Yosemite Trekker: A Day at the Beach

Yosemite Trekker @ thecityedition.com ----- Post #21 - July 24, 2010

Who needs El Capitan? Visitors to Yosemite Valley don't have to stray far if they're looking for a good time. The beach here along the Merced is adjacent to all three of the big campgrounds and about a ten-minute walk from Curry Village.

A Day at the Beach

Boy, there's nothing like kicking back and doing absolutely nothing inside the most famous national park in the country. While the more restless and ambitious bi-peds are bent on sauntering off for that 20-mile hike up the side of Half Dome and other sheer cliff faces, here you'll find me in my Speedo -- breathing, baking, shivering, listening to music (other people's), watching the kids, playing fetch with the dogs and resolving to never return to the civilizatized world for as long as I live.

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There are the little drawbacks, of course. For one thing, the water is so cold here, most swimmers step out of it looking like cherry or grape popsicles. The current was snow a few hours earlier, so the hot air temperature hardly figures into the picture. On the other hand, submerging yourself in it is the most invigorating experience imaginable. If you're one of those brooding sorts who can never stop your internal dialog, trust me, this will do the trick.

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Of course, you'll be the one of the few brave souls taking that plunge. Everyone else will be staring at you, some with envy, others wondering if they'll have to start the CPR in the next five minutes. Now, if you're like me and really up for a dare, try doing a backstroke back and forth. You may run into a raft but that just adds the bonus of a social opportunity. In any case, don't push it. The cold water has a way of very quickly quenching the fire in your kidneys, and if don't have a strong constitution, it can days to recover that. Better to just get in and out a couple times between long stretches of lying on your beach towel (half in the sun, half the shade). To much sun is not healthy, either.

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Not far from this beach by the campgrounds is another one of my favorite hangouts - Mirror Lake. I've already elucidated on this location at length in a previous post. The kids love that rock in the photo at upper left. The time spent coaxing them to jump into the icy bucket below could probably be better spent, but eventually patience pays off and we photographers get our shots. As it is, these divers land in just barely enough current to absorb the impact, so the tucked-knees position you see on the upper right is the way to go.

As I mentioned in that other article, it's a long darn slog getting to Mirror Lake, which is fortunate, since otherwise many thousands more tourists would crowd these shorse than already do each day. There are simply no words to convey the joy of this pilgrimage,

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Less mystical but easier to reach is a stretch of the Merced that runs between Yosemite Lodge off Northside Drive and the chapel on Southside Drive. This area doesn't get as much love as the two other places I described, mostly because the water's not very deep and there's less shade. However, you see a lot of deer around here stopping for a drink and even an occasional black bear foraging for berries.

Because of its central location in the valley, you can also see numerous landmarks from this spot. This includes Yosemite Falls, El Capitan, Cathedral Rocks, Glacier Point, Half Dome, North Dome etc. etc. And there's the adjacent meadow with all the wildflowers in bloom through most of the summer.

But I prefer the plunge over the views. And the convergenge of humanity celebrating a sunny day together in terrain that's blessed by the gods. How did that rock get here, anyway? On top of a glacier? Rolling down the side of a granite wall? Those are the obvious questions, I guess, but not the ones that come to mind when you're standing in front of it. Don't even think I had any questions, what with my internal dialog being turned off and all. Like so many other things in Yosemite, it's not about the questions.

Here, you find answers.

Y.T.

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