Yosemite: Day 1 Mariposa Grove

For fall break this year we toyed with a few ideas on what to do. We had originally thought a trip to Boston might be fun since we've never been, but car rentals were basically impossible to get, and if you could get one, it was extremely expensive. Covid has wreaked havoc on the car rental industry, and basically every other industry in various ways. We decided if we were going to go somewhere, it'd probably be better if we could just drive there. We'd talked about going back to Yosemite for a long time and taking the whole family. Jackson was just a toddler last time we were there and we thought the kids would like the giant sequoia trees and scenery. Bonus that all of our kids enjoy hiking and we could get a room at the Tenaya Lodge, which is where we stayed and loved 11 years earlier.

We started the trip at the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias. Apparently there had been a giant wind storm that had recently caused some damage, and the road to drive to the main trail was closed. Thankfully we were still able to hike in and see everything. The hike was beautiful and the trees just kept getting bigger and bigger.

It was almost hard to comprehend how big some of the trees are. It was a lot of fun having the kids with us and seeing the awe on their faces. 

The tree with the notch cut out of it that you can walk under was a bit hit. We arrived in the late afternoon/early evening and the grove was so gorgeous in the golden light.

Since it was getting dark, we decided to walk back taking the closed road instead of the trail we hiked in on. I loved the walk back with the sun setting so much. It was beautiful and a great start to our trip!