so many hummingbirds in Saguaro NP today. The flowers on the ocotillos were really attracting them. Cactus will be fully blooming soon was on the Sendero Esperanza Trail at 5:30 and on top of Wasson Peak for the 11th time by 7:30. Awesome morning followed by a top tier Mexican meal at Mi Nidito fixing to walk over to a track meet at UofA to support the NAU distance runners can't overstate how awesome Tucson is Spoiler
another morning on top of Wasson Peak via the Sendero Esperanza Trail in Saguaro NP. My happy place saw more javelinas (4) than people (2) in six and a half hours in the park. Monsoon season in the Sonoran Desert Mexican food, edibles and elite fiction the rest of the day. Tucson rules Spoiler
Just finished a 5 day/4 night high traverse through North Cascades National Park. Real deal alpine mountaineering. So much glacier travel. You won't convince me there's a prettier place in the lower 48. I'll have a full write-up later. Mind blowing. Finished with a 8,900 ft summit on July 4 Spoiler
You know what those pictures are missing? Oil derricks and a Ripley's believe it or not off in the distance. #burgumknowsbest
Cross-posting from the hiking/backpacking/camping thread -- Heading out to northern California for work and it is looking like I will have a weekend while there. Seems like Yosemite is only around 2:45 away from where I will be. Not sure yet if I will be able to get there Friday night and come back Sunday evening or if I will need to head there early Saturday morning and come back Sunday evening, but I'm excited to start planning either way. If anyone has any "must do's" for a weekend please share.
Yosemite is absolutely huge, so with that limited time I would try to spend as much of it in the Yosemite Valley portion of it as possible. This is the most famous portion. The Mist Trail/Nevada Falls, Bridevail falls, the Ahwanee Hotel, Artist Point, Glacier Point, Tunnel view, of course Half Dome and El Capitan are not to be missed. I'd highly recommend downloading the Guide Along app and using their car guide for Yosemite to know the best places to stop and a lot of history about the place. One place I would highly recommend is seeing the massive Sequoia groves. The best one is the Mariposa Grove near the south interest, but here are all the sites: https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/sequoias.htm If you've never seen a Sequoia before, it's a must do. Probably my favorite part of my visit but which one you visit is highly dependent on where you stay because they are located several hours' drives apart from each other I believe. The Mariposa Grove is the one right next to the South Entrance and it's best seen on the way in or out of the park since there's not a ton else worth seeing on the South end imo. One tip for a first time visitor that I wish I would have known- stay within the park. If you're just going for a weekend try your best to stay in the park itself. If you don't camp, there are actually Airbnb's with great locations in the park not too far from Glacier Point. If you don't stay in the park or can't camp, it'll take you like 2-3 hours a day just getting into and out of the Valley depending on where you're staying. That can eat a ton of your time and it's just a pain in the ass. I learned my lesson and stayed inside the park on my next three trips. If you have time for a longer, more challenging hike I did the Lower and Upper Cathedral Lakes in the Tuolomne Meadows (forgive my spelling, I'm sure that's wrong) area of the park that I found very enjoyable. I was very worn out afterwards though. Enjoy your trip to one of the best places on Earth!
The last time I was at Yosemite in 2022, you needed a permit to take a car into the park if you are not staying in the park. I would check your ability to drive inside the park.