Yosemite Valley Floor Tour and Mirror Lake

On our first full day in Yosemite we decided to take the "Valley Floor Tour" to become acquainted with the park.  I never used to be a fan of tours, but have changed my mind because of the many Viking cruises we've taken.  They always include a short walking tour of the area and the guides give great advice on things you can come back to see later on your own.  The Valley Floor Tour was  great for learning about the park and how to get around.

The Valley Tour has been a long standing tradition in Yosemite.  It's usually led by a park ranger and the one we had was fantastic.  He has worked in the park for something like 30 years and he knows it well and made the tour very fun.  I can't quite remember what he was doing in this short video.  I think he was yodeling.

There are several planned stops throughout the park.  This view was especially beautiful with the Merced River, El Capitan on the left and the Cathedral Rocks on the right.

Interesting sign about the 1997 floods.  If this valley were to unexpectedly flood lots of people would be lost aa there is one way in and one way out.

The Valley Floor Tour is done on an open air tram.  It travels quite slowly through the valley.  The ranger sits up front in the elevated booth.  He's the only one with a seatbelt. He told us the only way NPS could get away with no seatbelts is because of the history of the tour (it started around 100 years ago).

The stops were usually in locations where a vault toilet was located.  I couldn't believe how many people spent the whole time waiting in line for the toilet.  The tour was only two hours long.

My favorite stop was "Tunnel View".  The tram has a reserved parking spot which was great because it was a zoo with all the cars trying to find an available parking spot.  This is a great view of the valley all the way to Half Dome at the far end.

Better view of Cathedral Rocks.

After the tour we had lunch and then walked over to see Yosemite Falls.  It's not a great view in the fall because there's hardly any water flowing that time of year.

It's one of the world's tallest falls at 2,425 feet separated into the upper falls, middle cascades, and lower falls. I'd love to see it in the spring.

View from a distance.

One of the best things about Yosemite is that it has a free shuttle bus that travels around and around the loop in the valley all day long.  We had scouted out a trail to hike during lunch so we hopped on the shuttle and made our way to the Mirror Lake trailhead.

It was a beautiful trail.  Lots of rocks though and I was wishing I had my hiking poles.

Tenaya Creek runs alongside the trail.  I knew before we even left for Yosemite that the water levels were going to be low and that Mirror Lake might be completely dry.

I appreciate whoever laid these stones.  Trail crews are the best.

There it is-- Mirror Lake.  In the spring and early summer it's supposed to have a tremendous reflection of Half Dome.  Not so much on this day.

That's Half Dome towering over it.

Then it was time to make the hike back to the road and the shuttle bus.  My feet were a little tired by the time we got back.

We got off at the park's grocery store and grabbed some ice cold lemonades and watched some birds we weren't familiar with.  Afterwards we found the visitor center and I got my National Park passport book stamped.  Then we made the hour drive back to Mariposa and found a delicious little Mexican restaurant with amazing margarita.  

Fun day!