I think you have the right take on it. Yes, Yosemite is gorgeous but part of the sacred experience of nature is what you feel in solitude with it. The vastness of it and being a part of it's endless beauty.

When you bring in endless hordes that experience is torn down to just a shell of what it once was and could be.

You are right though, if you are willing to put the effort in, those magical places and experiences are still in reach.