Figures on the Rocks

As I sat on the rim of the meadow at The Ahwahnee, I perused a map of the park, looking for inspiration. I was seated about 100 yards in front of the massive granite face of Glacier Point, trying to see if there was something that would motivate us to get back out there on another adventure, instead of packing up our stuff and heading home.  The air was still crisp and I was practically alone, save for several Stellar's jays chattering around in the tall Sequoia trees, when I looked over my shoulder and saw an elderly gentleman quietly tidying up the patio area.

He was dressed in khaki from head to toe and on his chest was a name tag with his name and city of origin, just like all of the other Ahwahnee employees. Realizing I didn't have a lot of time to make up my mind about what to do, I began chatting with him about our failed attempt at finding bears, and questioning him about what would be a nice alternative.  At this point, Brad came up with a couple of cups of coffee, and he asked us what, other than bears, we might like to see.  We threw out several ideas... Bridalveil Falls, bus to Glacier Point, rock climbers.  He nodded and began talking about looking closely at the granite before us for faces, an eagle, a clock, and other items of interest. 

Brad was the first one of us to identify the clock, and even though I said I could see it, I wasn't telling the truth. I would be more adept at both identifying and describing the location of the interesting shapes on the granite walls after the hike he recommended we take: heading toward Mirror Lake and then around its perimeter.

Without A Computer

I am currently only using my iPad and am forced again to write inside this blasted app.  I just had an excellent post that is now lost. I'm so sad right now. I've lost my inspiration.  Sorry!

There really should be some sort of undo button or something!

Lookin' for Bears in all the Wrong Places

          I awoke around 5 o’clock in the morning thinking it was surely early enough to spot something wild outside.  Over the course of our trip, I had gone from extremely frightened of spotting a bear to longing to witness one of nature’s rarest wonders.  I had seen at an information kiosk the day before that some folks had spotted a mother bear and her cubs someplace near Glacier point. But I figured that getting there and back in time to check out of our room would be next to impossible.  What we decided to do was take the car over to the trailhead that leads to Vernal Falls, and then follow the trail to the falls, back down the John Muir Trail, and back to the room. Our thinking was that our early start might yield our highly coveted bear sighting and we would also enjoy a refreshing morning hike.

          We were becoming more adept at figuring out where we were going in Yosemite on foot, but we were lost in the car!  It took us about 30 minutes to get to the trail head, and we had to park some distance from it in the first place.  What was worse, however, was the sad reality that the closer we got to the trail head, the number of experienced hikers sharing the trail with us was increasing exponentially.  I knew there wouldn’t possibly be any bear sightings on this hike.  There were simply too many people.  It seemed surreal hiking with this many people headed in the same direction on the exact same trail, and my resolve began to shrink down to a fizzle.   This was not how I wanted to spend my last morning in Yosemite.  We stopped to discuss our strategy and decided, regretfully, that this was not the time to embark on this particular journey.

          By now, we had wasted about an hour or so, and we were both frustrated and disappointed, but once we found a short, paved, empty trail that led us to Happy Isles we perked up a bit.  It had the quiet serenity that we desired, yet became stimulating when we both decided to work our way across a fallen log over some threatening rapids below.  As we hiked around the isle, there were a few times I thought I’d spotted a bear, but upon closer inspection I was disappointed every time.  As we walked back to our parked car, it felt like we were going the wrong way on a one way street as we watched hiker after hiker heading toward the trail head.  Once we were driving back towards the hotel, the park became peacefully quiet and secluded again. We even noticed deer grazing in the meadow and when we stopped the car to snap a photo, they just kept on grazing as if we weren’t intruding on their breakfast at all.

            It was our last morning in Yosemite, and by now we knew it was far too late to sight a bear.  We opted to take a seat (like we had seen so many tourists before us do) outside the Awhahnee next to the meadow and just take in the beauty.  We wanted to do something fun before our time was up.  Fortunately for us, we met a staff worker who was outside the lodge and would help us make it happen.

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.