Winter in the Sierra, 2006
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Our annual trip into the western Sierra was somewhat muted this year by troubles at home. Our beloved pooch was nearing the end of his days when we made our way north, and we were all worried about him while we were gone. He was still counted amongst the earth's inhabitants upon our return home, but did not survive to see Christmas. He passed on 20 December, a victim of aggressive lymphoma. We miss him dearly.
However, the trip did our hearts and souls good, and in spite of our troubles we managed to enjoy ourselves. God smiled upon us, giving us a palette of weather from which to choose, from bright warm sun to snow. The beast behaved itself, and the grands met us in the Valley of the Awahnichi, the ancestral home of the Southern Miwok.
Another one of Adam's trick images. It's right side up, really! This is Lower Yosemite Falls reflected in a pool of still water below the base of the falls. You can observe the ground beneath the surface of the water in the shadowed parts of the pool, the brightly lit sheer rock of the lower falls is reflected elsewhere. Photo taken by Adam with his Canon Rebel XT on the morning of 7 December.
As we arrived at about 0930 after a six and a half hour road trip, hard on the heels of a long day and longer evening, we all spent a lot of time gathering our thoughts and / or napping. I chose the nap, and therefore took no photographs on the first day in the valley.
The next day we were greeted by an old friend.
This little lady was out shopping for some late breakfast when we made our appearance on Friday morning. Here Katie caught her with her Canon A95 from about twenty yards away.
A few moments later, as she crossed our path, Adam got this image of her with his Canon Rebel XT. Our little friend approached within half a dozen feet of us on her rounds, and seemed totally unconcerned about our presence as long as we didn't move towards her. She favored us with a brief sample of the air in our direction, and then moved on her way.
So much for the obligatory coyote pictures. You know I strive for at least one picture of kin in these albums, I guess God figured we'd get that bit of business out of the way right up front.
We spent the first full day wandering around not doing too much except for soaking up the raw nature and trying to decompress a bit. I took no images that Friday, but my pups did. We started the day with a walk along the north side of the valley from the lodge complex to Yosemite Falls, and then over to the Village for some lunch. Along the way we paralleled the sheer granite walls below Yosemite Point and The Lost Arrow.
Looking almost straight up, Adam obtains evidence that trees can indeed grow from solid rock. While not big compared to the towering pines rising nearby, this stubby Oak (I think) is about half a dozen feet tall, growing precariously from a small lip or crag in the otherwise smooth face of the rock. Taken with his Canon Rebel XT.
We spent the afternoon hanging out in Yosemite Village shopping for some outdoor gear and other goodies and sampling the treats at Degnan's Deli. No pizza there these days, a loss felt by all, but still a good place to make new friends and knock back a couple of beers.
Towards the evening we took the shuttle back to the lodge complex for some "attitude adjustment." This began in our room with munchies and wine, and after a couple of hours of that proceeded over to the Mountain Room Bar, where we introduced Katie to the fine art of stud poker. Learning quickly, she promptly skunked two older generations of poker players when she managed to embarrass not only me but her grandpa, the master poker player in the family, by taking most of our money away from us.
The Den of Iniquity, wherein the males were humbled. My father sits to the left beyond me, Katie is in front of me with her cap on, and The Fox is to her right. We enjoyed various libations while playing, running the gamut from hot chocolate through wheat beer to Irish Coffee. Taken from outside through the floor-to-ceiling window by Adam (who had already been cleaned out, apparently) with his ever-present Canon Rebel XT.
The lights of the lodge complex, again by Adam with his Rebel XT. He wandered just a few yards from the location of the previous picture to take this image.
With Katie a bit more affluent and the rest of us a bit wiser and wondering aloud at her ability to learn things quickly, we turned in for the evening. Rumors of bad weather were already on the wind, and we wanted to arise relatively early Saturday to do some walking about the place. My pups and I set out the following morning, starting in Leidig Meadow, to see what God might offer us...
My pups exercising their photographic talents. From the northwest corner of Leidig Meadow looking due east.
What Adam caught with his Rebel XT from the above location. View looks east across the Merced River, which was practically stationary at this point and quite low. During the late spring and early summer the bases of the trees on the far bank would be submerged in a few inches of running water.
Katie took a candid picture of Adam and I while he was discussing camera settings with me. Still in the northwest corner of Leidig Meadow, the sun is bright but it's still fairly cold. There were lots of clouds in the air, so we would alternate between chilly bright sunlight and dull gray cold. Taken in the former with Katie's Canon A95.
Looking west across Leidig Meadow down canyon towards the Cathedral Rocks, which tower 2500 feet above the valley floor. Behind the trees to the right is the face of El Capitan, the most famous chunk of granite in North America.
Another candid Katie picture of the ol' coyote, taken with her A95 near Sentinel Bridge, the footbridge across the Merced River at the east edge of Leidig Meadow.
Katie and Adam crossing Sentinel Bridge. Damn fine looking pups if you ask me. (No fatherly pride here...)
Sentinel Rock. Towering 3000 feet above the valley floor, this view looks south from the vicinity of the old church which is located east of the lodge complex, across the Merced River.
North Dome, the Royal Arches, and Washington Column. The Column is located in the center of the picture and stands two thousand feet above the valley at 5947 feet above sea level. On the left margin is North Dome, 7,542 feet above sea level. Between them, in the face of the rock, are The Arches. Royal Arch Creek paints a black vertical stripe down the sheer granite face of the rock to the left of The Arches. Taken from near the old church.
From Leidig Meadow we moved northeast towards Yosemite Village, there to meet with the rest of the crew over a late lunch and discuss tactics for the rest of the day.
There is an old tradition in the Valley having to do with Christmas. Every holiday season, in the beginning of the month, Santa pays a visit to the children of the folks who work the valley during the winter. He usually turns up at The Village Store, The Ahwahnee Hotel, and Curry Village. Many years ago we happened to wander into the Village store just before Santa's arrival, and my pups were treated to gifts along with all the other children present (there were probably fifty or so, representing the child population of the Valley at that moment). Adam still has the tool kit he received. A relatively small and uncomplicated tool kit for use in a car, it was a cherished prize for an eight year old, one he still treats and uses with care.
All these years later, Adam managed to catch Santa again, and learned something about Santas in the process...
Santa en route to Degnan's Deli, where he purchased a beer with which to fortify himself on his trek between the Village Store and the Ahwahnee Hotel. He caught up with us at the Ahwahnee, where we were already in the process of fortifying ourselves in much the same manner. This image is sort of like a "Sasquatch" image, taken on the fly of an elusive subject. By Adam with his Rebel XT and his 125mm zoom lens.
Another view of Yosemite Falls, taken from near Yosemite Village. The lighting highlights The Lost Arrow well, it is the needle-like spire jutting out from the face of the rock just above and to the right of the center of the image. Taken in mid-afternoon light by Adam with his Rebel XT.
From The Village we moved further east towards the Ahwahnee Hotel. The Ahwahnee is an excellent afternoon stop, well stocked with interesting things to warm one's insides and much stealthy entertainment at the expense of some of the other visitors. If you like to people watch, the Ahwahnee is one of the best spots in the Valley to be.
Ahwahnee Meadow, east of The Village. View looks southeast up the Merced River into the mouth of Little Yosemite Valley. The Panorama Cliffs and Mount Starr King (9,092 feet) are on the horizon, Grizzly Peak (6,222 feet) rises to the left at the mouth of Little Yosemite Valley, and the sheer face of the granite cliffs below Glacier Point rise to the right.
Adam is just fascinated with this place, for some reason. This is the hardware (mounted on the roof above the front porch) that is the web cam operated by the Yosemite Association, a non-profit support group of Yosemite National Park. A year ago when we were here he and I tracked this place down. It wasn't hard if you know a bit about Yosemite Valley, we pretty much knew where it was, we just amused ourselves by actually finding it. This little cabin is part of the employee housing in the valley. Image by Adam with his Rebel XT.
The Ahwahnee Bridge, south of the Ahwahnee Hotel. Formerly for automotive use, the National Park Service has closed this road to vehicular use and it is now the exclusive right of way for hikers, bicyclists, and the native inhabitants of the Valley. View looks southeast, which at this point is downstream, down the Merced River. The river snakes it's way around the valley floor in the immediate area, just a few hundred feet to the east a southeast view looks upstream. By Adam with his Rebel XT.
After some time well spent socializing and fortifying ourselves for the return trip, we left or less-adventurous crewmates and headed out once again, eventually returning to the Village around dusk.
Speaking of native inhabitants... this is a Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus). This particular example was looking for an evening snack directly in front of the Park Headquarters building, where we were waiting for a shuttle bus to take us back to the lodge. The sun had set, and as is typical in mountain country, darkness came on quickly. There was very little light left when Adam took this image with his trusty Rebel XT, using the built-in flash which seemed to bother our friend here not a bit. The doe was quite cooperative, taking the initiative to come up within three or four feet of Adam while he snapped several images of her.
Shortly after returning to the lodge it began to rain, a nice steady shower that went on for hours. This was the "storm", we supposed, that we had been hearing about. Rain fell gently all through dinner, the night's poker game, and lulled us to sleep late in the evening.
Sometime in the middle of the night it got very quiet...
The beast in it's winter coat, waiting for us to get ready to go home Sunday morning.
A lot of heavy, wet snow fell. The air temperature never got below 28 degrees, and by sun up was hovering right at freezing. The result was that while snow fell in abundance from midnight on, much of it melted as soon as it touched the ground. By morning there was only and inch or two on the ground, and the showers had become sporadic.
Bridalveil Falls in the snow. The water tumbles 620 feet to the valley. This view looks across the upper end of the moraine at the lower end of El Capitan Meadow. Taken by Adam with his Rebel XT.
The roadways were clear in the Valley. Even so, we knew we would climb up over six thousand feet on the south road, so we opted to take the lower, western exit from the park through El Portal, Mariposa, and Merced. In the process of doing that we discovered the best Mexican food at a little hole in the wall place called Mi Casa Cafe. One exit ramp south of the Highway 140 exit, take the Childs Avenue exit ramp and go a few hundred feet east. Mmmm.... home made tamales!
In any event, by the time we got to El Portal the snow had turned to rain again. The stormy weather stayed with us to the Grapevine, but by the time we coasted into the San Fernando Valley it was dry.
Thanks for sharing our trip with us!