One Park at a Time: Parks 48, 49, 50 Yosemite, Manzanar National Historic Site, Devil's Postpile, and Death Valley

7/13/14. Yosemite. We set out at 7 am this morning for the Tioga Pass Road, which is the northern route across Yosemite. The air was so clear and the park was quiet this early in the morning. We traveled through miles of forestland and meadows with many camping sites. Eventually the road got higher and higher in altitude, reach through the sub alpine and alpine regions of the park. The plants and trees gradually changed as we went higher. When we climbed on rocks or even small hills we were completely out of breath. By the time we got to 10,000 feet we had a bit of a headache and felt breathless. The sites, as always, were amazing, especially the lakes in this section of the park.

We exited the park and drove through Inyo National Forest and Mono Lake region. The road was narrow, winding, and right at the edge of the mountain. It was a bit terrifying and I had to concentrate totally to stay on the road, but it was also thrilling.

We continued driving east and got to US 395. We followed this south for a few hours. Along the way, we stopped in Mammoth Lakes for lunch and went to the visitor's center for the Devil's Postpile National Monument. It was too hot to do much hiking in the area so we got on the road again, heading southeast.

Manzanar National Historic Site. Next we stopped at the Manzanar National Historic Site. In 1942, the United States government ordered more than 110,000 Japanese American citizens and resident Japanese aliens to leave their homes and detained them in this remote, military-style camp during World War II. The visitor's center had an abundance of information about the camp and the activities there, as well as a film that firmly denounced the camp. This led to a fascinating debate among us about the ethics of this and the decisions made in war and how the problem was too simplified by the film. The area is marked off with signs to show where the buildings were and the guard tower is still there. This site certainly prompted a lot of thought.

Death Valley. We continued south until we reached the turn off for Death Valley. We drove for miles across desert landscaping, thinking that Death Valley National Park would be more of the same. When we finally reached the park, we were once again stunned. This park has the most strange variety of landscapes we have ever seen! Each time we went over a hill and saw a new part of the park we gasped with awe. We got through the sandy bottom of the Paramint Valley area and went a little further up the next set of peaks, which looked like a river of sand. We continued up the next set of peaks, but by now it was 115 degrees and the car was struggling a bit with the steep grade. It was 4:30 so we turned around and stopped at the Paramint Springs gas station and got some refreshing milk shakes. We then headed back the way we came, stopping for photos and admiring the unbelievable beauty and strangeness of the colors, textures, shapes and vastness in Death Valley. We will definitely try to return here so we can see the main valley, but we decided it might be better to try entering from the Nevada side since it takes hours to drive across this park.