The Tioga Pass

Today was moving day and we set out to drive from Mammoth Lakes to our new home for 3 days, Tenaya Lodge, just south of The Yosemite National Park at the rather peculiarly named Fish Camp. The day was fine and we treated ourselves to a great cup of coffee and a scone in a charming little coffee house called ‘Latte Da’ ( just love a play on words). It was wooden and shack like, with a glorious almost English garden and humming birds flitting around its feeders. It was a good place to start our four hour drive. The Tioga Pass is an east to west road running across the top edge of Yosemite and is so fabulous a drive, that any thoughts you may have had about spectacular road trips pale into insignificance at its feet. Here, unlike Death Valley is a glaciated landscape in the true sense of the word. Silvery grey granite has been scoured smooth by the ice action of the many glaciers in the area during the various ice ages. Huge erratic boulders are left abandoned over the surface as the ice melted and lost its power to carry them along in its wake. Subsequently. trees have grown almost in impossibly small cracks between the rocks. Drops are sheer and the peaks towers above you, glorious in their majesty. There are blue, blue lakes, high upland meadows, streams and forests line the twisting and undulating road. It is the drive of your life, says she from the passenger seat, but my chauffeur coped admirably. At every point there are climbers getting ready to test themselves on the vertical cliff faces. There are multiple pull off points to admire and gaze at in incredulity. Tenaya Lodge is super with lots to offer for all. It is to be an early start in the morning as we leave at 7.15 for a full day in the Park. From the glimpses we have seen today - can’t wait!Read more