Well we made it… High on my list and almost the top, if not the top of Cate’s bucket list. I believe I left off after our arrival at Hardin Flat Rd. We had two great days of Yosemite luv before the storm set in. An amazing time was had looking at dry waterfalls and huge rock formations, sweeping views, and crazy tourists.
We seem to become regulars at the Iron Door Saloon (California’s oldest bar) due to their (sketchy) WiFi. cate painted, while I biked… Saw reflection lake, hiked the Vernal Falls bridge, twelve mile in toto. that evening we went up to glacier point on the rim and saw half dome light up bright orange. It cast a shadow over the mountains miles away!
Meanwhile our campsite, the hunters came in. dennis and Josh (?) who works for the Hetch Hetchy, up using their deer tags. nice guys! speaking of Hetch Hetchy, as the rains marched into our area, we took a side trip to the Hetch Hetchy valley that was flooded in the early 1900’s to provide power and water to the Bay area. Muir fought against it and said the Hetch was more exquisite than Yosemite valley. Well, it is still exquisite, and in my opinion, even more so as it provides a renewable energy and water source for millions of people.
As usual, I digress. After a brief epiphany regarding our sleeping conditions, and the resulting reconfiguration, we waited out the storm.
another great thing was to witness the annual migration of the the giant pinecones!
This morning we woke up and headed back to the valley hoping the water was up, and the clouds would grace the clifftops. We were granted our wish. The landscape was literally awash with waterfalls. The formerly anemic Bridal Veil Falls was roaring, and Yosemite falls which was completely dry four days prior was a force of nature today! The valley today was what it is supposed to look like in early spring, but with the bonus of fall’s changing leaves. I left Cate and dog to paint and set out for a bike ride.
Over my lunch I met a great guy named Douglas, who BTW looked just like John Muir and we had a pleasant conversation about his son who is currently in forestry school in Pisgah NF back home… Unreal. everything about this trip is unreal. I am so happy to be here, I wish it would never end…. But I wish all my people, kids, friends, and parents could be with us. We miss everyone so much! now onto DEATH VALLEY!