Tenaya to the Ahwahnee Lodge, hiking, New Years etc.

When I first went to Yosemite, I visited the Ahwahnee (now called Majestic due to some trademark disputes), after 2 weeks of grueling camping and hiking. The name Ahwahnee was a homage to the original Native American people who lived in Yosemite Valley prior to their decisively brutal removal by white naturalists. When I stepped into the great room, I decided it was the most uniquely beautiful historical hotel I had ever seen, and I vowed that someday, I would be able to afford to stay there. Additionally, they have a high class NYE party where everyone dresses to the 9s and sips really good champagne with a 6 course meal and live music. So much class, it hurts.

So, the time had come. I have a career and a vacation fund and I ain't afraid to use it.

On our way, we hiked to 'inspiration point' just above the Tunnel View. A word for the curious...there isn't anything inspirational about it as it is obstructed view and it was icy enough for me to bust out my Yak Trax (which are the best things ever).

Protip: Chase Reserve CC

They give you a ton of points and dollars towards future travel. There is a yearly fee, but it is totally worth it for what you get back. Most of the lodging was covered by my points.

Ok, so New Year's eve at the most fabulous place in Yosemite. Semi to formal attire, 6 course dinner, a wine list straight from God herself. You get seated randomly and we had an eclectic group of single retired nurses, an entrepreneur from Silicon Valley, a dude named Phil in a kilt and his wife. Pics provided!

New Years Day we celebrated with the Grand Brunch. It ain't cheap...$55 per person. But given it is all the smoked fish, oysters, poke, and every other brunch item imaginable, you can eat your $55 in seafood alone.

There's a great trail around the valley floor, so we took that to the lodge area to catch a Valley floor tour. Well worth the 2 hours, with tons of stories and historical background. The only amazing thing was that because of the Trump administrations stuffing of the global warming reports and censorship of the tours, she could not say 'global warming'...but her creative way around that got the point across. That's right folks...park workers are not allowed to discuss the phenomenon that 99% of scientists know is actually actively destroying the planet.

Our last day in Yosemite, we headed towards the Mist Trail outside of Half Dome Village at the recommendation of a local. This was all good and grand, but it's closed in the winter most of the time. So, we did part of the John Muir trail to get to Vernal Falls. People were still coming up the Mist Trail, however, so we did go down the insanely icy staircase, only to discover that a gentleman died of head injuries right about there on Christmas Day. Oops. We made it, but that may me feel like an idiot that we did not heed advice just because a bunch of yahoos were coming up the trail.