Yosemite, Nature's Crown
‘’Welcome to Yosemite National Park!’’, cried the park ranger, gesturing nowhere in particular.
‘’Make yourselves comfortable, but be careful of attracting bears!’’, he half-teased us.
I let slip a Machiavelli grin. ‘’Oh I’ll be careful, officer’’, I replied sweetly, as any honest boy scout would.
I’ll explain later, bear with me.
Dizzying Heights
I take a deep breath, refining my senses. Ten weeks of practice and experience as an instructor at a high ropes course at Camp Chi has led me inevitably to this moment. My nerves are as loose as piano keys under the caress of Beethoven. My palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy.
Claire rushes up beside me, her arm coming across my chest defiantly. ‘’Olly! don’t do it! Oh, what I am saying? You are super awesome, of course you have to do this. I understand, but please, be careful’’. I’m pretty sure those were Claire's exact words. Will has no such qualms. He is already filming.
I gently remove Claire’s arm. I don’t look her in the eye, preferring to be that cool guy from the movies who speaks to people sideways. ‘’Claire, if I die, you can have the Wii’’. I was tired of beating her on Mario Kart.
I begin to climb.
I marveled at my surroundings, perched precariously on my lofty throne. You are probably assuming that I raced up that tree trunk in seconds, with a rogue disregard for my safety. Let’s be honest, that’s not how it happened. I won’t want critics to start chirping ‘’Marco Polo’’, claiming I’m making it all up, spinning a fantastical yarn. ‘’He’s just used Photoshop to place himself up that tree’’. Well, guess what, I can’t use Photoshop at all, so take that.
The truth is I crawled up that tree trunk as slowly and cautiously as possible. I still felt dwarfed by the towering redwoods that surrounded me, but I had gained a respectable 25 ft of elevation. It was a splendid view and one I had not expected to enjoy when I first embarked upon the trail through the forest floor. It was indicative of the many unexpected pleasures that Yosemite yields along the way.
In the Land of Giants
Visitors are absolutely spoiled for choice when it comes to scenery. You can clamber among the boulders as you answer the call of crashing waterfalls. You can gaze down in wonder at a sun-kissed valley carpeted in unspoiled forest and bordered my sheer granite cliffs, formed by glacial activity in the murky depths of history. You can follow the meandering course of rivers, crossing quaint wooden bridges as you go. You can emerge from shaded trails into the sunlight, only to submerge yourself in one of lakes. Was that checklist sufficiently poetic? I hope so.
However, undoubtedly Yosemite is most famed for its giant sequoia trees, which grow in isolated groves. These giants of the forest are truly memorable. They are the tallest trees on Earth, reaching heights of up to 380 ft, whilst their trunks can reach 30 ft in diameter. So good luck trying to hug one of those. These marvelous trees also live to be far older than 1,000 years. I think that’s older than Gandalf? OK, I just googled it, actually apparently Gandalf is 2,019 years old, whilst the oldest Sequoia was estimated to be 2,300 years old.
These sequoia trees reached their celebrity peak in the 1880s when tourists began to revel in the novelty of driving through a tunnel created at the base of the Wawona Sequoia tree. Nowadays, the big boy on the block is the ‘Grizzly Giant’, which quite frankly I was hugely disappointed to realize was an inanimate tree.
I must at this point tip my hat to all those determined Chinese tourists out there. The great conundrum of the Sequoia tree is how to photograph them best, as it’s impossible to fit it all in profile. But that won’t stop a man from trying. I saw one brave Chinese man size up the Grizzly Giant, then proceed to slump onto the dusty floor. Rolling into position beneath the protective fencing, this ingenious, and surprisingly dexterous man, wiggled forwards, thrusting his camera out at arm’s length. The crowd waited with bated breath. His hand slightly shaking at full stretch, the man composed himself, pressing firmly on the shutter release. Click. The crowd burst into raucous applause as the man let out an ‘’ii-oooh’’, a common Chinese expression of mild surprise. He must of pulled a muscle. The part about the applause might have been my imagination. In any case, I am sure he got a fantastic photograph, so congratulation to him!
I’ve always been both affronted and impressed by this distinctly Chinese tourist trait of getting their most desired shots at any cost. They will risk injury. They will risk standing up in a wobbly punt boat, against the clear and repeated warnings of the chauffeur (that would be me), for a better angle. They are seemingly unperturbed by social embarrassment or judgement, something that the vast majority of British people have sleepless nights over.
Best of all, they absolutely, unashamedly, love taking selfies. They are single-minded and ruthlessly efficient tourists. They know what they want and they won’t listen to any counter-arguments. They are brash and rude, yet charmingly enthusiastic and lovably rogue. This is the kind of supreme cultural awareness that you can learn living amongst the Chinese for nine months.
A Very Special Atmosphere
In spite of being only a 3 hour drive from San Francisco, Yosemite National Park feels a world away from the cities of America’s west coast. I genuinely felt a palpable sense that I had stumbled into Jurassic Park and I was bracing myself to witness a lumbering troop of Apatosaurus come crashing slowly through. However, I wasn’t disappointed, because when it comes to wildlife, you can’t beat grizzly bears, not for me. Simply put, you can’t tick California off your list until you’ve visited Yosemite.
The boundaries of the national park are immense, although the majority of visitors never troubling themselves to go beyond the popular valley epicentre. The park covers a sprawling 3,000 km², with the valley covering a far more manageable area of 18 km². In vertical terms, the valley lies as low as 2,000 ft. whilst the cliffs rise as high as 13,000 ft. (4,000 M).
When I think of Yosemite, I don’t only think of stunning natural scenery. I remember how it made me feel. I felt completely at peace, lolled in by the tranquility of nature and rejuvenated away from the stresses and technologies of modern society, which melt away like warm chocolate. We spent our leisure time camping and hiking, a very simple, but very rewarding experience. I would say it was therapeutic. I had only the beauty of nature and the companionship of my friends to concern myself with. I felt embraced and more intimately connected with the natural world. It was a blissful, temporary escape from the humdrum pace of city life.
Although Yosemite is a very popular tourist attraction, its sheer size prevents it from ever feeling overcrowded. Even when we visited in August, we saw few people along the trials, although the viewpoints were notably busier. My tentative research suggests that’s primarily because some lazy, overweight Americans consider it perfectly acceptable to drive from their camp to the viewpoint car park.
Overall, Yosemite is absolutely amazing, the most memorable place I have ever personally visited. I feel so much appreciation and gratitude for national parks all over the world. Yosemite is by all means a destination of itself. The three days I spent there didn’t feel like enough at all. At very least, if you are planning a trip to California, then swing by!