Yosemite is one of the oldest and perhaps the most complete of the National Parks from an enjoyment point of view anyway. To get into it, we went over a 9900 foot mountain pass, crawled down to the valley floor, with temperature raising as we went. I saw El Capitan (or a big rock for those not in the know) and the US’s tallest waterfall (impressive, but almost dry at this time of year).

The whole place was wonderful, but it’s got such heavy traffic through it and it’s less well done than Bryce or Zion in terms of information. Ultimately, I think that the problem was ours; vast amounts of Yosemite are only accessible on foot; clearly the short time we had, is not the best way to see it.

San Francisco was great, however. All of a bit of a cliche I fear — the hilly streets, the crookedest road which we drove down by mistake, the cable cars and so on. I’ve now sailed under the Golden Gate bridge on a catermaran, been on a cheesy tour in a bus dressed up like a cable car. It’s a vibrant city, relaxed and comformtable. The climate is nice, never hot, never cold; although, ironically, having been in the desert for 2 weeks, I burnt my head — it’s cool, but the sun, when it’s out, is as bright as anywhere else in California.

Originally published on my old blog site.