Yosemite Trip: Day Five - South Yosemite

Good morning everyone, it is Thursday morning here at Yosemite National Park. Actually today I am staying in Fish Camp at the south Yosemite gateway.  I am writing to you from the private walk-out-deck on the back side of my room here at the Narrow Gauge Inn in Fish Camp.

I decided to write this morning log from the wooden rocking chair on the back deck of my room.  It is peaceful back here, the birds are singing their morning song from the trees that surround the Inn and I can hear the faint whisper of cascading water from the small creek that runs along the north end of the property.

The songbirds are a welcome melody that I am not used to hearing during the winter months, coming from northern Montana, where the birds disappear from the area between late October and early May.

The last three days have been incredible down here.  We have had blue sky and sunshine and the temperatures have been in the mid to upper fifties, however today the temps have fallen drastically.

Today is the first morning that I have woken up to fog and cloudy skies.  A cold arctic front has pushed in from the northwest and brought with it a thick blanket of mist and drizzle.  The television is predicting snow at levels over 1000 feet, so I am anticipating some slick roads and snowy travel as I drive back through the park this afternoon.

The chilly morning mist is trying its best to infiltrate my coat and force me back inside to the comfort of my heated room and the warmth of my plush comforter, but I am fighting the urge as best I can with the help of a hot steaming cup of gourmet coffee, which I am enjoying along with a couple of very tasty blueberry muffins that arrived at my doorstep this morning as part of my complimentary breakfast basket.

As I write this blog entry, I am looking out over the lower level of the Narrow Gauge Inn, and into the thickly forested valley that sinks low behind the property.  However, I have to use my imagination in order to see Mount Raymond, the mountain on the other side of the valley, thanks to the thick fog that has moved into the area and erased everything beyond the outer perimeter of the Narrow Gauge property.

The Narrow Gauge Inn is a quaint little inn with lots of personality and flavor.  My room has a large king bed, with an ample supply of pillows both for sleeping and decoration. There is also a small sitting area inside the room near the back deck, a beautiful, full-sized wooden dresser, a large LCD flat panel television on the wall and a nice sized bathroom with shower.

Staying at the Narrow Gauge Inn feels more like your spending the night at your best friend’s house rather than a hotel room. There are a number of different room options available including King,  King and two Doubles, Queen rooms and rooms with just 2 Double beds.

Each of the rooms at Narrow Gauge offers a private or semi-private deck with nice forest, valley, and mountain views.  A babbling brook runs along the north boundary of the property and cascades down over several small waterfalls alongside a walking path that circles the back perimeter of the property.  The entire complex has the feel of an old frontier mining town, a theme which was carried over from the neighboring property, Yosemite’s famous Sugar Pine Railroad Co.

Today I am going to drive back down into Oakhurst to try and get a few photos of some of the properties that our company books for down there.  It is a lousy day for photo taking, but I really have no choice in the matter.  Today is the last full day that I am going to be here at Yosemite and I still have several properties that I need to visit before I head back to Montana tomorrow.

It is about a 12-mile drive back down to Oakhurst from the Narrow Gauge.  Oakhurst is not a huge town, but being the tourist hot-spot that it is, it offers several upscale dining options, and a number of supermarkets, convenience stores even a theatre.

My first stop in Oakhurst is the Days Inn.  Located right along Highway 41 at the north end of town, the Days Inn is both comfortable and well situated for easy access to both Bass Lake and Yosemite Park.  One of the things I found especially appealing about the Days Inn is that they offer free wireless access to all of their guests, as well as two workstations in their lobby area which are connected to cable broadband offering lightning-fast Internet speeds.

The Days Inn hotel is built right into the side of a hill, so there is no windows or access from the back of the hotel, however each of the rooms share a balcony on the front of the hotel, and all rooms look out over the pool and front parking area, and also offer some views of the hills surrounding Oakhurst.  The hotel's front lobby is clean and well maintained.  There is a sitting area with the feel of a living room, complete with coffee table and couch, and a little dining nook with several tables where you can enjoy free breakfast in the mornings, or access the internet on one of two complimentary workstations.

After I finish at the Days Inn I decide to take a quick tour around the rest of Oakhurst.  Just a few hundred feet further down the road on Highway 41 I spot the Best Western Gateway Inn on the right side of the road.  This is another one of the hotels we offer lodging reservations at.  I have not prearranged to view their rooms, so I won’t be able to take a tour inside this hotel, but at first glance of the property that the Gateway Inn rests upon, I am immediately impressed.

It is difficult to tell by viewing the photos on our web site, but the Gateway Inn is a very beautiful and serene complex.  The hotel is a collection of several different lodging units all situated inside a park-like setting on several forested acres right in the heart of Oakhurst.

The property is beautiful. The lodging units are situated on a gently sloping hillside with a concrete pathway and private drive connecting each of the multi-room units together.  There are several peaceful garden areas in between the lodge units that make this property very unique and quite serene. One of the gardens near the pool includes a plush grassy slope with a few tables and sitting areas shaded under a canopy of oak trees.  Along one side of the grassy slope, a garden of a thick vine and leafy ground cover is bisected by a tranquil waterfall which spills tenuously through a number of pools that dot the side of the slope beneath the outdoor pool area.  The Gateway Inn also offers a very inviting indoor pool and spa so that you can enjoy a relaxing swim during the colder months as well.

Further up the gentle hillside, there is another park area where a wooden playground sits anxiously awaiting the busy season when her slides, platforms and climbing poles will once again be filled with laughter and jovial cheers of playing children.

The Gateway Inn consists of 122 lodge rooms, a laundry room, meeting facilities, a restaurant on the property, and a Cocktail Lounge.

I spent a little more time than I probably should have walked around the Gateway Inn complex.  I still had a lot to do today, and now only half a day to get it all accomplished.

I was hoping to visit Bass Lake before heading back into Yosemite Park to visit Redwoods Vacation Homes and the Four Seasons at Yosemite West.  I knew that it would be getting dark in another four or five hours, and it was going to take me a while to drive to the other properties and even longer to get videos and photos of each, but there was one other property that I wanted to visit before I left Oakhurst, The Chateau Du Sureau.

The Chateau is a beautiful property located on a hillside at the south end of town.  I wasn’t able to see any of the rooms at the Chateau du Sureau or inside the spa, because the Chateau was closed for the season, but the grounds were beautiful, even in winter,  as I walked around the property I definitely felt like I had been transported to a Villa in the French countryside.

The Chateau looks down over the city of Oakhurst below, and it must be a beautiful view at night when all of the city lights come on.  Unfortunately, I cannot stick around to find out, I have to get going in order to make it to my other scheduled stops before dusk…

As I drive north out of Oakhurst, I come to the turnoff that takes you to Bass Lake.  I really wanted to get a look at Bass Lake and the Bass Lake Resort while I was down here, but it is so foggy today, I doubt that I will be able to see anything.  I decide to take a few minutes to check it out anyway.

The drive over to Bass Lake from Highway 41 is approximately 5 miles.  As I drive, I can’t see anything on either side of the road.  I can barely see 15 feet in front of my car.  The fog seems to be getting worse the closer I get to the lake.

The drive seems to be taking a while, but I think it is just because I am lost in a mystic world of obscurity and I have no idea where I am at.  Finally, a Bass Lake Resort sign slowly materializes through the vapor and points me to my turn off.

The Bass Lake parking area is pretty bare, but there is a bit more activity then I had anticipated considering the lousy weather.  Unfortunately, just as I had feared, the lake has faded into oblivion and I can’t even see the shoreline from where I am standing in the village area.  Pictures are not going to be an option today. I decide to take a quick stroll through the general store, and then depart for Yosemite once again.

By the time I get to the southern gateway to the park, it has begun to snow, and it is coming down pretty heavy.  I pull up to the entry checkpoint to pass into the park, and I am informed by the park ranger that chains are required for driving through the park today.  “What?  I don’t have chains...this is a rental car…where am I going to get chains?”

My first thought is to skip driving into the park altogether, maybe I’ll just hike back into Mariposa Grove instead, but no…I can’t my boss specifically requested that I get photos and videos of the  Redwoods and Four Seasons Vacation homes, which are only accessible by driving into the park.  I guess I’ll just have to ante-up the cash and purchase some chains for my car.

A quick trip back down into Fish Camp and a hundred-and-thirty dollars later and I am on my way once again.

The snow is dumping hard at the Redwoods Vacation Homes at the north end of the Wawona Valley.  I park my Jeep behind the small convenience store and strike out on foot to get some photos and videos of the Redwoods Cabins and vacation homes.  The homes are spread out all over the place.  I try to get as many photos and video shots as I can, but the freezing wind and the pounding of icy snow pellets are beginning to numb my hands, and it is consistently getting darker as the snow clouds grow thicker and the sun sinks deeper into the opaque horizon.

I need to get going if I am going to make it to the Four Seasons before dusk.  Besides, I don’t know how “tricky” the traveling is going to be between here and Yosemite West, as the snow continues to pile up on the winding mountain road.

The drive to Yosemite West takes longer than it should with the road conditions as they are.  There must be a good four inches covering the road, and it is slick, the worst part is, there is ice caked on both sides of my windshield wiper and it is not clearing my window as it should.  I do however make it to Yosemite West, with I’m guessing about an hour or an hour-and-a-half left till sundown.  That should be enough time to snap some photos and shoot some video.

The first property that I look at is the Four Seasons flagship property, the aptly named “Four Seasons Vacation Home.”  A 5400 square foot home offering five bedrooms, four bathrooms, a loft, a huge kitchen, large dining room, a recreation room with wet bar, numerous fireplaces, and an indoor Jacuzzi.  This place is exquisite; it would make the perfect accommodation for a large family or a group of friends who want easy access to the Yosemite Valley Floor without sacrificing any of the comforts of home.  In fact, after staying at the Four Seasons for a week, you might never want to return home again…yeah, it is that nice!

The walls, ceiling and interior support beams of the Four Seasons Vacation home are constructed of beautifully finished wood, which is well complimented by granite tiles in the kitchen and a majestic stone fireplace in the living room.

The five bedrooms are meticulously furnished with incredible four-post beds and antique furnishings, and you’ll sleep like a baby on the dreamy pillow-top mattresses covered in down comforters.

After a long day of exploring the park you’ll enjoy returning home to the cozy living room or game room where you can curl up in one of the overstuffed sofas and watch your favorite movie on your giant 35 inch TV, or challenge your friends to a game of pool, or chess next to a crackling fire.  It is a dream vacation you’ll never want to end.

The rest of the vacation homes at the Four Seasons offer a similar experience but on a smaller scale.  The Whispering Pines, Enchanted Forest, Cascades, and Wonderland vacation homes all offer guests exceptional accommodations.  Each offers spacious accommodations with beautifully furnished rooms, grand living rooms, dining rooms and fully equipped kitchens, cozy fireplaces, pool tables, and multiple Jacuzzi tubs.

If you are looking for extraordinary accommodations within minutes of the picturesque Yosemite Valley, you simply can’t afford to look at the Four Seasons Vacation Homes as your primary lodging option.

I finish capturing my photos and video footage just in time to watch the sun peak through a small break in the clouds, just above the distant horizon.  The setting sun casts a radiant amber glow across the cloudy canopy above and paints the fresh-snow covered trees a delightful salmon color on the surrounding mountains.  I find myself in the midst of another one of those moments, where the earth stops spinning for a second and a prelude of heaven is painted forever on the canvas of my mind.
- Ryan Becker

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