Last night I received an email from the House owners and they told me there may be a potential closing of the park today. Due to the heavy snow melt and incoming rain, there might be flooding. With the that risk, we wanted to get out to the park early and at least visit Bridal Falls, the Majestic Lodge and hit the Village Store one last time before the National Park Service would shut down the park.
LT decided to stay back at the house, so the three of us went out on the adventure. Bridal Falls is near the entrance to Yosemite Valley, so it was only about a 15 minute drive to get there. However, we stopped along the way once on the side of the road to capture some shots and then at Tunnel View. With the incoming rain, the clouds made for a totally differed vista then the one we saw a couple of days ago.
Bridal Falls is in no more than about 400 yards from the parking area, so the stop there was pretty quick. We all did however venture off the paths regularly and really tried to take in the sound of the waterfall and enjoyed the mist the waterfall threw for hundreds of meters.
The Majestic Valley Lodge was the hotel I really wanted to try and get us to stay at, but it was booked up over six months in advance. So was the Yosemite Lodge, which is not but about a quarter mile away. Fortunately for us we stayed at neither, because at around 11am the National Park Service decided to close down the park and evacuate all the patrons. The Majestic was to be evacuted by 1pm. Glad we were staying at the Royal Retreat.
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| Steller Jay - beautiful black and blue bird. |
We left the park at 12:30pm and headed back to the house, but not before we did little last minute shopping at the Village Store. On the drive to the store, a coyote was crossing the street which totally caught us off guard. Even though traffic was behind us, we stopped the car and tried to take a picture. No chance - we drove on and went to the next parking area, quickly jump out and run back to take some shots. Thankfully the coyote stayed in the area. With pictures taken we headed on to the store where Anna purchased some steaks, potatoes and one sweet potato for dinner later this evening.
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| Coyote seen running near the lodge. Olivia and I took plenty of pics. |
When we got home, Moma and LT went out for several hours. LT wanted to try his hand at fishing to see if he could catch a trout or two. Waters were rushing pretty fast, so no pescetarian meals tonight. Now that the park was closed, I started to get a bit nervous for us leaving in the morning, as road closures were starting to be announced. CA 120 and 41 were open until 5pm tonight, then they were to close until whose knows. Hopefully, they will be opening in the morning again, otherwise we will be missing our flight.
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| Rushing rapids at the base of Bridal Falls |
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| Bridal Falls |
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| My two favorite ladies near the base of Bridal Falls |
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| The Majestics Hotel's Dining Hall. We couldn't eat here due to the evacuation. Lunch menu looked good though. |
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| This one is just a regular pine. It's a BIG one! |
Last night I received an email from the House owners and they told me there may be a potential closing of the park today. Due to the heavy snow melt and incoming rain, there might be flooding. With the that risk, we wanted to get out to the park early and at least visit Bridal Falls, the Majestic Lodge and hit the Village Store one last time before the National Park Service would shut down the park.
Bridal Falls is in no more than about 400 yards from the parking area, so the stop there was pretty quick. We all did however venture off the paths regularly and really tried to take in the sound of the waterfall and enjoyed the mist the waterfall threw for hundreds of meters.
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