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| YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK...In mid-April we took a few extra days off work and decided to head back to Yosemite. As you may remember, we visited last October, but we were limited in time and felt that there were many other things to see and do in the park. We are very fortunate to live only 6 hours away, so we packed up our things and hit the road.
For those of you who have never visited the park, one of the first sites you see is called "tunnel view..."
This view is one of the most famous Yosemite, immortalized by photographer Ansel Adams. Above you can see the iconic granite formations of El Capitan (to the far left) and Half Dome (in the center, towards the right), and also Bridalveil Falls (on the far right). It gets its name because you are driving along, enjoying the scenery, then you go through the 100 yard-long Wawona Tunnel and BAM!!!!! This is the view that is in front of you...simply breathtaking.
One of the reasons we chose Yosemite this time of year is because of the waterfalls; the park is home to 3 of the 10 highest waterfalls in the world...including Yosemite Falls at 2425 feet (the tallest in North America)
As you can see from the images above, if you are very patient (and a bit lucky) you can see some beautiful rainbows at the base of the falls.
So moving along, once you pass 'Tunnel View' and continue towards Yosemite Valley, you come across Bridalveil Falls, plunging 620 feet from the cliffs above...
On the opposite side of the valley from Bridalveil Falls is El Capitan...one of the largest single pieces of exposed granite in the world...
Below is Steph passing the time by skipping rocks on the Merced River...
Backtracking a bit...when we entered the park, the Forest Service was again doing a controlled burn (same as in October)...
This is a very common practice in the Sierra's...it helps control the underbrush and has little effect on the larger trees. There are also several species of trees (including the Giant Sequoia) that relay on fire for reproduction.
Ok, moving along. Another icon of Yosemite is a granite formation known as 'Half Dome'...
This is only one of the monoliths that greets visitors of Yosemite Valley. Half Dome, as well as the rest of Yosemite Valley, was created millions of years ago by glacial movement.
We arrived at our campsite around 5pm, set things up and relaxed. The next morning we got up early and headed towards Mirror Lake. As the name states, the lake is famous for the way it reflects the granite cliffs in its calm waters, but unfortunately for us, the lake isn't much these days due to sand and silt runoff from the surrounding mountains, but we did scout out a great location to photograph Half Dome at Sunset...
We returned later in the evening to capture this image just as the sun was setting and the moon was rising...notice the light on the top half of the mountain...that is the last remnants of the sunlight before it dips below the horizon.
On our early morning hike to Mirror Lake, we stumbled across some of the natives...
These are Mule Deer. Similar to a white-tailed deer, but with a slightly larger head.
The lake wasn't very big, so we figured we could go around the perimeter, but we were wrong! We walked for nearly 2 miles looking for a crossing until we found a very shafty looking log crossing...
Now this may not look like much, but the river was about shoulder deep and freezing cold! We took it slow, and luckily made it across.
By this time it was nearly lunch time, so we headed back to the campsite for some lunch. On the way back we came across this guy crossing the trail...
No, that is not Santa, it is a Coyote! and he was only about 15 feet from us.
At the end of our first full day, we hiked out to the base of Bridalveil Falls in hopes of getting some nice rainbow shots before the sun set...
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
After a good nights sleep, we woke up early, grabbed some breakfast and headed out for one of the most difficult hikes we have ever done. We were going to hike 7 miles round-trip to the top of Yosemite Falls (remember...2425 feet high)! The trail begins in the valley and ascends endless switchbacks (at least 100...no lie). The total elevation gain for the hike is 3500 feet!!!! On the way up we were greeted with some breathtaking views of the valley...this one is from Columbia Rock, about halfway to the top.
And this was a little further up the trail...
The portion of the trail above was a particularly wet one...as you can imagine.
Here is a view from the top...
Even though I thought I was going to die at several points along the way, and Steph swears I am the biggest baby, we made and and I am glad we did it.
To say the least, we slept very well that evening. The next morning we packed up and headed home. It was yet another memorable trip for the both of us. Since I didn't include any photos of myself in this post...here is one
This is me at Tunnel View waiting for the right light.
Thank you all for reading. Until next time...
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| Cooper Canyon...At the end of March we headed off on another hiking adventure; this time we were headed to a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs 2650 miles from Mexico to Canada. This portion was located in the Angeles National Forest, just east of Los Angeles, in a place called Cooper Canyon. We took the same route to get to this destination as we did in one of our previous hikes to Switzer Falls...the very scenic Hwy 2, Angeles Crest Highway. Once we passed the 4000 ft elevation mark, we were greeted with a very pleasant (and unexpected) surprise...
There was a blanket of nearly 2 feet of snow on the ground! Our final destination was at about 7500 ft, so snow is common for about 8 months out of the year, but we just weren't expecting it. Thank God we were prepared.
Of course, Santa was extremely excited to get out of the car and play. Below is her nearly pulling Steph up the mountain...
Even though there was snow on the ground, it was sunny and nearly 65 degrees. This leads to some very dangerous situation where snow begins to melt around boulders and trees and may lead to open caverns not visible from the surface.
Steph found one of these caverns. Luckily she wasn't hurt. It was some beautiful hiking, and not another soul was in sight. The trail went along side a stream, with the occasional waterfall.
We did a little bushwhacking to get down to the stream, but it was most difficult getting back up; Santa, obviously, didn't have any issues because of her size, but it was slow moving for Steph and I.
After about 2.5 miles, snowdrifts had made the trail impassible, so we had to turn back. (as you can tell, it was warm!)
It was a great (and strenuous) day of hiking, but the scenery was well worth it.
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| Thank you for your concern...I want to apologize to everyone. On April 12 I told all of you to 'stay tuned...'
It is now almost June and still nothing. I want to thank Beth and Marilyn for 'lighting the fire under my butt' to get some new stuff up on the site. I really hate to give excuses for why it has been so long, but I really got some great images from our trip to Yosemite and I was trying to master a few new photoshop techniques to make them even more special.
I have been working on 4 images in particular, and I promise to have many more images up on this site by Monday.
Thank you all for your patience.
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| STAY TUNED...Hello folks! Steph and I are packing up the tire chains and heading to Yosemite on a short, 3-day trip beginning Tuesday (4/15). Spring has sprung, and with the heavy snowpack in the Sierra's this year, it should make for some great waterfalls! The weather forcast is calling for warmer temperatures than normal this weekend, which will really increase the flow of the waterfalls, and also for some potentially stormy weather on Wednesday/Thursday. For those of you who have never visited Yosemite, there is a very simple equation when it comes to the weather...STORMY WEATHER = AMAZING PHOTOGRAPHS. On our last visit to Yosemite, I had a malfunctioning wide-angle lens which really limited what I could capture with my camera. This time I am prepared with a back-up. I will be sure to post as many pictures as I can when we get back. Until then... | | |
| GET YOUR KICKS ON ROUTE 66!Last Sunday was yet another gorgeous day in Southern California, and what better way to spend it than a day surrounded by nature! There is a trail in the Angeles National Forest that we've been wanting to try called the Switzer Falls Trail. We headed out early (around 9am...that is early for us on a day off) and got some breakfast on the way to the mountains. We had about a 2 hour drive ahead of us, but we didn't care...it was some beautiful scenery. 
We decided not to use the GPS this time, we were going to "rough it"...seriously, I don't know what we did before the days of GPS. I am really glad we didn't use it, because we ended up missing our turn and kept heading into higher and higher elevations (around 7000ft), and to our suprise... 
there was a nice thick blanket of snow everywhere! This was our first experience with snow in quite some time, I think last February in Indiana was the last time. Santa was so excited to play in it (and pull Steph around on the ice). I am sorry to say that the frolicking couldn't last forever, we had a trail to find and a 6.5 mile hike to complete before dark. It was about noon when we finally found the trail head. It was another great area...heavily wooded and right next to a very active stream. The heavy snowpack in the Sierra Nevada Mountains this year has lead to some nice runoff's in the lower elevations (such as LA and Orance County...where we live). We are hoping to get a chance to visit Yosemite in the spring to see the waterfalls at full force...when we visited in October there were a mere trickle. The trail was very pleasant in the beginning, but there was an 1800 ft elevation gain, so as we got higher and higher, the trail seemed to get more narrow with each step. At one point, it was barely wide enough for one person, and there was a nice 1000 ft drop on one side if you took a wrong step. Poor Santa was so scared. I had her clipped to my belt, and if I tugged on her the wrong way, should would freak out and throw herself against the rock wall on the other side. 
The trail peaked at about 5000 ft, and quickly descended down into a very heavily wooded valley where there was a nice waterfall. 
Above is scared little Santa...the rocks were very slick and she was afraid, so my fatherly instincts came through. Below is Steph and Santa taking the more adventurous way across the stream... 
It was late in the afternoon when we finished, we headed back to the car and wanted to find somewhere to grab dinner. We were very close to Pasadena, so we decided to take in some more of the sites of old Route 66... 
Above is the marquee of the old Rialto Theatre...once a gleaming beacon along route 66, now it has fallen into ruin. Just up the street is the Fair Oaks Pharmacy and Soda Fountain. Opened in 1955, it is still in operation today serving wonderful milkshakes, malts, phosphates and other concoctions from a time gone by. 
We went inside to look around, but decided not to stay because our tummies were looking for something a little more substantial. About 45 minutes down the road, in Rancho Cucamonga, we came across the Magic Lamp Inn... 
This place is yet another original along route 66. It was great! The interior felt like something out of 1960's Las Vegas. But I must say the food was top notch and the service was excellent...not really what we were expecting, it was a very pleasant suprise. After dinner, we headed home...it was almost 9pm. It was a fun filled day that we will remember for a long time. | | |
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