Photos Along the Way

The gloss on the granite wall above was caused by glacier activity long ago.

The road to the Ahwahnee.

A river or stream is always either heard or seen.

The granite walls and waterfalls are mesmerizing!

All of these photographs were taken with my iPhone!

Afternoon in the Park

After a little rest in the room, we were out again on our bikes heading towards El Capitan. We rode amidst the shady redwoods along the somewhat crowded paths past Yosemite Village, past the Falls, past the Lodge, and found ourselves stopping on the Swinging Bridge to watch the swimmers.  The calm breeze and shade while riding kept us cool, but as we stood in full sun on the bridge we realized: it was hot!  Just as I was about to put my feet back on the pedals, a person jumped into the water.  He yelled up to his daughter, and she smiled a wicked little smile. She looked about 7 years old, and was wearing a life vest over her bathing suit. She had all of the onlookers attention, some of them yelling out encouraging remarks. Another man hurled his body into the water, and that was all it took. Off she jumped into the refreshing pool of water below.  This all happened so quickly that I wasn’t able to snap a photo.  On the other side of the bridge rafters were passing through, and thinking the activity inspirational, I decided to snap a picture of that instead.  I love how Yosemite Falls is depicted in the background.

When we realized that we had cycled around the entire Valley Loop Trail twice, we decided that it was about time to return them.  By now it was early evening, and we were both tired and wanted to relax in our beautiful room.  My legs ached, especially the gimpy one.  I longed for a nice cold beverage, and a baggie of ice resting on my injured, and now somewhat swollen shin.  Before we left the bicycle rental place, I noticed a bulletin board titled, “I Saw a Bear!”  Fascinated, I stopped and read some of the slips that were neatly tacked on small pieces of paper, listing the date and place where hikers had spotted bears.  Glacier Point was the most recent sighting.  It was of a mother and her two cubs.  The people noted that the sighting made them very happy and they’d drawn a smiley face on their posting at the bottom.  I was intrigued.

We sauntered back to The Ahwahnee and I picked up the most delicious truffle at the Sweet Shoppe asking the merchant about bears.  Up until this point, I had no desire to see one, but now I had changed my mind.  I remarked that it might be wonderful to see one from a distance in the wild.  The guy recollected that he’d seen a single bear on a  couple of occasions.  He said that the best times were either in the early morning or sometime in the evening.  Knowing that the next day would be our last opportunity before having to head home, we decided to go to bed early, and also to rise early to make an attempt at sighting one for ourselves. 

             
 That evening, out of our picture window, we watched a wedding in the nearby meadow.  It was a good thing we had decided to go to bed early because their party went on until the wee hours of the morning.  One would think that it would have kept us awake, but no.  We were far too exhausted to be kept awake by a little partying.  Also, we discovered that running the fan in our room went a long way toward drowning out the raucous.  At first light, and after a restful, rejuvenating slumber, my very first thought was to raise the window blinds and begin the day by watching for a bear.  So I did.

Mirror Lake on Bikes

          With full stomachs we pointed our cruisers toward Mirror Lake and began pedaling.  We didn’t get very far, because once I noticed the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite Village, I had to stop.  My usual browsing technique in this sort of place is to locate a piece that is not too expensive and not too large (for easy transport home).  I located a stack of unsigned, matted reproductions and began flipping through them, placing the ones I thought were the most beautiful in front. I had placed about ten in my review area, and after throwing out the ones I didn’t want to own, I had narrowed down to images of Half Dome and Mirror Lake. I made my purchase as I left the building, asking the man to hold it for me until I wasn’t touring the park on a bicycle, and now, I wanted to go and see Mirror Lake in person.

           We rode through the shade of the towering Sequoias, over the bridge near The Awhwanee, passed the North Pines backpacker’s camp, and onward in the direction of Mirror Lake, parking our bicycles when they were no longer allowed on the trail.  The bike rack was situated next to a crackling stream, and we began our hike on the paved trail toward the lake. By now it was fairly crowded, and kids were hooting and hollering as they waded in the cool water or climbed on the rocks that were positioned around and through the natural pools that flowed there.  My goal was to obtain a comparison photo of my new purchase, Mirror Lake and Mount Watkins, which was taken in 1935.

 I wasn’t extremely happy with my depiction, but thought I had made a good effort, keeping in mind my current philosophy: enjoy the place and have a lovely memory rather than waste a lot of time trying to get the perfect photo. 
          By now my leg was begging for a rest, and so we reluctantly worked our way back to the hotel.  Once inside, we realized there was a tour of the hotel we could attend, so we both got cleaned up, and went on the tour, where we learned a lot about The Ahwahnee, Steven Mather, and the history of our National Parks. The tour took about an hour and was an enjoyable break from the heat during midday.  After that, we stopped at the restaurant and devoured a late lunch just before the kitchen was closing, scoring what the hostess said was, “The best table in the room.”  The table was situated next to a massive picture window that faced what I believe was El Capitan, and was absolutely breathtaking, but try as I might, I could not capture its beauty. I did, however, get a decent pic of the dining room from the vantage point where all the actors sit during their Christmas dinner. 

Yosemite Morning

        The picture window in our room at The Awhahnee had been darkened for the night, but upon awakening, we decided to raise the blinds and leisurely lie in bed gawking at the massive, granite walls that reached high into the sky. The knowledge that the bicycle rental place wouldn’t open until 9 a.m. gave me permission to ice and elevate my leg – even though it felt like it was on the mend.  After that, we took a quick shower, munched a granola bar with a cup of coffee, and took off on foot to begin our adventure.

            We followed the same path along the river to Curry Village to rent bicycles for the day.  It took some time adjusting to the “cruiser” style bicycle!  There were no hand brakes, no gear shifts, and large handle bars, all of this making it difficult to maneuver the bulky two wheeler. The morning air was crisp and cool, and it smelled of oak, pine, and earth.  I could hear the gentle wind as it whispered through the trees, opting to follow the Valley Loop Trail to Yosemite Village, where we picked up a picnic lunch at the Deli.  As Brad ordered up the sandwiches, I shopped in the trinket shop next door where I picked up a small token of my affection (a pair of golf socks) for my man.

            Our next destination was Yosemite Falls.  We parked our bicycles and repeated our hike to the falls, taking time to thoroughly enjoy the extraordinary splendor of the place.  There were very few people here on this occasion, save for a mute man dressed as a monk who took our photo (I believe he had taken a vow of silence), and we hiked around, eventually selecting a beautiful picnic spot on a log next to a small bridge near a river.  We quickly discovered that were not alone, because a single Steller’s Jay had decided we were its best opportunity for a noontime meal. Knowing full well that we should not feed the animals, we couldn’t resist its ceaseless begging.

It's Hard Out Here for a Gimp

My leg hurt a little when my foot met the pavement, but I was oblivious to the discomfort. The air was still quite warm, but not as hot as when we arrived, and the sky a deep shade of blue. I moved away from the shuttle and looked up until my head wouldn't drop back anymore. I saw huge granite peaks towering above me and down the midst of them were two massive waterfalls, one atop the other. We walked through a tiny crowd of people and across a dirt path with a sign that pointed the way to Upper Yosemite Falls. We headed towards the paved path that lead towards Lower Yosemite Falls. The sheer majesty of the place compelled me to stop chatting about the beauty, but I know I gasped in awe a couple of times.

It seemed to take about 15 minutes for us to reach the end of the paved walking trail. There were about 10 people and a couple of leashed dogs in this viewing area of the Lower Yosemite Falls. One of the dogs was barking, and the sound seemed out of place. At first I thought the dog was barking at the loud splashing of the waterfall, but upon closer inspection, I realized it was because of the other larger dog a few feet away. I felt grateful that I left my two dogs at home, and I think the dog owners wished they had too. Their body language looked stressed and uncomfortable, and both of them didn't linger for very long, which was unfortunate for them. I understood how John Muir could call this place one of, "the special temples of Nature I was every permitted to enter." In the quiet majesty we stood in awe observing this massive creation.

I have no idea how long this took, because neither of us left the room with anything except the clothes on our bodies - no map, no camera, no phone, no time piece. I was most disappointed that I had neglected to bring a camera, because after our waterfall encounter the light was slowly dimming and the visual effect from it was stunning. I silently decided that one should never be without a camera once inside the Yosemite Valley.

As the sun began to sink between El Capitan and Eagle Peak, and thinking we would be without light in a short while, we decided we best make an attempt at finding a shuttle stop to take us back to The Ahwahnee. Not wanting to hurry, we ended up taking the path that lead through Cook's Meadow, thinking there would be a shuttle stop over on the other side. When we reached someplace near the middle, we stopped, taking in a 360 degree view of the place. The sun had now dropped behind the ridges of the granite peaks, and there was a massive dark orange, boa cloud floating amidst a pale blue sky. When I turned to look in the opposite direction Half Dome was illuminated. It was at this point that I cursed myself for not having a brought my camera, and I vowed to come back the very next day to capture this spectacular sight.

We continued on our journey trying to locate a shuttle stop, as twilight fell upon us. Eventually we found a young family to inquire about the time. It was their youngest who answered us. Two hours had passed! I was disappointed, because I didn't want to stop exploring this valley wonderland. I became acutely aware of the discomfort in my leg. I realized that it was tired and sore, and I needed to sit down and rest. This was the longest walk I had taken for two weeks! I made a mental note about what time tomorrow that we should return for a photo of this lovely sight. As it turned out, we got off at shuttle stop eight, and had worked our way all the way back to stop two. It was a very short ride back to our beautiful room (one stop later), but my leg was done for the day. I can still feel the soothing coolness of the ice my caring husband applied to it upon our return.

Room with a View

After spending several hours driving into the mountains in the hot sun, we arrived at The Ahwahnee, a National Park Lodge that sits in the heart of the spectacular Yosemite Valley. We were so excited to arrive here that we were 2 hours early. Fortunately for us, our room was ready. Mind you, the drive here was stunning and had impressed us already, but this being our first visit, we had no idea what was in store. We walked inside the lodge, which had been built some 80+ years ago, and took in its rustic charm. By the time we peered out our window, we realized that this was not going to be an ordinary trip. I pulled out my ancient camera phone, and snapped the photograph above. 

We uncorked the bottle of Dom Perignon we had been saving, and several hours later (it was our anniversary after all), we decided to take in the great outdoors. I had been recovering from a minor leg injury, and knew that I couldn't hike too much. In fact, we had considered canceling the trip because of the injury, thinking it may be too much of a hindrance. Earlier, when we checked in, we noticed there were bicycle rentals, and thinking it might be a solution, we got the details from the concierge about how that might be accomplished. Now we wanted to figure out the location on foot so that we would know where to go in the a.m.  

We meandered along the river above and over a couple of bridges (one of them in the picture) to Curry Village, the location for bicycle and raft rentals. The leg was working great with a couple of layers of compression, not to mention a couple of glasses of bubbly (for medicinal purposes, of course). The rental place was easy to locate, and just as we went walking away, a hybrid shuttle bus pulled up nearby. We decided to get on the bus and ride it for awhile. About three stops later we discovered ourselves at Yosemite Falls deciding we absolutely HAD to get off. The splendor of Yosemite was simply too beautiful to look at through the windows of a bus. Our adventure had begun!