I eased away from the Ferry Building by shuttle in typical morning fog, noticing several other travelers dressed in varied levels of outdoor adventure gear. As the bus deposited us at the Emeryville Amtrak stop with plenty of time to spare, travel guides appeared. It seemed I was not alone on the trip.

My first taste of California by train didn’t arrive until after college, when, following a short stay in Los Angeles, I boarded an Amtrak in dusty San Louis Obispo and reached a chilly Oakland’s Jack London Square long after nightfall. In between, I’d seen wide-open country a world away from what I’d grown up with in the close, densely forested northeast. I was eager to experience a new slice of California, and absorbed the view as we steered out of Emeryville and along the water, through El Cerrito and Richmond, before turning east along the San Pablo Bay. Our route soon cut through lush wilderness pockmarked with industrial sites; in Crockett, just after passing under the Carquinez Bridge, the train idled by the California and Hawaiian Sugar Company on one side and glassy inlets rich with geese, ducks and other waterfowl on the other.

The sky cleared as we passed the Point Edith Reserve, a sprawling marshland that turns from saltwater to brackish and freshwater as it leaves the coast. After the Sherman Island Waterfowl Management Area, near Antioch, we turned inland and south and, before long, began to see the vast agricultural spread of fields and orchards for which the San Joaquin is well known.

Disembarking in Merced, I found a YARTS bus idling just outside the terminal. YARTS (Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System) encourages travelers to “watch the scenery, not the road,” and has been helping them do just that since 2000. Although over 3.7 million people visit the park each year, only a small number currently take advantage of YARTS, an odd thing considering the bus alleviates the challenges of enjoying the stunning valley entrance while navigating the winding roadway that leads to the interior.

Two days in Yosemite can go a long way. My room at the Yosemite Lodge was a short walk from the popular Valley Loop Trail, Yosemite Falls and the Upper Yosemite Falls trailhead. While some roads close in the winter, and certain destinations like Half Dome aren’t open, much of the valley is open all year, as was, luckily, the Upper Falls trail, due to the lack of snowfall. I arrived at the lodge just after 1 pm and by 130 was clambering over towering boulders to feel the mist at the base of the falls.

 

That evening I headed to dinner at the Ahwahnee Hotel, boarding one of the free hybrid shuttles that circle the valley floor. The hotel’s site was chosen largely because of its stunning views of Yosemite’s icons – Half Dome, Yosemite Falls and Glacier Point. I arrived after nightfall, but its grandness was not lost on me. Even a brief visit to Yosemite should involve a stroll through the Ahwahnee, with its unique blend of art deco, Native American, Middle Eastern and arts and crafts-influenced design. The majesty of the cavernous dining room’s 34-foot-high beamed ceiling, granite pillars, chandeliers and floor-to-ceiling windows occupied this solo diner until the meal – Mary’s organic chicken over polenta – arrived (and I refocused my attention).