We drove with my Nissan Frontier pickup. This is the first time my truck had gone for a long drive. It’s about 180 miles each way. The route is easy going up to Yosemite. You just take highway 120 all the way. I like 120, it has some nice roads. Not a lot of cars but you can’t gun it above 80, too many zig-zags and lots of sharp turns. One thing that surprised me was the Old Priest Grade. This is a 1.5 mile shortcut road in the middle of 120, between the Chinese Camp and Big Oak Flat. Instead of taking the New Priest Grade, which is twice as long, you can get to the other end faster but… this road is not for wimpy cars and drivers. The elevation is too steep. I read somewhere that the rise of elevation is 1000 feet in 1.5 miles. This is a dream road for a hard core cyclist. If you are driving with a trailer or a camper, you definitely don’t want to drive through it. My truck didn’t sweat a lot but I could feel its pain.

We left at 11am and got to there at almost 2pm. It could have been sooner if it wasn’t for the road work going on before you get to the village. The natural beauty of the park is just breathtaking. I would come back to this park every week if it wasn’t that far of a drive. If you’ve never been to Yosemite, I really recommend visiting this park. But don’t do it just for a day. Maybe camp out for a day or two and ride your bike around the park to appreciate more the real beauty of this place.

I took some pictures, mostly the water falls. That’s all we could see for a couple hours inside the park anyway. So enjoy my kodak Nikon moment. More photos on Flickr.