Marathon Pundit: California Collision: El Portal

During the Yosemite National Park portion of our California trip the Marathon Pundit family stayed in the unincorporated town of El Portal. It's considered to be the the gateway to Yosemite, in fact, Spanish for gateway is El Portal.

El Portal, which has a population of 571, is different than the West Yellowstone, Montana or Gatlinburg, Tennessee (Great Smoky Mountain) gateway communities. There are no souvenir shops, T-shirt emporiums, or cheap jewelry stores.

Basically, El Portal's commercial district consists of two hotels, a post office, and a gas station.

El Portal is located inside the Sierra National Forest. And take a look at this scenery! In California this is drive-thru territory; if this landscape was in Illinois, it would be the jewel of the state.

The pictures in this post were taken within a few steps of our hotel. On the right is the Merced River.

Next: Yosemite National Park