No place like Yosemite

The family trekked up to Yosemite National Park this past weekend as part of the annual San Francisco Turners trip. The Turners are an old German Gymnastics Social Club that Grandpa Karl has been a member of since he was a kid. The club spends a weekend in June camped at a private camp ground that runs along the south fork of the Toulomne River, just outside Yosemite’s north-west gate.

Sonya and I drove up Friday afternoon with the kids and met the group early Friday evening. We were joined by about 25 other Turners and their families, Grandma Marion, Sonya’s brother Thomas and his wife Toya.


Grandma, Grandpa & Karsyn in front of El Capitan
On Saturday morning, we headed to the valley floor, where we had breakfast at the Curry Village Lodge before setting out on bikes to tour various spots in the park. Ryan rode in a bike-seat on Sonya’s bike, and Karsyn rode on a tandem attachment that we borrowed from some friends. The attachment hooked on to the back of my mountain bike, so I had the “luxury” of an extra set of legs to crank up those hills.


Sonya & Ryan on the hike to Vernal Falls
Our first stop was the trail that led to Half Dome. We took the path about a mile up to the Vernal Falls bridge where we stopped to take in the view. Sonya hauled up the hill with Ryan on her shoulders a majority of the way. The fantastic snow fall that we’ve had this year has resulted in incredible water flow in all the falls in the park, and Vernal was no exception. The water was roaring past the bridge. To give you some idea of how much snow still remains, Tioga Pass is still closed (in June), and there is snow still at the top of Half Dome.

After hiking back down the trail we jumped back on our bikes then rode back through Curry Village, past Yosemite Village, then on to Yosemite Falls. The National Park Service has put in new paved paths to Yosemite Falls, and nice new elevated wood paths that run through some of the calmer water that forks off the main tributary that leads to the Toulomne River. These paths are cut through huge Redwood trees, offering a nice break from the sun.


Karsyn at Yosemite Falls
Yosemite falls was so active that spray from the water crashing at the bottom of the falls was blowing well past the bridge that cut over the continuing river. It was impossible to get pictures of the falls from the bridge, because the camera lens would mist up in the blink of an eye.

After biking back to Curry Village, we loaded the bikes back on the truck and headed over to the Ahwahnee Hotel, where we met everyone for cocktails on the patio overlooking Sentinel Dome and Glacier Point.

The Turners were planning a big party that evening, so we ended up leaving the park at around 4pm. Our campground was a 45 minute drive from the valley floor, just outside Big Oak Flat Gate off Highway 120.


Karsyn hooks her first fish!
When we got back to the camp ground, Karsyn and I decided to go give her brand new fishing pole a try. We found a nice spot just down-stream from our camping area, so we set up shop for a couple of hours. We were fishing for about 15 minutes before Karsyn landed her very first fish! It was a nice sized rainbow trout, that took her a minute to reel in. I had my camera with me in the event she caught something, so I was able to capture an event she’ll hopefully never forget.

Sonya and Ryan hiked out to see how we were progressing, and they got to see us each bring in a fish. Karsyn would land three fish total, to my lone brown. Four fish!!! It was a great day of fishing to say the least. Can’t wait for Ryan to be able to handle a rod and reel.

Sonya and I capped off the day sitting underneath a starry sky, rocking Ryan to sleep.

Checkout our [Yosemite Photo Album]