Over the last two weeks we have spent our time in the WiFi-free zones of Yosemite National Park and Redwoods National Park in California. In Yosemite, our campground was a few miles drive from one of the western entrances to the park, which means that it was about 40 miles from the park's primary destination: the incomparable Yosemite Valley. Which means that we spent a lot of time in our vehicle between stops on the steep and windey roads. But this was not a problem or inconvenience in any way, because being in the park at all is so grand, it's a pleasure just to be there.
Even so, catching the first glimpse of Half-Dome and El Capitan and then craning your neck up to try to take in their sheer massiveness is nearly overwhelmingly awesome (in the truest sense of the word). That is the immediate impression of Yosemite-- even though it is full of delicate and subtle wonders, it is almost unbelievably muscular and gigantic...from the monoliths of Yosemite Valley to waterfalls five times higher than Niagara, to a Sequoia tree that has one limb bigger in diameter than any other non-Sequoia tree in the forest. We all stand in wonder, speechless.
