The valley of Rocks

When approaching Monument Valley from Northeast on route 163, it seems to be mandatory to take a picture like this.

On the Arizona - Utah border, there is a place called Tse'Bii'Ndzisgaii, "The Valley of Rocks", one of the great natural wonders of Southwestern USA. The white man calls it Monument Valley. It is one of the most photographed places in the World, and has appeared in numerous movies, cartoons and games. That's no surprise, the sandstone formations look like Salvador Dali's feverish hallucinations, but they do exist, however difficult it is to believe in them.

Places like Monument Valley make a visitor - at least me - feel very, very small. The formation of the strange natural sandstone sculptures have taken millions of years, and not even stone is forever. What meaning can my temporal existence have compared to that?

"The mittens", left and right.

Monument Valley is administered by the Navajo Nation. From a visitor's point of view there is no significant difference to federally run national parks of the USA. There's an entrance fee and a visitor center and a small but nice museum with exhibitions on Monument Valley and Navajo history. The restaurant at the visitor center is less overpriced than I would have expected. There's also a shop where one can buy, among other things, art by Navajo artists, with a proof of authenticity. There's even a hotel within the Monument Valley area, but that was a bit too pricey for us, even though a sunrise and sunset seen from the balconies would, no doubt, been quite an experience.

We do not buy many souvenirs, but from Monument Valley we purchased this sand painting made by Navajo artist Anna Chee. In YouTube, there's a 1949 film about the making of a traditional sand painting (it's silent and the sand painting begins at 18:50, before that there are other interesting things like Monument Valley landscapes). 

In Navajo lands, there is a lot of very fine red sand. When it rains, the sand either turns to mud or flows away with the water. When we visited Monument Valley, it was baking under a merciless sun, but it had rained on the previous days. Conequently, the 17 mile gravel road in the valley had either turned to mud or flown away with the water, and we decided not to drive it. We did, however, visit the John Ford point, a vantage point named after the movie director known for his westerns.

Monument Valley has "played" the role of a foreign planet in many movies. No surprise.

In August 2015, as I wrote this, there was a miserable natural disaster going on near Monument Valley. More than 11 million liter (3 million US gallons) of waste water contaminated with heavy metals was accidentally released to San Juan river, to the north of Monument Valley. Many Navajo farmers rely for the river for irrigation water, and their crops are in danger when the water is unusable. Most of them are not particularly wealthy people to begin with, and their entire livelihood is endangered by the waste water spill.

We visited Monument Valley on June 15th 2015.

Horseshoe Bend & Antelope Canyon

Light and shadow in Antelope Canyon.

East of the Grand Canyon's Northern Rim the landscape changes rapidly. A Nordic like pine forest soon transforms to a hot desert, where strange sandstone formations rise over otherwise flat landscape. Less than two hours' drive from the Canyon is Navajo Bridge, the first bridge over the Colorado River east of Hoover Dam. The first bridge was built in 1929: before that, the river could only be crossed by a ferry, known as Lee's Ferry. Today there are not one but two bridges, the original one and the new bridge, built in 1995. Cars cross over the new bridge, the old one is used by pedestrians. Here the Colorado River is the border of Navajo Nation.

The New Navajo Bridge, picture taken from the old one.

A short distance northeast from the bridge, by route 89, lies Horseshoe Bend. This is one of the many natural phenomena in Arizona that are hard to believe in, even after seeing it with one's on eyes. The Colorado River makes a 270-degree turn around a sandstone rock. It's definitely worth stopping, if driving past. There's a parking lot by the route 89, and about half a mile walk to the bend itself from there. It's not a great distance, but feels much longer at least in the heat of June, climbing over a steep hill in soft red sand. By the way, most of Navajo lands seems to consist of that fine sand, and after your visit you will find it absolutely everywhere, including but not limited to your shoes, clothes and luggage weeks after returning home.

A fish-eye lens view of the Horseshoe bend. With conventional lenses I could not get a full view. I suffer from vertigo and there was absolutely no chance to get closer to the edge of the cliff..

A lizard runs away from the photographer in red sand.

Some twenty more minutes drive from Horseshoe Bend is yet another astonishing place, whose existence seems to go against reason and laws of nature, namely Antelope Canyon. Actually there are two of them, Upper and Lower Antelope Canyons. We visited the upper one. The lower one looks quite similar, if the pictures I've seen are to be believed. Both are administered by Navajo Nation parks. They can only be visited on a guided tour, and prices are a bit steep: the two of us paid almost 100 dollars.

Entrance to the Upper Antelope Canyon.

It was well worth the price, though, as the Canyon is very impressive. Not surprisingly, it is also very popular, and I have to say that it was a bit too crowded. With fewer visitors - a lot fewer - it would have been far more enjoyable. Of course, it's rather hypocritical for me to complain about it, as I was a part of the crowd. I strongly recommend timing your visit outside of holiday season, to a weekday and early morning, if at all possible.

The crowded Canyon.

Anyway, the light and shadow was an incredible sight.

Sandstone formations seemed surreal.

They say the light in the canyon is very different in the morning than in the evening - makes sense. Our visit was in early afternoon.

Our guide Shanderee Laughter demonstrating how the sandstone formations and Antelope Canyon came to be.

There's a far less pleasant landscape within sight of the Antelope Canyon, an enormous coal plant, the Navajo Generating Station. The plant and Kayenta coal mine are economically vital to Navajo Nation, providing money and jobs to a region suffering from high unemployment. On the other hand, the plant is the third largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in all of United States. The mines have caused, and continue to cause, serious environmental damage. Many think that the wealth and problems generated by the coal business are not distributed in a just and equal way.

The gigantic chimneys of Navajo Generating Station.

Below, a document about the Navajo coal business.

We visited Horseshoe Bend & Antelope Canyon on June 14th 2015

Surrounded by Sacred Mountains

A Mesa on sunset. This is a typical landscape in the land bordered by the Sacred Mountains.

East of Grand Canyon is the homeland of the Navajo, who call themselves Diné, "the People". According to their own traditional origin story, the Creator has told them to live in their land bordered by four Sacred Mountains. Most of this land is today included in Navajo Nation, a self-governed territory of the Navajo. It occupies parts of three U.S. States, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

On our travels we prefer small private accommodations over chain hotels. For example the "Grandma accommodations" in the Balkans and small B&B's in Ireland offer great deals in regards to price, quality and, above all, ambience. This time we spent two nights on a farm near Many Farms village. We booked it through Airbnb. The place was rather basic - earth floor and no running water, but functioning WiFi. During our short visit we got at least some insight into modern day life among the Navajo, much more than we would have had we stayed in a roadside motel.

We stayed in a hogan, a traditional Navajo dwelling. The Arizona summer was hot, but even during the day the hogan remained reasonably cool. As the farm was situated in a high elevation on a mesa, it got almost chilly at night. We didn't need the wood-burning stove for heating, though, but I'm sure it's necessary in winter.

Hogan from the inside...

...and from the outside. This is a "female" hogan: a "male" one has a porch-like extension in front of the entrance. "Female" hogans are for accommodation, "male" hogans for ceremonial purposes. The entrance always faces east and the rising sun.

Our hogan was equipped with all necessary things for accommodation, but also with travel guides and books on the Navajo and their land. The surrounding landscape was incredibly beautiful. We took a walk in the evening, to a small canyon situated literally on the back yard, and were accompanied by our host's two friendly dogs. When it got dark, we got to see the stars without any disturbing artificial light. My personal highlight of our four-week trip was a morning coffee sitting in front of the hogan, the dogs and horses keeping me company, while Jóhonaa'éí (the Sun, literally "He who rules the day"), rose from behind  a mesa.

We don't have a canyon like this in our back yard.

Blossoming cacti neither.

As an urban dweller I am unaccustomed to the company of white horses when I'm having my morning coffee.

"...the indian sun is rising instead of going down..." (Johnny Cash: Navajo)

Navajo Nation is the largest self-governing Native American territory in the United States. According to official statistics the Navajo are the second most populous Native people. They are more than 300 000, majority of whom speak Navajo at home. It seems that the existence of the Navajo as a nation is secure. I think it can be stated that they have been more successful in dealing with settlers from Europe than many other Native American peoples.

However, there are many tragic and horrible chapters in the history of the Navajo. The most sinister probably is "The Long Walk", a forced relocation by the U.S. Military to Bosque Redondo reservation in New Mexico in 1864-1866. The conditions in badly overcrowded reservation and on the way there were unbearable. Thousands died of hunger and disease. The relocation caused also spiritual suffering, since according to their traditional beliefs the Navajo were meant to live in the land the Creator gave them, the land bordered by the four Sacred Mountains, and it would be impossible for them to succeed elsewhere. In 1868 the Navajo leaders managed to negotiate a treaty granting them the right to return home. This is exceptional in the story of the United States, land once taken from Native Americans has not often been returned.

A historical hogan in the Canyon de Chelly visitor center.

There is also another interesting chapter in Navajo history connected to the U.S. Military. During the Second World War young Navajo men were drafted to signal troops an deployed on the Pacific front. Based on their complicated mother tongue, they created a radio signal code which the Japanese were never able to break. The impact of the "Code Talkers" to the outcome of the war was significant, and their effort for the United States is a great source of pride for many Navajos even today. There were Code Talkers from other Native American peoples, too, but the Navajo were by far the biggest and consequently most influential group.

Navajo code explained in the Monument Valley museum.

Today the Code Talkers are remembered as national heroes, but during the war they were treated as second-class citizens. For example, in New Mexico the Native Americans were banned from voting until 1962. Most Navajos of the Code Talkers' generation were educated in Federal Indian Schools. There they were prohibited from speaking languages other than English. As schoolchildren they might have been beaten for speaking their own language. As adults they were awarded medals for it. Oh, the irony of history.

From a traveler's point of view, the Navajo Nation isn't that different from other regions of the Southwest United States. The small towns are no different than others in Arizona, Utah or New Mexico. However, alcohol is prohibited, like in most other Native American-governed areas. Spoken Navajo can be heard sometimes, also on  radio, but English is far more common. Like all Americans, the Navajos we talked to were very polite, helpful and friendly, and wanted to know where we are from. In one respect they were a little different than most other Americans: the Navajo generally speak less loudly. I understand that needlessly rising one's voice is considered impolite.

There's one thing connected to the Navajo self-government that may cause confusion fo the tourist. In the USA, the states can decide many things themselves, for example whether to observe the daylight saving time or not. Arizona doesn't, but the Navajo Nation does. Consequently, the Navajo are an our ahead of the rest of Arizona in the summer, but at the same time as all of Utah and New Mexico. As if that wasn't complicated enough, the Hopi, whose lands are completely surrounded by the Navajo Nation, observe the Arizona time. Make sure you consider this when asking about opening times and such!

The fusion of Navajo traditions and modern popular culture has created some interesting results, such as  Navajo Metal and a Navajo-language version of the original Star Wars movie. Generally speakin, I couldn't care less about any beauty contest, but I do respect Miss Navajo Nation, who has to prove her skills in sheep butchering, among other things. To people interested in contemporary Navajo culture, I recommend Jim Kristofic's book Navajos wear Nikes, which is also available as an e-book from  Amazon. And of course, travel to Navajo lands and see it yourself!

We visited the land bordered by the four Sacred Mountains from June 14th  to 17th 2015.

The Canyon

Bright Angel Point, the first part of the Canyon we saw. Click this to see the full-sized panorama picture.

In Northern Arizona, the Colorado River has in the course of about 17 million years carved a really, really big hole in the ground. The Grand Canyon is 1857 meter (6093 feet) deep, 29 kilometer (18 miles) wide, 447 kilometer (277 miles) long and makes you feel very, very small.

Point Imperial, the highest point on the Rim.

Panorama of Point Imperial. Full-sized picture is here.

Today the Grand Canyon is one of the most popular tourist destinations of the World. It gets approximately 5 million visitors every year, which is funny to us, because that's also roughly the population of Finland. About 4,5 million only visit the southern rim of the canyon. This was one of the reasons we decided to visit the North Rim. It was crowded enough, too, even though we visited in June, before the busiest summer season. (A friend recommended North Rim, for which we're thankful. Thanks again, Ruth.)

A lot of wildlife can be seen in and near the Canyon, there are even bisons. We only saw deer and lizards.

The scenery in Grand Canyon is unbelievable. I found myself wondering if it actually is real, or a great hoax made with powerful computer graphics and advanced 3D projection technology?

Angel's Window vantage point. I think the name refers to the hole in the rock, visible on the right.

A baffling thing about the Grand Canyon is that in many places it would be easy to walk some 20 meter (60 feet) from the Rim without knowing that the Canyon is there. As we were driving on the scenic roads, there often was a forest on one side of the road, not unlike the forests in Finland, and a vertical half-mile drop on the other.

The view from Angel's Window pictured with a fisheye lens.

We spent one full day on the Canyon. That was enough to visit several vantage points in a relaxed pace. We also had time for a lunch in Grand Canyon Lodge. Food was good and not as horribly overpriced as I would have expected.

Walhalla vantage point.

Perhaps the most impressive thing we saw was the Grand Canyon sunset, observed from the balcony of the Lodge. We were smart enough to capture first-row seats early. The light and colors changed constantly as the sun descended. The view left us (but not the American tourists) speechless. The sunrise would probably be equally impressive, but since in June it takes place before 6 am we missed it.

The last rays of the setting sun.

In January, almost six months before our trip, I tried to book us a room on the North Rim within the National Park. Everything was fully booked. We ended up staying in Jacob Lake resort. Confusingly, there's no lake anywhere near it. The drive to the Canyon Rim took about one hour each way. When we returned, in the dark after sunset, things got a little scary. There were a lot of deer crossing the road, and even a cow and a calf. There was even a warning sign for bisons, but thankfully we saw none on the road.

A white-tailed Kaibab Squirrel in Jacob Lake. This kind of squirrel only lives near the North Rim of Grand Canyon. Squirrels on the south are different subspecies: the Canyon is an unbridgeable obstacle for squirrels.

We found Jacob Lake a nice place to stay. Prices were a little high, but so they are everywhere near attractions like Grand Canyon. Our cabin was comfortable, and the resort has a shop, a restaurant and a bakery. Chocolate and raspberry cookies get our highest recommendation. As experiences go they rival the Grand Canyon sunset. The cookies alone make Jacob Lake worth a stop! Sunset Amber Ale brewed by a local brewery was tasty.

The breakfast was not included in accommodation prices but featured lovely American-style pancakes with sponge like texture, so that they can absorb ridiculous amounts of delicious maple syrup. Those fortunate enough to have experienced an American breakfast know what I mean. Jacob Lake also offers lectures on things like landscape photography and history of the Navajo around Grand Canyon. Unfortunately we didn't have time to attend any.

We visited Grand Canyon on June 13th 2015.

Pleasant surprises in Utah

Zion National Park.

At least in Finland the name of Utah conjures images of fundamental mormons, restrictive legislation and generally conservative social climate. For us Utah was one of the most pleasant surprises of our trip. Of course we cannot claim to know the state very well at all. We only popped in twice from Arizona to the southernmost part of Utah and spent only about 24 hours in the state, including one overnight stop.

A small Scutellosaurus in St. George.

Our first stop in Utah was the St. George Dinosaur Discovery site. I have wanted to have my own pet dinosaur been very interested in dinosaurs since an early age. Actually I'm kind of fanatic about them. As there are no dinosaur fossils where I come from (thanks a lot, Ice Age), I was very keen to see an authentic fossil site. Some exceptional footprint fossils, about 200 million years old, were discovered in 2000 at Johnson Farm, close to central St. George.

Now there is a small but well-kept museum displaying footprints and other fossils, and real dinosaurs but unfortunately one is not allowed to pet and feed them life-like reconstructions of jurassic dinosaurs.

I know that some people lead empty and meaningless lives are not as enthusiastic about dinosaurs as I am. Maybe not everyone would be as interested in the St. George museum as me. However, I highly recommend the place for those who care about dinosaurs even a little. It is not a huge museum, so it makes a good stop in a long day of driving: if your schedule is busy, four hours half an hour is enough to get a meaningful overview of the exhibitions.

Dinosaur fottprints from 200 million years ago.

From St. George we continued towards the Grand Canyon, but decided to make a detour through Zion National Park. We drove through it on a scenic mountain road constructed in 1930. The scenery was awe-inspiring, and very different from what we had seen in Yosemite, for example. Through millennia water has eroded red sandstone, which is soft and crumbles easily. This has resulted in some peculiar, dream-like shapes.

Checkerboard Mesa in Zion.

Up on the mountains the temperature dropped to a tolerable level, well under 30 centigrade (86 Fahrenheit). Of course, there's much more to see and do in Zion than we had time for.

Up in the mountains of Zion.

Soon after leaving the National Park we stopped by a beautiful small pond for a snack and to switch drivers. At the same time, a group of six bikers pulled to the same parking lot. They looked exactly the kind of bikers one sees in American movies, long hair and beards, black leather vests, and they definetely did not wear helmets when riding - a bit of a scary-looking bunch. I admit that I was prejudiced and a little concerned when  they approached us. There was absolutely no reason to be afraid - they asked us, very politely, if we could kindly take a picture of their group in front of the pond!

A couple of days later, after visiting the Grand Canyon, we made an overnight stop in the small town of Bluff, Utah, close to the Arizona border. I have been to the USA once before, then in New York and Boston. Then I heard many Americans describe New Yorkers as a unfriendly and rude. I was surprised, as I found them very nice and helpful.

On this trip I understand where this comes from. All the people - really, every one - we met in rural Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and California were incredibly friendly, polite and helpful. We, reserved Finns as we are, sometimes even felt awkward. I see that in comparison, even a friendly and easy-going city like New York may indeed seem unwelcoming.

An example of this helpfulness: we needed to do laundry in Bluff. We arrived in the town late in the evening, and the only laundry shop was just closing. Before I could say anything, the manager told me she lived right across the street, so I could take my time washing our clothes and knock on her door when I'm done so she can close the shop after that, no problem, hope you've enjoyed your trip so far, oh you've seen the Grand Canyon, magnificent isn't it, make sure not to miss Monument Valley...

"Polygamy Porter, proudly brewed in Utah". A Utah brewery pokes fun at fundamental latter-day saints. Quite tasty, too.

If you ever visit the region, Bluff gets my warm recommendations even though there's not much to see and do in the tiny town itself. Landscape is beautiful and there are many interesting places nearby. We stayed in  Kokopelli Inn and liked it. There are a couple of other motels and inns, too.

We visited the dinosaurs of St. George and Zion National Park on June 12th 2015. We stayed in Bluff June 14th to 15th.

Loathing in Las Vegas

A miniature Eiffel tower. Blah.

"It's very tacky here."
- my wife on Las Vegas, after approximately 8 minutes in the city.

I didn't like Las Vegas at all. I admit that I had a strong prejudice against it and didn't give the city a fair chance. Actually we only stopped in Las Vegas because it was a convenient place to spend a night driving from California to Grand Canyon. That, and we had to see it once, didn't we?

I am not interested in gambling, and like to drink my alcoholic and other beverages in cozy pubs rather than gigantic nightclubs. A plastic and neon complex, its existence based on Nevada's lax legislation on gambling, alcohol, marriage and divorce, built in a middle of desert, is not an appealing concept to me.

We spent one night in Las Vegas, and the things I best remembe are:

• A casino-hotel-restaurant complex next to our motel. It's name was a colloquial expression for woman's breasts.
• A black hotel modeled after an Egyptian pyramid, shooting a ray of light towards the sky from the top.
• A plastic imitation of Paris, a plastic imitation of New York and a plastic imitation of Venice ("plastic" used figuratively here, I know that they are not actually made of plastic).
• A flyer I was given on Las Vegas Strip. It suggested that we should visit a night club show where scantily clad young women shot heavy machine guns. We didn't.

I found Las Vegas repulsive. However, I understand that this is because of my personal tastes and preferences. Obviously many people enjoy the city, good for them.

Of course, I could have found things in Las Vegas that are interesting to me. There's a wide variety of cultural activities, museums and theaters, that I would probably have enjoyed and I could have spent a nice couple of days in the city. However, the number of days we could spend on our trip was limited, and I chose to spend those days elsewhere. I believe this was the right decision for me. (Sidenote from Marja: It was. For both of us.)

Leaving Las Vegas, we saw a gold-plated hotel, owned by Donald Trump, in the rear mirror. I stepped on the gas pedal to make it disappear.

We stopped in Las Vegas June 11th and 12th 2015.

In the Valley of Death

The road to the basementt of the World. Well, basement of North America anyway.

Death Valley National Park on the California-Nevada border is a hot place. In July the daily average high temperature is devastating 46.9 centigrade, 116.5 Fahrenheit. The lowest point of North America, Badwater Basin, 86 meter or 282 feet under sea level, is situated in Death Valley. It's one of the least rainy places on Earth.

Mesquite sand dunes.

Mesquite sand dunes.

I am no fan of very warm weather. Even Finnish summer heat may be too much for me. Death Valley was excessively over-the-top too much. The only thing I was capable of was to stop the car, snap a picture or two, escape to the air-conditioned car and gulp down a pint of water. The landscape was very different than anything I've seen anywhere else. The drive through Death Valley felt unreal, like a trip to another planet or a feverish nightmare.

Out-of-this-world landscapes.

Death Valley is not completely dead. Even on the floor of the valley there are plants growing and lizards running between rocks. Incredible as it may be, there are also people who call Death Valley home. The Timbisha Shoshone have made a living in the extreme conditions for more than a thousand years. A powerful example of human persistence indeed.

A powerful example of the weirdness of babies: a baby sitting in the scorching ground, happily playing with sand, and reacting with vehement "no, no" when his or her dad suggested leaving.

We drove through Death Valleyn on June 11th 2015.

Yosemite

Half Dome, one of Yosemite's symbols. It can be clmbed, but a permit is required (in addition to a seriously underdeveloped self-preservation instinct, if you ask me).

Yosemite National Park in Sierra Nevada, California is the second oldest National Park in the USA and one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. It's easy to see why, the landscape is breathtaking.

As one would expect in United States, facilities in Yosemite are more than adequate and everything is made easy for the visitors. The flip side is that at least the most popular areas of Yosemite Valley are flooded with a mass of humanity and there is no trace of peace of nature. Apparently there are some less visited areas within the park.

From the top of Vernal Falls.

Being middle-aged couch potatoes, we didn't even try to hike to, say, the famous vantage point of Glacier Point, not to mention Half Dome. Climbing to the top of the beautiful Vernal Falls was strenuous enough for us in the scorching (on Finnish standards) heat. The pictures do no justice to the magnificent views.

We spent two days in Yosemite. On the second day we didn't climb anywhere from the bottom of Yosemite Valley, due to our muscles still aching because of Vernal Falls. Mirror Lake trail is very nice too, even if the lake itself was almost dry because of the drought that has plagued California for years.

Vernal Falls and a rainbow, or should it be calle "waterfallbow"?

A wet squirrel doused by the mist from Vernal Falls.

This is why it's called Mirror Lake.

There's also a small museum presenting, among other things, the histories of Native American Miwok and Paiute peoples who have inhabited the area since time immemorial. The exhibitions are good and informative, but the outdoor exhibitions could do with some maintenance. I found it a bit tragicomic that in the 20th century some local Miwoks and Paiutes started to wear "indian costumes" modeled after Hollywood westerns when they performed for the tourists, even though their traditional dress was very different. We had the good fortune to meet a Miwok employee of the Museum. His explanation of his people's past and present was very interesting to hear.

Lower Yosemite Fall is the easiest to reach of the parks many waterfalls: the path is wheelchair accesible.

Yosemite exemplifies the conflict of the National Park system's objectives: on the other hand it should protect natural environments, on the other enable as many people as possible to enjoy and appreciate them. Enormous hordes of barbarians tourists wander the paved roads and paths. Their chatter silences even the roar of waterfalls. Of course, I am in no way entitled to complain, I was one the tourists. The overwhelming majority of visitors conduct themselves well and respect the natural wonders they have come to see. Unfortunately, there always are some nincompoops who leave their trash in the forest or feed the wild animals.

A rattlesnake by the Vernal Falls trail. It was only after taking this picture when it occurred to me to question my own decision-making in deliberately getting within three feet of a venomous snake. Well, at least I didn't try to pick it up for a snake selfie.

Advice for hikers of Mirror Lake trail - if a mountain lion attacks, fight back!

The audministration of Yosemite has made an effort to limit the stress that the visitors cause to the environment. Visitors arriving with their own or rental car are asked to leave it on a parking lot and use free shuttle buses in Yosemite Valley instead. This is a very easy and practical way to reach many of the most popular sights and trailheads.

Yosemite National Park, unlike many other National Parks, can quite practically be visited with public transpotation. We took a train from San Francisco to Merced, California (consult Amtrak for fares and timetables), where we took a  Yarts bus for Yosemite Bug resort. It's situated in Midpines, CA outside the national park itself, but buses provide a convenient transfer. We wouldn't mind a little more frequent schedule, though.

We are happy to recommend Yosemite Bug for everyone planning a trip to Yosemite. There are a number of places to stay in the National Park itself, but they are often fully booked well in advance and  prices are rather steep. The Bug offers different levels of accomodation, we stayed in a two-person tent cabin, which was nice enough. There's a guest kitchen, reasonably priced restaurant and even a spa. A 15% discount is offered for everyone who arrivs on public transportation.

We visited Yosemite on June  8th and 9th 2015.