"The Incomparable Valley (and Park) " a Yosemite National Park Travel Page by chewy3326

Yosemite is one of the most lauded natural areas in the United States, and for a good reason. It's granite walls, lakes, thousand-foot waterfalls, domes, spires, meadows, and giant trees definitely make up one of America's most beautiful national parks. John Muir called Yosemite Valley the "Incomparable Valley"; I couldn't agree more.

The winter of 2005-2006 brought the sixth-wettest snowpack in history of the Sierra Nevada and Yosemite National Park. Originally, I had planned on spending 9 days in the park (1 day in Wawona, 3 days in Yosemite Valley, a day in Hetch Hetchy and 4 days in Tuolumne Meadows), but the late opening of Tioga Road (June 17) forced us to only spend a day at Tuolumne Meadows.

This is a very diverse and easily accessible park, which makes the park very crowded. Giant weekend crowds and traffic jams can be a headache, but mosquitoes that outnumber the crowds by a few million times become a bigger headache on weekdays.

The park can be split into five basic sections: Wawona/Mariposa Grove, Glacier Point, Yosemite Valley, Hetch Hetchy, and Tioga Road/Tuolumne Meadows. Most visitors head straight to Yosemite Valley, the most famous part of the park; but you can find some solitude around Tuolumne Meadows and Hetch Hetchy.

No matter how much time you don't have to visit this park, if you're going to visit Yosemite, please spend more than a day. Not only will you enjoy the park more, you'll give Yosemite the respect it deserves.