Saturday Jan 14-16, 2011

Hello Everyone!

We have just spent the last weekend at Yosemite National Park. We arrived late in the evening to Indian Flat RV and Campground. Yes, we did plug in..Sonia is getting spoiled with electricity once again. It'd be good if she had some extra fat stores to keep warm, but Jason did put weight restrictions on her --haha!  So, we settled in and now we kinda have a system of setting up and breaking down the Loaf. B/C its such small and tight living quarters, both of us can't be fiddling around inside simultaneously...otherwise the battle begins. So we have this dance that we do...and it seems to be working out OK. Jason or Sonia isn't waiting for the bus  home at the nearest station!! We fell asleep listening to the Merced River across the street, anxious to wake up and see the beauty that surrounds us.

In the AM, we awoke and yes it was gorgeous...even though we were still 8 miles from the park entrance. We made breakfast and were ready to learn about the park history. YNP was the first place in USA to be designated as a National Park in 1864.  John Muir was a pivotal person who deeply loved Yosemite Valley and wanted it to stay pure and natural for future generations. Thanks to him, millions of people get to see a bit of heaven on earth. It truly is a magnificient place. The gradiosity of the granite walls, spires and cliffs all around just silence and amaze you. El Capitan and Half Dome towering over the flat valley below, watching and protecting its homes. The story goes...A husband and wife were fighting. They reached the lake and the wife drank the lake dry and angered the gods. The gods turned them to stone and now they are El Capitan and Half Dome--2 massive rocks that live facing each other forever. We walked around doing the touristy think, hungry for knowledge and to gain appreciation for the people who once walked these lands 8000 years ago, before the white man came in and forced the Indians out. The Ahwahneechee people permanently settled here 4000 years ago-living off the land. Gathering black acorns for acorn mush (their primary food source), plants, seeds, roots, fruits and hunted for meat. They loved and cared for their land. On March 27, 1851 the Mariposa Battalion-a bunch of egotistical, greedy white miners tried to force them out. They fled to the high country and re-established themselves. Some eventually returned to the valley for work and lived in small groups. Modern day, there are Indian people living in nearby counties and trying to keep their traditions alive. And naturally, the all-american way, YNP hires them to come and "perform" ceremonies to the tourists who pay for "entertainment". Nonetheless, its good to remind ourselves of the history that inhabits these lands. Their presence is still very much alive in the trees, mountains, waterfalls--its all around.

Yosemite Pt. is the highest point in this picture

Anyway, we decided to take a hike up to Yosemite Point the next day, b/c daylight was limited that day. So we went home and went hot tubbing at the neighboring hotel. We got permission, we weren't poaching this time!! Man o Man, did that feel good! We tubbed a while then went back to shower and make dinner. Jason lost in a game of cribbage and it was bedtime to rest for our hike in the early AM.

We arose early to get plenty of time hiking. We started hiking around 9am up the Upper Yosemite Falls and Yosemite Point Trail. An elevation gain of 2700 ft to the top of the falls and another 800 feet up to the Point. We were hiking one of YNP's oldest historic trails built in 1873-1877 that leads to the Upper Yosemite Falls which is North America's tallest waterfall at 2,425 ft. 60+ zig-zaggy switchbacks offering excellent views of the valley. We got alongside the Falls--what a powerful force of nature. We took dozens of pictures along the way. A nice trail that makes you appreciate modern day lightweight luxuries--like small campstoves, snowshoes, titanium cookware vs cast iron pots and pans. That's why they had horses, i suppose. We were eventually post-holing enough to have to donn our snowshoes and keep going. What a great adventure, we had to post lookouts to avoid rock, ice, snow falls from the massive rock walls next to and above us. One snowball came careening down about 10 ft from where we were standing...we quickly moved from there.


Sonia at the top of Yosemite Point

 We shoed up and up and up...slowly losing other hikers behind. We did leap frog with 2 Italian guys who looked ill-prepared and but were young, tenacious and determined to get higher and higher. We think they eventually turned around...it got a little sketchy if you did't have snowshoes. The recent massive snowfall of 10ft a few weeks ago, followed by this warm, sunny weather was making the snow rather soft and your feet just punched through with each step. But as a result of these weather conditions, the waterfall was flowing loud and strong. We made it to the top of the falls, crossed the massive bridge across the river and trudged on to Yosemite Point. We got to the top, all alone, nobody around..We couldn't believe our luck. We sat and ate smooshed PB&J sandwiches happily looking out at the landscape. LIFE IS GOOD!! By the way, the weather was unbelievable. 55 degrees, full sunshine--we hiked in shorts and t-shirts for part of the way!! January in the Sierra's with this kind of weather--who says were aren't experiencing climate changes??? We didn't idle long b/c we still had to get down before sundown at 530pm. We hiked about 10 miles that day, we were sufficiently tired, hungry and ready for a hot tub again!! So we headed back to camp, snacked and went tubbing. NOBDOY'S there either....we are so lucky once again. We soaked until we were cooked then went in the pool. Playing around in the pool like kids--doing somersaults, flips, swimming...fun was had. Another campground couple was in the hot tub by now. They gave us lots of good pointers on our upcoming travels to Death Valley, RedRocks, Moab, etc. Shower, dinner and bed. Another good day spent on our Honeymoon.

The next day, we got another early start to get up to Badger Pass Ski area to cross-country ski into Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. It looked kind of like the Icicle Valley at home--the forest we drove thru to get to the Grove. Ski conditions were not very good. Parts of the road was bare and wet--we definitely had to pick our paths to stay on snow. But when we did get to the Grove..my goodness the trees were HUGE. The Grizzy Giant is the largest tree in YNP--96 ft in circumference, 27.6 ft in diameter!! its humungous! The branches coming off it were like regular trees!! Incredible.  We had a fun little ski back down the road and packed up and took off. Onto the next adventure...Sequoia Kings National Park.



Not the Grizzly tree but a big one

 Take care...until the next time. We are heading into Death Valley after SKNP...probably out of cell range. Love to you all.