28th October, Olmsted Point and the Tioga Road
There is no 'gas' station in Yosemite Valley, the nearest is at Crane Flat which you come to just after leaving the valley. We were terribly short of fuel, down to 1/4 tank which in a 3.8 litre gas guzzler is not good. After our relaxed leaving we got to the petrol station in high hopes only to be told they had no fuel and the nearest was in the Toluomne meadows on the Tioga Road a good 1 ½ hours away. If they had none (which the garage at Crane Flat thought highly likely) we would have to continue to Lee Vining, well out of the park and 2 hours away. We would be running on gas! What to do but carry on. The Tioga Road passes through high country and runs east to the Park's exit through a landscape of golden grass, pine trees and granite domes. There is a broad parking spot at Olmsted Point where there is a view over granite and glacial erratics, through Tenaya Canyon, past Clouds Rest to the north side of the Half Dome. You can walk on the rocky, gritty edges and get gr...