Quiet night at Dry Gulch. Wet night at Pinewood campground.

Once I got over thinking the site manager at Dry Gulch may be an ax murderer, I managed to catch some shut-eye. Marc slept soundly. Our plan Tuesday morning was to drive back to Yosemite Valley, for the 8:00 sign up for campsites. We arrived a bit early and managed to be second in line! Translation: although all of the campsites are full, there are always a few cancellations. Being second on the list was a good omen and we felt sure we would not be homeless that night.

In the mean time, we had most of the day to explore with a deadline of 3:00 to be back at the reservation desk to secure our campsite.

Vernal Falls

The Mist trail, aptly named, takes you up, up, up to view two amazing waterfalls, Vernal comes first and then Nevada. On much of the trail you are covered with mist from the powerful falls, which thankfully, works as a cooling mechanism as you sweat your way upward! The trip is about 5.5K each way, and a lot like the Grouse Grind for at least half of the hike up. So it is not an easy walk in the park. We had a great day for it, — moderate temperatures — and clear skies to view the falls.

Nevada Falls

The falls are without a doubt, worth the effort. I pooped out about half an hour from the top of Nevada falls, but my Billy goat husband, made it to the top without any effort. We met at the bottom in enough time to return to the reservation station and secure our campsite at Pinewood campground!

Now here is the irony. For the first time so far this trip, we actually knew where we were sleeping. We put our tent up and cleaned ourselves up in the campsite facilities. We couldn’t believe how organized we were, and so early! And we were quite excited about sleeping in the tent that night! That's where the irony kicks in. Just as we finished all of our preparations, there was a large clap of thunder and the skies opened up and dumped so much water that all of the roads and parking lots and campsites in the entire valley were flooded almost immediately.

We sat in the car for a while, with the rain pounding on the windshield, our tent drenched, then decided to head for Curry Village (Just like Whistler Village, except not at all like Whistler Village. Only two or three restaurants, and one grocery store.). In the middle of the small strip of eateries was a lounge. People were sleeping on couches, working on their computers, drinking beer and eating all sorts of take out food. A sign on one wall said “complimentary dryers across the street at housekeeping”. Many languages could be heard, and several tables of friends were playing cards.

It took us a while to figure it out, but apparently this was a place for all of us drowned rats to hang out until the rain subsided — Yosemite’s Noah’s ark. Marc spied an empty electrical outlet, I ran to the car to fetch my computer. We plugged in all of our electronics and spent the next couple of hours waiting out the storm.

When we arrived back at our campsite, our tent was still there, but a little worse for wear, having been splashed with mud from the downpour. At this point, the car was looking pretty attractive! So even with the best of intentions, our tent has yet to be used. We found ourselves once again Tuesday night tucked in, in our carmotel, happy as clams.

PS: Wednesday morning now. Night passed without incident. Our tent fared well on its own in a beautiful setting. We are now eating breakfast at the Curry Village buffet, which is packed with campers like us ready for a hot meal. The sun is shining and it should be a great day!

Pinewood Campground at dawn, Yosemite Valley

A day in the life of the wandering Broudos

Last night luxury accommodations in Fresno. Tonight luxurious accommodation in our car beside the Merced River!

We are at the moment parked in spot number four of four spots at the end of a one lane road, 20 miles outside of Yosemite National Park. The Merced river is running just below us, and the camp site manager lives in a trailer just above us. It is pitch black outside, but we can hear the river rushing by. The name of the the camp ground is Dry Gulch, but this year, there is water everywhere. Although this site is marked on the Yosemite National Park map, there are no signs on the road anywhere publicizing its whereabouts. We left the park at sunset following the narrow road that was supposed to take us to the last possible campsite within 50 miles that had an opening. We were ready to turn around when the campground sign appeared out of nowhere. The camp manager noticing us from his trailer window limped over with clipboard in hand ...

Sound like the opening paragraph for a murder mystery or the trailer for a horror movie? No, just day three of the Broudo Unplugged tour!

Seriously, this is really happening, but we are thrilled with our accommodation! If you can believe it, this campground has very nice toilets, and wifi!!! But just in case you don't hear from us by next week, Send the cops to Dry Gulch Camp site at the end of El Portal Rd.

PS: Had a bit of a late and rough start in Yosemite. We were not pleased that the possibility of finding a campground or any other accommodation was almost impossible. The first point of interest on our itinerary was already full and we needed to wait for the shuttle. The volunteer at the information centre was less that helpful and we were just a bit frustrated. But the trip to Glacier Point made up for it all.

And we actually have a pretty good plan for the next two nights in the park ... Stay tuned.

Glacier Point and Bridal Vale Falls