CAMPGROUND: Toulmne Meadows, inside Yosemite National Park. Typical national park campground: rugged sites, passable bathrooms, no hookups. But location, location, location! $13/night with Senior Pass. 4 stars out of 5
LOCATION: Yosemite National Park, in eastern California
WEATHER: Perfect for hiking. Sunny. High 60. Freezing at night
We got up early from the campground outside the park, and made a dash to one of the campgrounds here inside the park. This campground is half reserved and half first come-first served. Reservations get booked up a year in advance, so your only option is to get there early, stand in line and hope for a site. We got lucky. Not only did we get sites, but we got a site near Tony and Jenny. We'll stay here 2 nights, then move somewhere to spend 2 more days exploring the valley part of the park.
They had record amounts of snow this year. The highway to Yosemite on this higher eastern side was not even open until July 4. Campgrounds did not open until August 1. They will close September 25, so the season is very short. We are at 9000 feet, in the alpine meadow part of the park.
We hiked one of the trails near our campground. It is called Soda Springs, named for the springs that bubble up there that are like soda water.
Jenny and I hiked ahead of the boys....
At the spring, George tried out his water distillation straw. It is designed for people traveling where there is not potable water available. He said this spring water tasted like iron.
Nearby there was a sparkling river where he tried the straw again. He said it tasted much better. We took him at his word....nobody else wanted to try it.
The hike was beautiful in the meadows, with the mountains soaring around us. Tony enjoyed a nap in the sunshine....
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