Retirement Road Trip #13: A LUCKY 13: A Two-Day Trip to the Ahwahnee Hotel, December 2021

 


Again, I'll add the disclaimer that all these pictures were taken with my iPhone 2nd generaiion SE, with absolutely no Photoshopping...and there are some awesome shots here!

And again, we have to call out how lucky we were with this trip, as with the quick trip we took to Crater Lake National Park and Lodge.  I'm just sayin' that there ain't nothing as beautiful as Yosemite with a fresh blanket of snow...but, I'm getting ahead of myself again...

We decided to take things a bit differently this trip.  First of all, the genesis of the trip came when Janet's Magic Laptop scored a less-than-insane price for two nights' lodging at the Ahwahnee, definitely at the top of our National Park Lodge Bucket List.  Then, being Northern Californians, we always came in to Yosemite via CA120, so we decided to travel south along CA49 through the "Gold Country" which we had never done, then go in through the southern entrance via CA41.  We stopped at the interesting little town of Mariposa for lunch, then continued down CA49 to Oakhurst where we turned east on CA41 to the south entrance.  Since we had seen the magnificent Giant Sequoias in Sequoia/Kings Canyon in winter or 2019, we were stoked to go to the Mariposa Grove in Yosemite.  After taking a spin around the Wawona Hotel (closed because of AraMark neglect and/or pandemic) we found the Mariposa Grove likewise "under renovation" but the Big Trees weren't as massive or awesome as those in Sequoia/Kings Canyon.  Just kind of "meh."  Maybe it would be best to work up to the Big Trees, by hitting Mariposa Grove, Calaveras Big Trees SP, and then Kings Canyon and wrap up with the General Sherman Tree in Sequoia.


Janet, at Tunnel View on the way in


Yosemite Valley floor, also on the way in, dry as a bone

We stopped at the south entrance pull-outs and look-outs, dry and bare with the typical late fall, early winter drought conditions; up until this trip we hadn't had our first storm come though to kick off our wet season.  We kicked around to the usual sights and museums/stores in the valley, then after another odd "pandemic era" steam table-type dinner, and checking out the Christmas decorations in the various rooms of the Ahwahnee, we turned in.



I logged some quality reading time in this nice nook.

I hadn't been obsessively tracking the weather like I usually do, so imagine our surprise when we woke up to an absolutely beautiful Winter Wonderland!  Yosemite is stunning, regardless, but with a fresh coat of snow, it becomes a magical place.  With our relatively less-then-mind-numbingly expensive room reservations, and our 4Runner, we wouldn't have given canceling the trip a second thought knowing a storm was on the way, but our surprise made it that much more special.



After breakfast in the lodge we bundled up and headed out, crossing the stone bridge that crosses the Merced River.  Visibility varied as the storm strengthened and waned, with the snow dusted valley walls coming in to and out of sight.  We walked out to Curry Village, then took a "short-cut" into the forest heading back to the lodge, and we proceeded to get a bit lost.





We bushwhacked our way along the Merced until the stone bridge reappeared out of the low clouds.  This had to be one of the most beautiful walks/hikes I've been on.  We stayed another night, eating another Covid-era dinner at the magnificent Ahwahnee dining room...we have had several wonderful meals there during the years we attended their Chefs- and Vintners-Dinners, but this was our first stay at the Ahwahnee itself.  The only other thing that sticks in my mind is that we were hoping to pick up another two place settings of the Ahwahnee dishes, but they changed their supplier and the dishes are much thinner and cheaper feeling.  We'll stick with the two we have.

We headed back home the normal northern route the next afternoon.





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