Thursday
After the short stopover in Mono lake, we get back to intensity with Yosemite national park. To enter the park from the East, the only way is through Tioga pass (3000m above sea level). It's June but the road has been open for a few weeks only and some years it's not yet opened by then because of the snow. It was one of our worries planning this trip but the weather and climate change (very bad drought in California the last few years) are with us. They had little snow this winter. We left Lee Vining pretty early but there's already a line to enter the park. Once in the parkl, the road follows a stream hidden by the trees that is quite active with all the melting going on. Shortly after we arrive at a lake which, to our suprise, is still frozen. A huge groundhog is sunbathing on a rock without paying much attention to everyone around. We'll even see a coyote a little further down in the valley.
Our final destination is Curry Village in the valley south of the one we entered. As the crow flies, it's 15k away but we failed to find Luke Skywalker's flying car in Death Valley so we just have to go around... (100km). We don't mind too much since there's so much to see in Yosemite. In this valley, Tenaya lake is worth a visit. 4 years ago, exhausted from my previous hike, I had only been able to walk around the lake but there's more to it than that. Lots of hike are available if you have the energy which we do! We ditch the car and walk to the lake. It's a peaceful and inspiring place with the surrounding mountains reflected in the water. From there we follow the trail leading to Olmstead point. It's an hour and a half hike across forests and alpine meadows ending on a huge granite mountain. From there you have an unforgetable view of another huge granite mountain - the Half-Dome. We can't linger too long here if we want to make it in time to Mirror lake for sunset. On the way back we miss a fork and realize arriving on the road a few minutes later. There's no way to cut across without getting wet so we trace our steps back to the fork. Hopefully it was right at the end so we don't loose too much time. Back on the road we'll stop to allow a group of deer to cross. Some of them not too worried with the dozen cars waiting... some of them a bit scared by the situation.
Once at Curry village, we decide not to get our tent's key right away. The tent will still be there in an hour, the sunset won't. We arrive just in time to enjoy the sun setting on the Half-Dome with the reflection in the lake. Mirror lake is empty at this hour strangely. It's 7pm but it's getting dark quiclky in Yosemite. Back in the village, we get our tent's key, put our food in the bear box and go to bed. Tomorrow we'll hike Upper Yosemite Falls. It's more difficult than anything we've done so far. From my previous experience with Yosemite I know the nights are very cold here. It was in July and I froze my ass. This time we have silk sleeping bags and we'll use all the blankets. My favorite travel partner will even wear her polar the following night :D