re: Yosemite National Park trip review

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That is the mantra for Yosemite. It's incredible, some of the greatest scenery in the world. And tiring in a way that wilderness should not be. And increasingly tiring for many of the other national parks too (Hello Yellowstone).

This isn't to be negative about Yosemite - everyone should see it, there is nothing else like it. But there are tremendous places that rarely get visited. One spot comes to mind in Eastern Oregon at an old WPA headquarters site that we fell in love with and had completely to ourselves. Not far from Bend. Eastern Washington is great too. And Nevada away from Vegas. And SE Arizona, and.. Go explore.

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Yeah, I actually was extremely unimpressed with Yosemite when I went two summers ago. Part of that was due to all the waterfalls sucking due to the lack of rain that year, but it was mainly due to Yosemite being a watered down version of many other parks out west combined into one park.

I would have probably enjoyed it much more if I hadn't spent a couple days in Sequoia and King Canyon national Parks right before I went to Yosemite, and if I hadn't visited Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, and Monument Valley in Utah.

That plus the tiring aspect you mentioned, Yosemite is just way more of a hassle than it should be to get around, partially due to the crowds and partially due to it just not being particularly well run compared to say Zion.

So I would suggest hitting Yosemite before the crowds and before you hit the rest of the western parks myself.