Day 92: Farewell, Yosemite

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Ben

On the way out of the Valley, we stopped to photograph a grove of aspens in the meadow near Yosemite Village:

This was the angle I had been thinking about since we arrived, but this is the first time we were here at the right time of day:

The old Ahwahnee guard house:

We left the Valley via Highway 41, but before continuing south out of the park, we drove out to the Sentinel Dome parking area to hike up to Sentinel Dome, which affords a view of the Valley from above. On the walk, B found a large pine cone:

The hike was somewhat steep, but at the top we were rewarded with a view of Yosemite Valley from above:

Liberty Cap and Nevada Falls to the right:

Half Dome:

El Capitan from the opposite side as yesterday’s Tunnel View. In this photograph, it’s on the right:

The dry Yosemite Falls:

From Wikipedia:

Sentinel Dome is known for a Jeffrey Pine that grew from its peak. The pine was photographed as early as 1867 by Carleton Watkins, and was the subject of a well-known photograph by Ansel Adams. The tree died during the drought of 1976, but remained standing until August 2003.

I photographed the tree when Trish and I visited in ‘93, I photographed the already dead but standing tree. It looked like this. Today, only the trunk remains:

At this elevation, there was some snow on the trail:

Coming down from Sentinel Dome, we drove south to the south entrance to the park, unhitched the RV. and drove on the “no trailers” road up to the Mariposa Grove, home to the largest living things on Earth, the Giant Sequoias.

While not as tall as Redwoods, the Sequoias are far larger by volume, with basal circumferences of over 90 feet:

The Grizzly Giant is 1800 years old and in 96 feet around at its base. Note the people in the lower left corner of the photograph:

This tree was tunneled for the passage of cars. Despite the hole, the tree is still alive. Here the kids stand inside the man-made arch:

It was pretty dark by time we finished the trail amongst the sequoias. Here are son shows off the Sugar Pine cone he found:

We spent the night in the Walmart of Selma, CA.

See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Day 92: Yosemite, Day 3

Posted on November 6, 2013 by Ben

Today we hiked up to Vernal Falls. On the way, we traversed a fen near happy isles:

Looking up from Happy Isles:

After a while, the path transitions to steps:

At last, we reached Vernal Falls. There’s not much water this time of year:

This California Ground Squirrel was waiting for us to turn our back so he could raid our pack:

After some more steps, we reached the top:

Continuing on towards Nevada Falls, we had a great view of Liberty Cap, which Trish and I summited in ‘93:

Broderick and Liberty Cap:

Water coming down from Nevada Falls towards Vernal Falls:

Heading back:

One last photo of Vernal Falls:

Towards dusk, we went for a short bike ride:

Day 90: Yosemite, Day 2

Posted on November 5, 2013 by Ben

Today we got up early to catch the 9am photo walk with a guide from the Ansel Adams Gallery:

The team preps their gear:

We had a bit of water coming down Yosemite Falls, and there was a tiny rainbow in the mist:

We spotted a hawk in the tree. Do you see it?

We worked on adding foreground framing to background objects:

I was enjoying this tree in the sun with the rock face behind it in shade:

I carry a highly portable stand and umbrella, and used it with an off-camera flash to create this portrait:

The family that chimps together stays together:

After lunch we drove up to Tunnel View. It is a truly amazing scene. To give an idea of scale, El Capitan, on the left, is 3000 vertical feet from its base to the top:

On the way down, we hiked in to view Bridalveil Falls. This is the dry season, but water still falls down the 619 foot cascade:

Towards sunset, I took the kids for a bike ride up to Mirror Lake, which is dry in the fall. Here they are standing in the lake bed:

Mirror Lake is right under Half Dome:

We rode back towards Yosemite Village for a more traditional view of Half Dome:

We also stopped in at Housekeeping Campground. The tent cabins have been partially disassembled for the season. This is where we would stay when we visited Yosemite when I was a child:

Day 89: Yosemite, Day 1

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Ben

This morning was quite chilly, as you would expect for being in the Sierra Mountains in November. We rode our bikes over to the Visitor Center where we watched an excellent video presentation, then toured the adjacent Indian Village exhibit, which demonstrated the living conditions and daily operation of the Indian settlements in Yosemite Valley before the Indians were forced into reservations:

Next we took a tour of the Ahwahnee Hotel, a luxury hotel built in the late 20s to bring people of wealth and influence to Yosemite in the hopes of turning them into supporters of the then-nascent National Park system:

On the ride back to the RV, we spotted Half Dome in the distance:

After a late lunch, we walked out of the RV and captured photographs of the alpine glow on Half Dome:

Pity sunset is at 5pm this time of year, there’s still so much to do!

Day 88: Onward, to Yosemite!

Posted on November 3, 2013 by Ben

This past Shabbos was one of our more interesting ones to date. We were exposed to the off-road motorcycling culture, something none of us had ever encountered before. Of the 50 RVs in the competition area and the 30 RVs in the campsite, we were the only people without off-road vehicles. On our Shabbos walk, we noticed we were the only people on foot; everyone else was thundering by on their motorcycles. Our son very much wants to try his hand at off-road motorcycling now, as there were children as young as 7 or so riding. We even saw a motorcycle with training wheels. The little kids were very cute on their pint-sized machines. We watched the riders fly through the air after launching from jumps on the tracks, as well as extended wheelbase motorcycles climbing straight up mountain faces in the hillclimbing competition. It was all very interesting. And loud.

Saturday night we packed up and headed back into Tracy to stay at the Home Depot. It was nice and quiet, and had WiFi to boot. The next morning we visited the WinCo next door only to find out that they take neither credit cards nor traveller’s checks. OK, off to Safeway then. After shopping and laundry, we headed East towards Yosemite. Here we are rolling across the arid grasslands on route 140 east of Merced:

We arrived in Yosemite after dark, which was unfortunate except for the fact that we could see the flashlights of climbers sleeping in hammocks lashed into the sheer rock face of El Capitan, which is so high that it takes most climbers several days to climb.