The spring thaw was underway and Yosemite National Park’s spectacle of waterfalls was calling. One last look at the park’s website (nps.gov/yose/) for alerts about potential road closures and we set our GPS for the park’s south entrance. As is often the case when my husband David and I step out of the house, the journey takes on a life of its own.

Distracted by the super green panorama of rolling hills dotted with coastal live oaks and the swales of purple vetch and yellow monkey flowers, we found ourselves on an unfamiliar back road. Intrigued by where Road 600 might lead, we continued around a couple more curves until I saw a small sign for the Raymond Museum. I had a hunch there might be more to Raymond than meets the eye as we walked passed a caboose up to the rustic wood house’s wraparound porch. Lynn Northrop, a vivacious middle age woman introduced herself as a local rancher and owner of the historic Charles Miller house, now home to Raymond’s rich history. Lynn bought the 1886 structure in 2008 with no other plans than to restore and preserve it until locals began donating their family treasures from cavalry saddles and cattle ranch brands to photographs and newspaper clippings that told enthralling California stories.

Raymond was once the jumping-off point for the long stagecoach ride to Yosemite via Wawona from the end of the Southern Pacific’s 20-mile rail line. The outpost played a vital role in helping Yosemite compete with Yellowstone as a tourist destination between 1887 and the early 1900s. President Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir met in Raymond on the way to Yosemite in 1903. Thomas Hill, one of the great painters of Yosemite’s sublime landscape spent summers in Wawona and winters in Raymond from 1884 until his death in 1908. Another little-known fact about the sparsely populated foothill community is that its dense granite was used in numerous iconic buildings, including the San Francisco City Hall, a National Landmark and most recently in New York City’s 911 Memorial. Our fluke detour became a fascinating history lesson on the way to overnight at the dog-friendly Tenaya Lodge off Highway 41.

The next morning Yosemite’s south entrance took us to the Wawona Hotel, Yosemite’s oldest lodge and home to the Thomas Hill Studio. The restored building and summer Visitor Center boasts some of Hill’s most impressive views of the valley reproduced on floor-to-ceiling canvases. Just a few yards from the hotel, we immersed ourselves in the past at the Pioneer Yosemite History Center’s outdoor museum. The covered bridge over the South Fork of the Merced River along a stretch of the original wagon road into Yosemite Valley was the highlight to the ensemble of rustic cabins with interpretive signs about the people and events that shaped the Sierra’s “crown jewel.”

The remaining winding 24 miles to the valley took us past the apocalyptic scene of charred slopes and dead trees left behind by the firestorm of July 2022 before dropping down to Tunnel View overlook for the first of many breathtaking panoramas. I couldn’t remember when I had last seen Half Dome and Bridalveil Fall from this vantage point, but I was amazed at how the frame retained the same magically idyllic qualities depicted in early California paintings.

The last few miles to the valley floor were punctuated by numerous seasonal creeks and cascades spawned by the sun-kissed snowpack. Cars trailed both one-way lanes as we all jockeyed for a parking space for a closeup of Mother Nature’s most exquisite work of art and her capricious seasonal display of water power. The park system had made good use of the COVID downtime with new boardwalks and footbridges across the meadow, additional stitches for 12 miles of paved recreational trail and a new information plaza with restrooms and interpretive kiosks with maps. Although the park had not found a way to thin the herd of humans competing for selfies, there was evidence of attempts to improve circulation with roundabouts and other upgrades in progress.

By the time we had spent a couple of hours on the dog-friendly paths to the base of Bridalveil and Yosemite Falls, meandered around Yosemite Village, browsed the Ansel Adams Gallery in the historic Best’s Studio and lollygagged along the banks of the Merced River, our easygoing husky, Gem was ready for a shady backseat rest. Her nap was just the right amount of time to hike up Vernal Fall and get lured to the top of 600-foot Nevada Fall. The volume of water hammering the canyon doused us in a continuous spray as we negotiated the slick granite steps up the Mist Trail. The view from the top of the Nevada Fall at 6,000 feet was mesmerizing, but what goes up must come down, so we started the more precarious 3-mile return on the steep slippery granite steps. We wrapped up our phenomenal valley day with a bite in the bar at the majestic Ahwahnee Hotel before returning to Tenaya Lodge under a rare, dark skydome flooded with the bling of stars. Our craving for a sugar boost peaked just as we approached Wawona Hotel. I honed in on the tart, taste bud-tingling key lime pie while David’s palate purred with every spoonful of huckleberry ice cream.

We left Tenaya Lodge early the next morning, but not ready to bid our glorious national park goodbye, we rented bicycles in Yosemite Village to complete our valley wanderings to Mirror Lake and Happy Isles. We capped our two-wheel excursion with a stop in Curry Village to feast our eyes on the delicate white Pacific dogwood blooms hovering above the sinewy branches.

The drive back to Monterey along the scenic Merced River thrilled us with a group of river runners in inflatable rafts and an intrepid kayaker as we tracked them around several bends of turbulent Class 4 rapids. Yosemite had rekindled my awe of its rich history and ravishing rugged beauty, and its wild and scenic river had pumped me with a vicarious adrenaline rush I rode all the way home.

Linda B. Mullally and husband David share their passion for travel, outdoor recreation and dogs through articles, hiking books and photography at www.lindabmullally.com, Falcon.com and Facebook.