Wednesday, July 26 — Eric and Keith were both pretty tired from yesterday’s hike, so we decided to rent bikes and spend the day leisurely riding around Yosemite Valley with Greg and Heath. Greg and Heath had brought their own bikes with them on this trip; they rode their bikes over to the Ahwanee hotel and we agreed to meet them there.

On the day that we’d arrived in Yosemite, we found out that bikes can only be rented for the day. The rental place opened at 0800 and the bikes must be returned within 8-hours. We walked over to Curry Village and arrived at the bike rental place 2-minutes after they opened. We were dismayed to see it was a long line.

At 0815, the first party was done with their waivers/paying. We realized that at this pace, we’d been in line for well over an hour. We gave up on bikes and caught the shuttle bus to Yosemite Village, then walked the approximately 1/2 mile to the Ahwanee Hotel. Along the way, we passed a bike rental shop in Yosemite Village with no line.

Upon arrival at the hotel, we realized that the Ahwanee had its own shuttle stop, so we could have stayed on the shuttle and saved the walk. By the time we finally got to the hotel, Greg and Heath were starting to worry about us. 

The Ahwanee was built by the National Park Service in 1927. Like the Wawona Hotel, The Ahwanee was elegant and upscale. However, instead of a Victorian style, NPS utilized an architectural style that was apparently brand new at the time, called “National Park Service Rustic” or “Parkitecture.” It looked like a large mountain chalet made of stone and wood, however, the “wood” was apparently stained concrete. It was currently being remodeled, so there was scaffolding on the building. The formal dining room was also closed for the remodel, so they’d turned one of the sitting areas into a make-shift dining area.

Greg said that normally there was a long wait for the breakfast buffet, and he was surprised that today the dining room was fairly empty. Breakfast was great.

After breakfast, Christi, Eric and Keith caught the shuttle to Yosemite Village. The bus was packed. Between the wait for the shuttle and the difficulty getting on and off the shuttle, it would have been faster to walk. We went back to the bike rental place. They only had four bikes left, and a couple of people walked up to the line about one-minute after we’d arrived, so our timing was fantastic. If we’d arrived literally one-minute later, there wouldn’t have been enough bikes for us.

We’d planned to meet Greg and Heath at the museum at 1100, so we had about 45-minutes to ride around. Unfortunately, these were basic bikes, and Keith was struggling with the poor steering, uneven pavement, and uncomfortable seat. By the time we arrived at the museum, Keith was done with riding that bike. 

We parked the bikes near the museum and went inside. Construction on this museum began in 1923 and the museum opened to the public in 1926. It was the first building built specifically to be a museum in the National Park Service system, and was built in the same “Parkitecture” style as The Ahwanee Hotel.

Museum entrance was free. The first exhibit room, to the right of the entrance, was closed. We headed into the theater and watched a short film about the history and geology of Yosemite. Then we wandered outside, where there was a reconstruction of the Ahwanee village circa 1870. The Native Americans of the area were the Miwok Tribe. Their name for Yosemite Valley was Ahwanee. There were also signs that talked about the local plants that were important to the indigenous people.

This structure was called a Bark House, which were sturdy structures made of cedar bark that were used as homes in the summer. But in the winter, they made domes from brush that were more effective at shedding rain and snow.

However, by the 1870s, the natives were starting to build cabins similar to the ones the pioneers were building. There was also ceremonial roundhouse, which was the center of religious activities; a sweat house; and a granary for storing acorns, their most important food.

Back inside, the last exhibit room had a collection of indigenous artifacts, such as baskets, beaded belts, and feathered headbands.

Outside, there was a cross-section of a sequoia estimated to be 1,100 years old!

After the museum, Heath and Greg continued their bike riding adventures while Eric, Christi and Keith returned their bikes to the rental place, then took the shuttle to the trailhead for Yosemite Falls. The shuttle made a loop around to the Ahwanee Hotel and back to the Village again before continuing on to the trailhead. It was crowded, so with each stop, it took a long time to unload/load people. It would have been much quicker to walk the mile or so from the Village to the trailhead. But it was hot, Keith and Eric were tired, and we still had to hike the trail up to see the waterfall. 

The trail was an easy walk on a paved, gently sloping trail up to the waterfall. The waterfall was spectacular. It was a hot day, but there was a light breeze. It was quite pleasant to be standing in the shade, dabbled with a bit of mist carried in the wind.

We realized the walk back to the bus stop we’d gotten off on was only slightly closer than the Yosemite Hotel bus stop. We walked to the Yosemite Hotel and got frozen fruit bars before hopping back on the shuttle. The shuttle was packed. The road around the valley was a one-way loop. Even though we were only going about 4-miles, we were headed the opposite direction of the loop, so we had to ride the bus for the majority of the loop. With the slow on/off at each stop, it took a long time to get back to our campsite. 

Much to our surprise, Greg and Heath were already there. They reported that after they left us, they did some floating on the river with inner tubes. 

We all sat at the creek for a while. Eventually, Eric walked over to Curry Village to take a shower and buy more ice. While he was gone, Greg and Heath went to a restaurant for dinner. Eric returned with the sad news that ice was sold out. Christi panicked and hurriedly cooked all the food that wouldn’t survive the night without refrigeration.

After dinner, Christi, Greg and Heath walked over to Mirror Lake. They took a winding, dirt trail through the woods to the lake.

As advertised, the upper lake was calm and perfectly mirrored the dramatic cliffs behind the lake.

There was a natural dam between the upper and lower lake, and the lower lake was just as reflective.

On the way back, they took a paved path, which was not nearly as scenic as the dirt trail was.

On Thursday, we started packing up camp immediately after waking up. While we could have stayed until noon, we had a long drive ahead of us and no one wanted to get home too late. Here was a nice photo of the valley as we were driving out.

We stopped for breakfast and gas in the closest town, Oakhurst. We found out the hard way that gas was $1 per gallon cheaper on the outskirts of town. 🙁

On the drive back, we reflected on our trip. We had a fantastic time, and it was in large part because Greg had been to Yosemite many times and knew the ropes. Greg knew the best places to go, and, more importantly, the best times to go and the best way to get there. We suspect that if we had been on our own, we would have had difficulty navigating the system when it was so crowded. Greg, thank you for being our guide! Also, thank you for letting us post your photos!