Wednesday 26 October: Yosemite

We had a leisurely start to the day - slept late, had breakfast, checked our emails. We walked the short distance from the lodge to the Yosemite Falls - one of the highest waterfalls in the world. Sadly, it being autumn there was no water in the falls. So we looked at an extremely high cliff, and imagined what it must be like in full flow.

We then drove to the village, bought a torch and some other essentials, and had a look at the art centre. This is basically a photographic gallery, and of course Ansel Adams is the star attraction. There were some really gorgeous prints and books on sale but as we are in a strict weight-saving mode we had to resist.

To the east end of the settlement, where we set out on a very enjoyable walk (about 3km each way) to Mirror Lake. As expected the lake is dry at this time of year, but we still got some great views of Half Dome and the surrounding mountains.

We had a picnic lunch at the lake, then returned to the lodge for afternoon coffee. Interesting note - the "coffee station" at the food court closes at 2pm. All that's available after that time is help yourself flat black (or white) in cardboard cups.

We decided to return to a couple of sites we had noted on the way in yesterday - a lovely section of the Merced River, and the towering bulk of El Capitan. Unfortunately black clouds had covered the sun and the light was very poor. We got a few pictures in the river, then returned to the lodge for dinner.