Tiaoga Road to Silver Lake

On Sunday I woke up, had a nice breakfast, broke camp and headed back to 120 and Yosemite Park with Tioga Pass and camping at Ellery Lake or Silver Lake as my plan. Everthing I had read said that the Tioga Pass was a demanding drive, especially for an R.V. and I was prepared for the worst.

Actually it was a pretty easy drive. Only at one point, at the very east, coming out of the pass to Lee Vining, was the road even remotely scary. But you'd have to be going too fast, get a flat, or be just plain dumb for it to really be a problem.

Over the 45 minute drive, I stopped at several scenic points. Above is a shot of me next to the road as wIe came upon the Yosemite Creek and it's falls at that point.

One of the most scenic points on the drive is Olmstead Point, above. From here you can see Half Dome clear on the other side of the park. In fact it seems like it might be pretty easy ... maybe my speed ... in good weather ... to park one's car in the Valley, take the shuttle to Olmstead Point, and hike the 30 or so miles back to the Valley in 2-3 days. Might have to try that someday! I stopped at Tenaya Lake and climbed a short way up a rock embankment and had lunch overlooking the lake. It sure was pretty, tho there were a ton of people. Most parking spots were 2/3 to full, and some dummies even parked on the wrong side of the road when it pleased them. Sheesh.

I stopped in at the Tuolumne Meadows Visitor Center and also at their free RV site for dumping and filling. FWIW, the water was especially tasty from this location. As I made my way down the hill on the east side, it quickly became apparent that Ellery Lake was too crowded to camp at. So I kept going to the 395 and then south to the June Lake Loop and Silver Lake ....

Continue onto the next page of my Yosemite Trip ..