DAY 2

Morning

BREAKFAST: At the Parkside Restaurant, in the lodge. All-American breakfasts. Have the Parkside Deli put together sandwiches, salads, and giganto brownies for a picnic.

Drive or bike 7 miles on Highway 41 into the park to Mariposa Grove and take the tram through the grove to see the 209-foot, 300-ton Grizzly Giant; the Columbia (290 feet); and hundreds more 2,000-year-old giant sequoias. This is the largest and most impressive of three sequoia groves in the park. At several tram stops you can hop off and wander along nature trails, the best way to enjoy these magnificent beings, the largest living things on Earth. A vista point, accessible by a short walk from the top of the grove, overlooks the entire Wawona basin. In the Mariposa Grove Museum are displays about the big trees and the flora and fauna of Yosemite. Instead of taking the tram back to the parking lot, you can wander the 2.5-mile, easy downhill route on footpaths beneath the fragrant cedar and pine branches. In the wintertime, you can park at the bottom of the hill and snowshoe up to the grove, a relatively easy, absolutely beautiful route.

Back on Highway 41 in Wawona, park at the Yosemite Pioneer History Center, and take the easy, flat trail over the covered bridge and about 200 yards along the Merced River until you come to a picnic spot beside the river or a flat, sunny boulder in the middle of the river. You'll find places to wade and swim.

LUNCH: Picnic beside the Merced River behind the Yosemite Pioneer History Center.

Afternoon

The Yosemite Pioneer History Center is a compound of historic buildings and vintage vehicles. Here costumed docents play the parts of residents from bygone days.

Stroll around Wawona Meadow, across from the hotel, a flat route through the pines around the huge wildflower-strewn meadow, ending behind the hotel, a 3-mile round-trip. This is one of several meadows that make Wawona a popular area for cross-country skiing.

A more challenging hike is to Chilnualna Falls, a steep, 8-mile round-trip through pines, cedars, and manzanitas to a jetting avalanche of water, refreshing when you jump in the icy pool at the base of the upper falls. The trailhead is located 1.7 miles east of the main road, on Chilnaulna Falls Road.

Beaches and swimming spots are easily accessible on the south fork of the Merced River as it runs through Wawona.

DINNER: Wawona Hotel, Highway 41 near the southern gate of Yosemite National Park; (559) 252-4848; www.yosemitepark.com.The beautiful Victorian dining room, open for all meals, now has a fabulous chef, and the menu is a cross between California cuisine and American comfort food, with seasonal specials; don't miss the pine-nut pie and the summer barbecues.

LODGING: Wawona Hotel, the oldest resort hotel in the state, was built in the 1870s and is in fabulous shape. Rooms in several beautiful vintage buildings and cottages vary in size, and many have been redone in sumptuous fabrics, with armoires, new furnishings, and nice bathrooms with amenities. Evenings by the fireplace in the lobby are sweet, while a honky-tonk pianist plays and spins tales of old Yosemite. There is a beautiful pool, sweeping lawns, a nine-hole golf course, wonderful walking trails, tennis, horseback riding, and the Merced River is nearby for swimming and fishing. Or, you can just sink into a rocker on the covered porch. You don't need a car: just jump on the free shuttles to the valley. Badger Pass, and the Mariposa Grove, year-round. Ask about ski packages.