Yosemite (6) - Half-Dome from Glacier Point, CA

A big dissapointment for seasoned travellers in Yosemite is that everything is just too accessible. There's nothing better in hiking than having to half kill yourself to make it to an amazing place to experience that one unforgettable sunset.

Not in America it isn't! Most everything cool in Yosemite can be reached by car, wheelchair or pushpram, clearly signposted with the necessary creature comforts around such as restrooms, soda dispensers, bus stops and ranger stations. - Compare that to the 25 hour train-bus-riksha-dumptrunk-hikingwhilerunningoutofwater-journey it takes to get anywhere in places such as South America or East Asia. This means that all of the fat, time-constrained, lazy, employed, 'normal' people that some of the rough-and-tumble crowd stick their noses up to block the view everywhere.

Good thing that Yosemite is so big that there's enough space for all types of travellers. (and really now, it's kinda nice that for a change you can see something amazing without any hassle, right? ;-)

- disclaimer: It's fantastic that in Yosemite they've really made an effort to make some sites available to people that would otherwise never be able to see some of the wonderful things out there. And that includes a group of people that really physically cannot make it out to some of the more remote areas, not just the people that are not willing to make the effort.