I love Yosemite.

Seriously.

Amazing views, beautiful waterfalls, huge trees, ancient granite peaks.

And March is the best time of year to visit! The weather’s warm, even balmy, in the valley around the middle of March and all of the ice has nearly melted from the lower portion of Yosemite Falls. Lots of deer and coyotes.

Not that I’d want to run into a coyote.

We had a few hours in the park before dinner at the Ahwahnee Dining Room, so we “hiked” to Bridalveil Falls, Lower Yosemite Falls, the Meadow Loop, Visitor Center and finally the Ahwahnee Hotel.

Notice the quotations around hiked. These trails are so impeccable, level and paved that I feel a little embarrassed to consider them “hiking trails”. More like a nice, long walk. We even ran into a member of the hard-working Trail Crew clearing the paved paths of leaves and loose gravel. Crazy!

We had Coach with us and he had a blast! We wore him out and he slept in the car through dinner. Have you seen the dining room before? Beautiful!

I had the chicken, JBoat had prime rib. And we split a caesar salad, an endive and blue cheese salad, a French onion soup (made with vegetable broth – major score!) and a cheese cake.

I feel gross admitting that. But I definitely walked enough to cover it 😉

Such a great day. I hope we can get back soon to check out Mirror Lake and Happy Isles!

Here’s the latest print, by the way. Again, click and print at 100% for 5x3in! Enjoy 🙂