Last fall there was a local travel deal to spend a night or two at a lodge near the south entrance of Yosemite.  The deal included breakfast, Us at Tunnel View snowshoe rentals and a serious lodging discount.  We've always wanted to snowshoe in Yosemite together, so we jumped at the chance.  We made our reservations for the weekend that bridged January and February.  Little did we know that California would be experiencing its worst drought since 1580 and there wouldn't be much snow to do anything...  But since Yosemite is beautiful regardless of the conditions, we still were looking forward to it.

Bridal Veil Falls Half Dome

We had hoped to sneak out in time on Friday to enjoy the night at the hotel, but between Lee's work schedule, my 

forgetting some critical items which required doubling back and adding an hour to our trip and a wrong turn into the park... we didn't get in until SUPER late.  Needless to say our late arrival meant a slow start on Saturday.  The day ended up being a beautiful, chilly and sunny day with a dusting of snow on the peaks of everything.  There hadn't been enough snow for Badger Pass to open but enough snow to prevent anyone from going up that direction for a hike.  So we opted to drive into the valley (behind buses and rental cars with unnecessary snow chains) and spent the day walking around and taking pictures.  Lee's taking every opportunity he has to get familiar with his new camera.  And I'm loving the output!    We had incredible views from the Tunnel.  We hiked up Bridal Veil Falls and watched ice chunks fall from great heights.  We walked around the valley and just admired the beauty that is Yosemite.  No matter how many times we visit, we fall in love with it all over again. Upper Mariposa Grove

On Sunday we stayed closer to the south end and hiked in the Sequoias of Mariposa Grove.  Lee hadn't ever been to that part of the park before and I hadn't ever been with a dusting of snow.  Upper Mariposa Grove The Lower Grove was crowded with people, but we had the Upper Grove all to ourselves.   It was truly spectacular.  We were really lucky to spend that day among the giants alone.  Some day we'll get around to posting the best pictures to our gallery.

We "heart" Yosemite.