JoelNothman.com

In Australia we pride ourselves in things like the Big Pinapple. Here there are also lots of Big things. I went to the Big Hole last week, more grandly known as the Grand Canyon. This week, in one day, I saw a Big Rock (El Capitan—a Big Climb if that’s your thing), a Big Waterfall (the 800m Yosemite Falls) and a grove of Big Trees (Grand Sequoias), all within the Big Park of Yosemite in California’s northeast.

The day started as usual, only at 5:30am and after 4 hours of sleep, and with a little headache. Usual meant shacharit followed by heading downstairs to the dining room, grabbing some raisin bagels and covering them with margarine and strawberry jam for breakfast. Then things were a little different—when I went outside there weren’t so many cars on the usually busy downtown Taylor St. There was, though, one girl the corner, Jing from Singapore, who it turned out was waiting for the same van as me.

And we waited. And waited a little longer. I ran in to the toilet—precautionary for the long journey—and returned to wait. Okay, so in the end it was only 20 minutes late, but it felt like a long time at that time of the morning and with a headache that said I didn’t need to be awake yet.

Gavin the guide introduced himself and slid the door open for us to climb in. I sat down to share a seat with a year 11 Bulgarian girl (Brianna) and her mother (Milena). (With not enough sleep, I managed to doze off on Brianna’s shoulder and apologise for it when I eventually woke up and realised it…) Also in the van were an older German couple, a couple from Taiwan, soon one from England, and another (who had helped cause the delay by not being ready) from Pennsylvania. The male of the honeymooning east-coasters decided that despite the time of morning he would have loud conversations from the back seat (via my ears) with the driver up the front. His wife was surprisingly quiet.

Gavin also talked on the way up, and not just in response to the Pennsylvanian, giving the history of some of the neighbourhoods of San Francisco (like the area where the homless from further downtown avoid simply because the hill isn’t worth the effort), the Bay Bridge as we crossed it, Californian agriculture and the strip of almond orchards as we passed it and the virtues of the large rural grocery store that we stopped at after 1.5 hours. After one and a half hours on the road we stopped at a large supermarket in Oakdale, CA, where people could buy breakfasts and put lunches in their bags. It was warm without air conditioning. I bought some yoghurt.

As we approached the park, so did a collection of tour buses, vans and private cars. All slowly converged on two toll booths which welcome patrons to the park with a $10 fine per person (plus some for private cars). Gavin gave us a history of the area, stretching back many millennia into geology and ecology (granite and valley formation in particular), and only a couple of centuries when speaking of the exiling of the locals (and the park’s naming), the Gold Rush’s destruction of some of the park, and the quest for the park’s preservation by John Muir, and the fires that have blackened some of the trees.

And then we stopped to see it. Some spectacular sites, like El Capitan’s tall sheer face and Half Dome behind, rounded but appearing cut. Our second stop brought us to the tourist-flooded foot of Bridalveil Falls, a very tall and misty waterfall whose clearer photos are taken from the parking lot rather than its base.

And then to the beautiful Inspiration Point. This is where, supposedly, Muir declared his quest of preservation of the park’s environment. A most spectacular outlook over a valley of tall pines and cedars into many of the park’s great granite landmarks. And yes, it is inspiring. And breathtaking.

Because of the heat of the day, we felt the need to break by the Merced River. Or in the river. It was quite cool, but beautiful running freshwater. I had a few very refreshing mouthfuls and dipped my overgrown hair in.

We broke for a 1:15 lunch at Yosemite Lodge, which I spent with a collection of squirrels who seemed very curious about the avocado and salmon I was putting together for lunch. I also chatted with a frum couple who were up holidaying from New York. Near the lodge was Yosemite Falls—the fifth tallest waterfall in the world. We were invited to eat lunch there, but I decided mine was too complicated and I enjoyed the squirrels. This meant that when I finally left for the lower of three sections of the fall it was nearly time to return to the van. The fall was spectacular in its massiveness, but was again surrounded by too many families and tour groups at this time of year (although I shouldn’t complain—I was part of one). I got back 15 minutes late to the van and hence became a joke for the group for the next while.

And we were off to our last Big thing for the day. The giant sequoia is a very large Redwood which grows in only very peculiar circumstances of place and altitude, and in small groves. We had the opportunity to go on a walking trail see one with a diameter of 7m, to walk through and climb on one… They are simply enormous trees and there’s not much else to say about them. I wouldn’t have minded a tougher hike though.

It was already time to start our return. Only 4.5 hours in the park was surrounded by 6 hours of travel. It’s a pity I had only one day to see it. But it was a very nice day, and as usual good and interesting company. Sorry I took too many photos to flick through!