Day 1: Fresno, CA

Arrive in Fresno, the largest city in California’s 450-mile-long Central Valley. The commercial hub of vast agricultural region, Fresno is surrounded by fruit and nut orchards and vegetable farms. The Sierra Nevada mountain range rises to the east, and Yosemite National Park is less than 70 miles away. Meet your Expedition Leader at the airport, then drive north across the San Joaquin Valley and into the Sierra foothills to reach Yosemite National Park. Leaving flat farmland behind, watch the vegetation zones change as we ascend from scrub and chapparal to the lower montane forest characterized by ponderosa pine, California black oak, white fir and incense-cedar. As we traverse the varied terrain, we'll notice the impact of fire in the different vegetation zones—a phenomenon we witness in different settings throughout our journey as we gain an understanding of how fire ecology shapes the ecosystem. Reaching Fish Camp, surrounded by the Sierra National Forest, we tuck into Tenaya Lodge, a renowned mountain resort on the edge of the park, for a two-night stay.

Accommodation: Tenaya Lodge

Day 2: Mariposa Grove / Wawona / Fish Camp 

From Fish Camp, just outside the park boundary, we have quick access this morning to Mariposa Grove, where more than 500 giant sequoias—the arboreal patriarchs of Yosemite—are found. In 1864, President Lincoln signed the Yosemite Land Grant Act, protecting Mariposa Grove and Yosemite Valley for "public use, resort, and recreation," seeding the concept for America’s national parks. This landmark legislation, enacted during the Civil War, marked the first time the U.S. government set aside scenic natural areas to be preserved for future generations. Yosemite National Park was created in 1890, and Mariposa Grove was later added to it in 1906. On a walk through the grove, we’ll view the most famous trees including the 3,000-year-old Grizzly Giant and drive-through Tunnel Tree.

We are immersed in Yosemite’s early history at Wawona, a wide-open basin that was home to Native Americans and a primary thoroughfare for early travelers to the park. On a visit to the Pioneer Yosemite History Center, learn how Yosemite became an inspiration for national parks throughout the nation and world. In the decades since, Yosemite's incomparable grandeur has drawn countless visitors. Yet people's presence on this land goes back millennia, and we learn about the original inhabitants, early white settlers, tourists, climbers, rangers and more who have been using, abusing, loving, and protecting Yosemite for hundreds and even thousands of years. Find out how the idea for a public park formed and the challenges that exist in protecting and preserving the Yosemite today. This afternoon, escape the crowds on a walk in Wawona Meadow where wildflowers grace the trails in season before returning to Tenaya Lodge for a second night.

Accommodation: Tenaya Lodge

Day 3: Glacier Point / Yosemite Valley

Leaving Fish Camp this morning, we head deeper into the park via famous Glacier Point Road, making our first stop at Glacier Point for a commanding view of Yosemite Valley, Half Dome, Yosemite Falls and the alpine high country beyond. Continue to Sentinel Dome and Taft Point, with a morning hike in the area before a picnic lunch. This afternoon, we pause at Tunnel View to survey the grand entrance to Yosemite Valley. Famed photographer Ansel Adams, who lived several summers in Yosemite in the 1920s, called the valley "always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space." Waterfalls pour from on high, and we'll stop at several, including Bridalveil Falls. 

Our destination for the next three nights is the fabled Ahwahnee Hotel, and since we are privileged to stay inside the park bounds, we have access to the valley floor in the early morning and late evening hours when the daytripper crowds are gone.

Accommodation: Ahwahnee Hotel