Head west, stop at the coast.

An early start to get to then Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite village for the 08:30 walk. The road was very quiet and I arrived in plenty of time having left Westgate Yosemite just before 7:00.

Once at the gallery met up with the other walkers and our guide, Christine. The walk went through to Cook’s Meadow to take advantage of the good light. We spent about 90 minutes hearing about the history of the park, Ansel Adams and getting some general advice on taking pictures and using cameras. It was kept quite simple but interesting and it was useful to have some expert knowledge about how to capture pictures of the park. 

Tree Trunk, Cook Meadow

Yosemite Reflections

It was a beautiful day so I spent some more time taking photos and enjoying the scenery before grabbing a cheeseburger for lunch then heading west to San Francisco.

It was an hour’s drive to get back to Buck Meadows (Pop. 50) where I had been staying but then I could carry on down the mountain road and across California. It was a hot day the scenery was quite arid. It was at this point I noticed I was getting very low on fuel, but fortunately I arrived at a town with the fuel gauge just entering the red. Once on the road again more and more cars joined the roads. I stopped off for a break at Hayward then again at the Redwood Regional Park just outside San Francisco. This second break was to see some more Redwoods and also to let the traffic die down on the Bay bridge. The park has some second and third generation Redwoods i.e. trees that have grown up from the trees cut down in the mid nineteenth century as San Francisco was being built. The shade from the trees was quite welcome from the hot sun of the day.  It also meant I would be able to get the off peak toll and save $2!

The drive into San Francisco was spectacular as the sun was just setting and the downtown skyscrapers and the Golden Gate bridge were silhouetted against the western sky. Once in the city it seemed to have become quite dark very quickly but using the GPS I made my way to the Pacific Heights Inn.

Big Trees and Big Views

I drove back into Yosemite and went in search of the Giant Sequoias at Tuolumne Grove. Unlike the hike yesterday this one takes you down 400 feet to get to the grove. Here you can see lots of of these giant trees towering over the standard size pines. There are plenty of information boards dotted along the trail to explain about the trees and how new knowledge is helping to protect them. No one is allowed to hug them anymore as frequent foot steps around the base lead to damage of the roots. Also, in past years fires were put out to ‘protect’ the trees but now it is known that fires are a vital part of the lifecycle of the trees (clearing forest litter to allow the seeds to grow).  Having descended 400’ to get to the grove it was then necessary to ascend those same 400’ but it was well worth the effort.

Giant Sequoia

After my homemade sandwich I headed further in to the park to go to Glacier point. This is not far from Yosemite village but is much higher – 1000s of feet higher and so it takes a while to drive there. The final few bends of the road provide another wow moment as the view opens right up just as you negotiate a hairpin and arrive in the car park. Once out of the car it is a fairly short (level) walk to the view point, and what a view point! This does deserve the word awesome. In the words of the National Park Service “some would say[Glacier Point], is the most spectacular viewpoint anywhere. Most people agree that its views of the high country and breathtaking views of Yosemite Valley, including Half Dome and three waterfalls, are the most spectacular in the park”

View from Glacier Point

Considering the height (over 7000' feet) it was a really pleasant afternoon so I spent an hour trying to capture the scene and take it all in. It was quite a shock to see, way down below, the top of the Vernal Falls I had climbed up to the previous day. I indulged in a hot chocolate at the cafe then headed back to the lodge. I ate in the restaurant next door and had Chicken Noodle soup and spiced chicken breast washed down with a pint of draught Coors beer served in an unfeasibly large glass.

Tomorrow, I have a camera walk with a guide from the Ansel Adams gallery at 8:30 and as it is an hours drive to get there I have an early start. Then, it is goodbye Yosemite and onwards to the city by the Bay, San Francisco.

A long day ‘at the office’

Today I made it to Yosemite. After a ‘small’ breakfast of two scrambled eggs, two rashers of bacon and two buttermilk (large)  pancakes with maple syrup and waddled back to the car feeling very full (good job I didn’t go for a big breakfast) and made the hour drive into Yosemite. The scenery remains fairly typical until you are within a few miles of the main park centre then wham! Huge cliffs and valleys appear on the right hand side of the road.

You can tell it is dramatic by the cars pulled over at the convenient vista points. Then the most famous of them all, El Capitan (The Captain) just appears in front of you.

3000' of Granite

Over 3000 feet of granite straight up into the air. I pulled over to take the obligatory pictures and take a walk to the nearby bridal falls water fall. Most of the water falls in Yosemite are fed by snow melt so by this time of year they are much less spectacular than in the spring. A lot of them dry up completely.
Once done with the Captain I drove into the main Yosemite Village. This is a large area with accommodations from camp sites to hotels, shops and tourist information points. The Ansel Adams shop is also here. A hybrid powered shuttle bus fleet constantly ferries people around the village. I jumped on this for a free tour and to get my bearings. It was nearing midday and the light was pretty difficult for photography as the contrast between light and shadows was very marked.

Once I had completed the circuit I took a look in the shops then took the shuttle out to the start of a hike to the top of Vernal Falls. This is described as ‘strenuous’ as although it is only 3 mile round trip you climb (and then descend) 1000 feet to get to the top of the falls.

Vernal Falls

The last quarter consists mostly of steps made of granite blocks which greatly help the climb but they did remind me of the part of the ‘Lord of the Rings’ where Gollum leads Frodo and Sam into Mordor. Fortunately there was no giant spider at the top but a rather welcome shaded area with the gently flowing stream; that has no idea it is about to plunge over the edge of a vertical drop 100’s of feet high. There were also a lot of squirrels and Stellar’s Jays eager to share sandwiches.

Stellar's Jay

Once back in the village I had another look round the shops then thought about heading home, it was about 6:00 by then. Just by the car I noticed a small stream so went for a look and saw it gave a great view of Half Dome peak, lit up by the late sunshine. Took a few photos then as I was packing up a fellow photographer mentioned he thought the moon would be rising behind the dome soon. After a while there were 8 photographers set up waiting for the moon. Unfortunately, it had not appeared by 7 P.M. so I decided to head off as the light was failing and various compasses and PDAs indicated the moon would not be in the place we thought anyway. I thought that I might get a view on the way back out of the village. Which I did, just a  mile or so down the road. Stopped again, got the camera and tripod out and snapped away.

Moon and Half Dome

Finished up by 7:30 and drove back in the darkness of the countryside.