We set off early as I was so excited about getting to finally see Yosemite and Bodie. We took a slightly longer route and drove up round Monitor Pass before heading down to Bodie.

Monitor Pass is well worth doing if you have the time (and stomach for winding roads!) You reach around 8,000ft at points so the views you get are amazing with Turkey Vultures overhead almost all of the time. It’s also incredibly hot and dry up there so take loads of water. We did see one woman cycling up it with on small bottle of water mid-morning, I wonder if she ever made it!

Once the Fiance had finally convinced me that we had to leave Bodie we took of on yet another elongated route towards Yosemite (well…we did have plenty of time…). We took the 395 down to Lee Vining stopping in several places to get a view over Mono Lake. If you look on the map below you’ll see a stopping point just before Mono Lake that give tremendous views over it. I am in no way exaggerating when I say Mono Lake looked like glass. It was perfect and in pastel shades from blue to pink – stunning. Outside it smelled of sage too so now when I smell sage I am transported back.

The entrance to the Tioga Pass is just past Lee Vining and almost immediately after entering it you get the most fantastic views and start to climb like you’ve never climbed before! After 20 minutes driving (at most and after a few stops) we reached Ellery Lake (9000ft up). We stopped at the lake for a photo opportunity. It was weird being there and roasting when just above us was snow still on the mountains. There were some German tourists who had been swimming in the lake, they got out while we watched and they were blue! It must have been so cold as they came out with their teeth chattering saying “I have never felt cold like that in my life!” – it was enough for me to just stick my hand in the water…

After our relaxing stay at Ellery Lake we got our first glimpse of Yosemite. We rolled up to the park entrance (with me taking photo’s of the gate, happy as Larry) only to be told there was an “out of control, controlled fire” and that we had to make an 80mile detour that would take four hours.

FOUR HOURS FOR 80 MILES?!!!

No, he wasn’t lying! The detour took us out via Couterville and Mariposa (where we stopped for MR BK’s finest burger), it was up thousands of feet then almost immediately back down again, round bends that you would not want to meet a lorry on and along sheer drops hundreds of feet down. In a word the drive was terrifying!

The last leg of our now 10 hour drive saw us entering Yosemite at El Portal and driving at break neck speed through El Portal Road and into the Valley. At one point the fire was right behind us and in the night we got an impressive view of flames!

Finally, after 10 hours we reached our destination – Yosemite Lodge. By this time it was pitch dark and a little difficult to navigate as obviously there wasn’t much lighting.

Now, being from Scotland we don’t often come into contact with bears but I am an avid reader of anything from or about Alaska so I have read more than my fair share of bear attack stories. With these stories in mind it was with great fear that I walked in the dark from our car to the Lodge. Due to the fear (and a complete lack of bear awareness) I swore I saw a bear shape reflected on a car infront of us and half ran, half stumbled to the front of the lodge sure that I was about to become bear fodder. I didn’t, they must have eaten their fill of tourists that day already…

Unfortunately the detour had made us a little later than we thought so we only had time to nip to the bar for a beer before turning in for the evening. Mind you, while we were sitting outside we saw a “big buck!” as one American guy told us! The bar also sold Sierra Nevada beer so when I want to be transported back I now just need to nip to Tesco, buy a Sierra Nevada and shut my eyes and dream!

Follow our trip below:

View South Lake Tahoe to Yosemite in a larger map

Yet another of my obsessions (as you may have guessed form my Alcatraz visit) is that I love falling down buildings and decay. I don’t see it as a negative. I think it can be beautiful in its own right so the chance to visit the abandoned town of Bodie was one that I refused to miss.

Bodie Ghost Town is an abondoned gold mining town and now a State Historic Park.

The drive up to Bodie is along a dirt road, you think you’re going nowhere until eventually you see a single wee paypoint and a big guy with a big gun and an equally big dog!

I can’t say for sure but I suspect the car wheels were still spinning when I launched myself out of it, camera in hand and started snapping away like there was no tomorrow. Eventually the Fiance caught up and I was able to enter Bodie proper.

Being the juveline that he is, the Fiance was particularly amused by the signage stating we were in ‘Virgin Alley’ until he realised it was the red light district of old! Apparantly the ‘ladies of the night’ used to carry red lanterns to show just exactly what they were selling – hence the ‘red light district’.

Another interesting fact was that the snow can reach 20ft in Bodie, that’s higher than all of the houses! It must have been one grim place to live when the snow was up over your roof.

Unfortunately you can only get inside two buildings, a church and a house – if I lived closer I’d become a friend of it for sure! Rather than do a massive post telling you about the visit I decided to let the pictures do the talking.