Meandering Through Meadows and Picking Pecks of Pickled Peppers
Day 3: Sunday 26th August
So, up with the crack(ish) of dawn today, ready to check out of Hantavirus Central (sorry, Curry Village) and head over to the Ahwahnee Hotel for a very special breakfast!  I've been wanting to go to the Ahwahnee for years and check it off my 1,000 Places to See Before You Die Tragically Young book.  So, 7am we were up and about and, again, complimenting ourselves on our strategic choice of cabin near the car park.

Yeah!!!  Brunch-tastic!!

By 8am, we were all set and ready to go, so we handed in our keys, said farewell to our cabin and hopped into the car for the short drive to the Ahwahnee.  Wow.  What a fantastic place.  One of the Great American Hotels - all rustic beauty on an impressive scale.  We were there for their world-famous brunch - but in my attempts to remain Loopy-compliant, i opted not to devastate the very very tempting and comprehensive buffet, but instead ordered eggs, sausage and hash browns off the menu.  Very very tasty!  And I also managed to restrain myself and not order a Mimosa, instead chugging back probably more coffee than was sensible.  After breakfast, we hit the gift shop for a little bit of retail therapy (finally found Mumsie's mug plus a few other bits and bobs) before biding farewell to the Ahwahnee and heading off on our adventure for that day, a lovely morning's hike in Tuolumne Meadows.  Neither Lori nor myself (obviously) had been out to the Meadows before, so it was fun for both of us.

The incomparable Ahwahnee Hotel

Grand Dining Hall at the Ahwahnee

The drive out to the meadows was stunning, especially one bit where we passed an absolutely amazing view of Half Dome, over in the distance.  There were a couple of park employees with telescopes set up so, going to investigate and looking through the viewfinder, they pointed out the tiny figures of people ascending - via rope - the massive expanse of Half Dome.  Absolutely bloody terrifying.  This line of people clinging to a rope as they inch their way up to the top - no other security, so if you lose your footing or lose your grip on the rope, that's it.  You are toast.  And you'd probably also take a few other hapless souls on your way down too.  So, thanks but no thanks.  Mumsie/Loopy - you'll be glad to hear I have absolutely NO desire whatsoever to conquer Half Dome - even i have limits.

View from Olmsted Point

Half Dome in the distance

You can just see the tiny line of people hiking up

Just beautiful.  View from Olmsted Point

View on the road to Tuolumne Meadows

Anyway, it took us about an hour to drive eastward into the park and arrive at Tuolumne Meadows.  We chose a fairly short and easy hike, as both of us were a little on the sore and stiff side from yesterday's exertions!  Again, we'd got on the trail relatively early, so we would avoid both the heat and the crowds.  The hike was very pleasant, mainly through the forest with a couple of bits where it was more exposed, hiking through grassland.  Alas, still no bears (we were really hoping to see some down by the rivers or in the meadows, but no luck this time) but the scenery was beautiful and we did see a very cute little chipmunk, who obliged by playing hide and seek in his burrow. Collective "ahhhs" all round! (although, after our Tahoe trip, we are complete chipmunk afficionados!!)

Not a bad spot for a spot of lunch

After an hour or so, we stopped by the river for a quick lunch of cheese and deli meat.  After that, we walked on just a little further to the Two Bridges where suddenly the view opened up from the forests to the dramatic mountain vistas beyond.  It was very impressive, so we were glad we'd walked on the extra ten minutes or so.

But, finally it was time to say goodbye to Yosemite and hike back to the car and head home.  The drive back was pretty smooth - with a couple of stops along the way, it took us about 5 and a half hours, so really not that bad at all.  One particularly memorable stop was to Mr Pickles Sandwich shop - yum!!  Ordered a BBQ chicken sandwich (only 450 calories, so LL-compliant) and it was delish!!  A bit sticky and gloopy but I managed not to get the car (and myself) in a mess, so that was good.  We finally arrived back at Lori's in Walnut Creek just before 6pm (where Lori was immediately accosted by her uber-nosy neighbors wanting to know just who had had the temerity to park in the visitor's carpark for the weekend - geez!).  After saying goodbye and thanks for another fantastic weekend, I hopped into my car to drive home, finally making it back to my place just after 7pm. 

Where i collapsed in an exhausted, yet contented, heap on the sofa.  Yet another bonza weekend and Yosemite is every bit as magnificent as they say it is.  Yosemighty, indeed.  Here are some more pics from the day.  Enjoy.

No rainbows, but I'm sure there was a pot of gold
hiding here somewhere

Mobile moss

Lunch stop River

Lori off in search of bears.  Or beers.
Not quite sure I heard her correctly...

Chippers the Chipmunk

Yes, yes we do love Mr Pickles.