Frommer's National Parks of the American West - Don Laine [431]
To get into Yosemite's high country, go about 1½ hours east along Tioga Road, which is closed in winter between Big Oak Flat and Tioga Pass. This subalpine region is low on amenities, which makes it a frequent haunt of those who enjoy roughing it, but even cushy-soft couch potatoes can enjoy the beauty up here. Glistening granite domes tower above lush green meadows, which are cut by silver swaths of streams and lakes. Many of Yosemite's longer hikes begin or pass through here.
Olmsted Point, midway between White Wolf and Tuolumne meadows, offers one of the most spectacular vistas anywhere in the park. Here the enormous walls of the Tenaya Canyon are exposed, and an endless view stretches all the way to Yosemite Valley. In the distance are Cloud's Rest and the rear of Half Dome. To the east, easily accessible Tenaya Lake, one of the park's larger lakes, glistens like a sapphire.
About 8 miles east of Tenaya Lake is Tuolumne Meadows, a huge subalpine area surrounded by domes and steep granite formations that offer exhilarating climbs. The meadow is a beautiful place to hike and fish, or just to admire the scenery while escaping the crowds of Yosemite Valley. North of the meadow is Lembert Dome at about 2 o'clock, and then, working clockwise, Johnson Peak at 7 o'clock, Unicorn Peak at
8 o'clock, Fairview Dome at about 10 o'clock, and Pothole Dome at 11 o'clock. Up the road is the central region of Tuolumne, where you'll find a visitor center, campground, canvas tent-cabins, and a store. Continue east to reach Tioga Lake and Tioga Pass.
SOUTH OF THE VALLEY
This region, which includes Wawona and the Mariposa Grove of Big Trees, is densely forested. It has a handful of granite rock formations, but none as spectacular as those found elsewhere in the park. En route to Wawona you'll come across several wonderful views of Yosemite Valley. Tunnel View, a turnout just before a long tunnel to Wawona, provides one of the park's most recognizable vistas, one memorialized on film by photographer Ansel Adams. To the right is Bridalveil Fall, opposite El Capitan. Half Dome lies straight ahead.
Halfway between Yosemite Valley and Wawona is Glacier Point Road (closed in winter past the turnoff to Badger Pass Ski Area), which runs 16 miles to spectacular Glacier Point. From the parking area, it's a short hike to an amazing overlook that provides a view of the glacier-carved granite rock formations all along the valley and beyond. At this point you will be at eye level with Half Dome, which looks close enough to reach out and touch. Far below, Yosemite Valley resembles a green-carpeted ant farm. There are also some pretty sights of some obscure waterfalls that are not visible from the valley floor. Glacier Point has a geology hut and a day lodge for wintertime cross-country skiers that is a gift store and snack shack during the rest of the year. It's accessible by both foot and bus (see "Organized Tours & Ranger Programs," below).
Continue south on Wawona Road to reach Wawona, a small town 30 miles from the valley that runs deep with history. It was settled in 1856 by homesteader Galen Clark, who built a rustic way station for travelers en route from Mariposa to Yosemite. The property's next owners, the Washburn brothers, built much of what is today the Wawona Hotel, including the large white building to the right of the main hotel, which was constructed in 1876. The two-story hotel annex went up 3 years later. When Congress established Yosemite National Park in 1890 and charged the U.S. Army with managing it, Wawona was chosen as headquarters. Every summer, soldiers camped in what is today the Wawona Campground. For 16 summers, the cavalry out of San Francisco occupied the camp and mapped the park. When Yosemite Valley was added after the turn of the 20th century, the cavalry picked up and relocated to the valley.
As Yosemite grew in popularity, so did the Wawona Hotel and the