It's our last day along the pacific coast highway and we managed to squeeze two sights before we rest for our adventure in Yosemite. After 7 days on the road, we're kind of tired and tend to wake up later in the morning. Still we managed to make it to the 17mile drive in Monterrey by mid morning.
Of almost 20 view points/attractions along the 17 mile scenic drive. Only a couple of them offer really pretty sights.
One of the more interesting view points in 17mile drive. Known as the restless sea. Due to the rocky and uneven seabed profile, the waves are very rough, irregular and breaking.
Basking seals on a rock.
Feeding the anonymous rodent. Could be a squirrel, could be a gopher. 
This is known as the lone cypress. It's a truly amazing feat being able to stand alone facing the strong winds on a rock for hundreds of years. Sadly though, now, this lone cypress is held upright with the help of chains. 
Perfect. A lone blue jay (I think). A lone cypress. Lucky I wasn't alone. :)After that we rushed across San Fransisco, across the Golden Gate bridge to Sausalito. The first view of San Fransisco and the Golden Gate through the windshield is truly amazing. Our destination in Sausalito is the Muir Woods National Monument. A coastal redwood grove.
First sight of the Golden Gate Bridge. Was rushing towards the Muir Woods. 
Fallen Coastal Redwood
Craning my neck to have a glimpse of coastal redwood treetops.
The beautiful paved path among the tall ancient redwoods. These trees are a couple thousand years old! 
Carpeting the base of the trees are these pretty clovers. Searching for a lucky four-leaf clover!We hit the sack quite early that night because the next day would be a really taxing 4 hours drive to Yosemite National Park just in time for a Falls extravaganza. Waterfalls in the Yosemite Valley only appear during Spring, as the snow melts and formed the waterfalls. In summer, the falls would be all dried up and in winter it'd be frozen.
Yosemite is really a beautiful place, steep granite mountains and cliffs, awesome waterfalls, lush green meadows, peaceful woods and some wildlife too! (beware of the bears though). We even hiked up to the base of two waterfalls. It's a whole different experience compared to the waterfalls back home in Malaysia. The falls free fall from a dizzying height and it's made up of icy cold water. As physics dictate, when velocity is high, pressure and temperature is lowered. The icy cold water hitting the granite rocks at the bottom of the falls causing tremendous amount of icy splash. It's almost like rain! Freezing rain! Swimming is definitely a no-no. You could risk getting hypothermia by standing at the bottom of the falls for too long without warm clothings.
The first fall right right after entering the valley... forgot the name though there are just too many of them. 
The bridal veil falls. It's a sheet of white chilly water free falling from the top of the granite cliff.
The rushing stream where the bridal veil falls end up in. 
At the base of bridal veil falls. It's a wet, chilly, misty experience. 
Yosemite falls
The mirror lake. Took almost an hour to hike up. However, the view is kind of disappointing. It had lost its former glory. The lake used to be bigger and the water so calm that you could see the reflection of the trees and even the cliffs.
The green meadows filled with life. It's spring after all!
The half dome. A granite mountain top which is shaped one half of a dome. 
We hiked to the base of the lower yosemite falls for another freezing experience. It's said that on cold spring days, the water splashing on the granite rocks at the bottom of the falls would form ice particles in the air. Trust me, it is really cold! 
We could only stay here long enough for a couple of pics before the cold forced us to go further away from the falls.
The beautiful view of the upper and lower yosemite falls. 
The beautiful view of the yosemite valley. With El Capitan on the right, Bridal Veil falls on the left and the Half Dome peak in the distant center. Simply awesome.With a guided tour around Mariposa grove, we ended our trip to Yosemite and started heading back to San Fransisco!
Giant Sequioas a.k.a Giant Redwoods. Imagine being the person who discovered this grove. Suddenly finding yourself walking among giants. 
Huge gaping tunnel at the base of a giant sequioa. A car could easily pass through it. These tunnels are actually scars left by the numerous forest fires throughout the lifetime of these trees. The giant sequioas are among the sturdiest trees alive. They are resistant to fire, parasites and bugs. Their Achille's heel is their shallow roots. Damaged roots would cause these trees to topple over ending their . 
That's the Grizzly Giant.
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3 comments:
bro u need to go to the mirror lake very early in the morning in order to see the calm reflection...should have told me you were going to the Muir, would have told u not worth the time and money (and gas) :)
too bad. next time would definitely seek your advice before going on a long trip.
what's your advice for traveling to alaska btw? The flight seemed to be really really expensive!
Looks like your vacation was really long... how long was it really?
I prefer the cute animals to the trees:)
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