Yosemite Day #3: Tuolomne meadows, Tenaya Lake, and Glacier Point

Our last full day in Yosemite was planned to be a full one. The original plan was to go visit Tuolumne meadows, but we had tacked on the stop at Tunnel view, which we had been driving past, but never stopped in, as well as the trip to Glacier point for a dinner picnic, after I talked to everyone about my experience the previous evening. A discussion the previous evening of whether to reschedule things for the day led to near unanimous opinion that we should keep the drive to Tuolumne. Also the kids had clearly expressed a desire for no hiking :D, so hiking was off the menu.

After breakfast, we set off and stopped at tunnel view, right after the Wawona tunnel. After some group photos, we were scared off by the gathering crowds and pushed on.

We drove the long 90 minute drive to Tuolumne meadows, with not many stops along the way. I was trying to spot the place that Josh and I parked by the side of the road, near the access road to White Wolf, to begin our Yosemite Hike a few years ago, and enjoyed telling the boys about it.

After some brief stops, we reached the Lembert Dome picnic area, where we found some picnic tables, and enjoyed Idlis as a picnic lunch together.

After lunch, we walked across the road to find a nice bank of the Tuolumne river flowing nearby, and spent a good hour or more enjoying the crisp water together. The day was cooler, likely because of the altitude, and made for a pleasant experience.

After quite some time, we reluctantly packed up and started driving back. On the way here, we were captivated by Tenaya lake and its beauty. We had all been convinced to stop there on the way back. This turned out to be a great choice, since the lake was beautiful, and we had even more fun playing in the water there.

With nap time fast approaching, and even more planned for the evening, we wrapped up our time in Tenaya lake and drove back to “Cedar Star”. After a tea break, and some dinner making, we packed everything up again and drove to Glacier point for a Picnic Dinner of lemon rice, yogurt rice, chips, pickles, etc.

Post dinner, we all took short walks to enjoy the views, reminisce on past visits, and took some more pictures to remember this vacation. I certainly enjoyed my second chance at a lovely sunset, and spending time with everyone there. An amazing end to a perhaps too-short vacation.

That ended our time in Yosemite. The crowds of people was scary and concerning at times, but we sure were happy to have spent time with each other, and all wished at the end that there was more of it. Here’s to hoping for more in the future!