to get back in time and so we did! Well, we were 5-10 minutes late, but the shop was still open. Pheew!

All in all, it was a fantastic short little getaway, with great company, some physical challenges and a rewarding experience.

Here are the highlights…

A bigger version of this slide show is available here.

«
»

2 Comments