The coda to our summer was a trip to Yosemite. We’d gone briefly to the valley last summer, and Sierra and Kade had been entranced by the Disneyland-like atmosphere. This year, there were fires burning just east of the valley that obscured some of the vistas, but the kids didn’t really seem to care. We biked around the valley floor, rafted a mild section of the Merced, and hiked up to Lower Yosemite and Bridalveil falls. Sierra and Don also took a much longer hike: up past Vernal falls, cross country rock climbing in the drainage between Mount Broderick and Liberty, and back around into Little Yosemite Valley. 9 miles round trip, with 2500 feet of vertical; pretty good for age 8.
