Yosemite was the last national park on the summer vacation trip list. That also means this is going to be the last major post (or at least the public ones) about the vacation. The trip was like a dream, with so many grand landscapes and so much beautiful wildlife. I can never get tired of going to Yosemite and if I was a little closer, I'd probably be there every weekend.

I had hoped to see a bear each time I visited Yosemite in the past, but each time I returned without seeing them. Although the initial plan was to have two days in Yosemite, change of plan during the trip meant that I'd have just the afternoon in Yosemite. No chance of bear then. Not much chance of any wildlife then, I thought. And just to prove me wrong, the animals showed up. And just by the roadside too... :-)




The sun is all set to signal the end of day... the end of the trip.




American Pika! High altitude specialists. This one was playing around at the Tioga pass, 10000 feet high.







He should be done with winter burrows and stockpile of vegetation since the summer is almost over. Pikas do not hibernate but have a huge storage of food in their burrows to take them through the winter.








A female Brewer's Blackbird is in attendance at a picnic table.








A Belding's Ground Squirrel!








He's all set to hand out flowers to the next squirrel comes by. As an afterthought he decided to eat it! :)








Just when I thought no more wildlife would be seen for the trip, I come upon a small traffic jam. People are out of their cars, some jumping up and down and that can only mean one thing - Bear!! I pulled over and rand towards the place where most the people had gathered and I was right. This little big fur ball was grazing about fifty feet away, totally ignoring the commotion going around him.







He didn't even bother looking at me though I waited patiently and then the sirens go off. Ranger. He wanted all people to get into their cars and move on. "Go! Go! Go!" he megaphoned. And the bear thought the ranger was speaking to him and he moved to the bushes and started walking away into the forest. It's unfortunate, because I would have loved to see the bear for a longer time, but the ranger was just trying to protect the bear and the people. Bears that lose fear of man are bears that will get bold and try to steal food and move into campsites. They usually shoot down such bears, unfortunately, to prevent any attacks on humans.








He didn't even bother looking at me. But, THANK YOU dear bear. The first sighting is always the most memorable one and I'm glad I have photographs of our meeting. :-)








Time for the sun to set means the skies and clouds light up








And the end of the wonderful trip!