Monday, May 24, 2010
Yosemite National Park - May 2010
The Water Falls * Dogwood Flowers
Despite the discouraging weather forecast, a friend invited me to accompany him to go to Yosemite and hike to Nevada Falls during the weekend of May 22nd/23rd. We were there in July 2009 when we hiked up to the top of Yosemite Falls. Earlier years, we had done Half Dome and Glacier Point.
We drove from the Bay area on Friday afternoon and got to the park just as darkness was settling in. The Housekeeping Units near Curry Village provide bare-bones kind of accommodation. At $90.00 per night (sleeps four in bunk beds) they are not cheap but the location is right to make it a base for hikes. The valley itself is far from pleasant during the peak season -- overrun with tourists and their cars. The Valley Shuttle buses provide excellent service but some people are loath to give up their cars, traffic congestion and pollution be damned.
The night was colder than we expected. Fortunately, a space heater carried from home helped. Woke up on Saturday to a sunny, bright sky that made us hopeful that perhaps the forecast was wrong. But by 11:00, the sky became overcast and a cold wind started blowing. We decided to stay with the plan and take John Muir trail instead of the Mist Trail, and go on to Nevada Falls bypassing Vernal Falls.
Never made it. By noon the snow flurries began. The weather did not deter hundreds of hikers on the Mist Trail. We, too, hiked on the Mist Trail. The stone steps were slippery and saw a number of hikers with injuries (bruises and sprain ankles) being ministered to by a ranger.
On Sunday, the weather was better but we did not have time to go up to Nevada Falls. Took the short hike to Mirror Lake. Unlike our previous visit when the lake was just a sandy bed, this time there was water and it looked pretty.
The water falls are always spectacular at this time of the year. Perhaps this year more so because of the unusual amount of rainfall and high snowpack in the Sierras.
The dogwood trees are in bloom, and I have never seen them in such splendour.
Raging Merced River
©Musafir
Bridal Veil Falls at dusk
©Musafir
Distant view of Vernal Falls
©Musafir
Hikers on Mist Trail
©Musafir
Shutterbugs on Mist Trail
©Musafir
Awesome view of Vernal Falls
©Musafir
Upper Yosemite Falls
©Musafir
Odd shaped tree trunk alongside Mirror Lake trail
©Musafir
Mirror Lake
©Musafir
The sheer side of Half Dome viewed from Mirror Lake
©Musafir
Dogwood trees in bloom
©Musafir
Close up of Dogwood flowers
©Musafir
To be eaten, to be divided, to be drunk .....
T.S. Eliot - Geroniton
For those planning a trip to Yosemite, the water falls should be flowing in force through June. The Tioga Pass and Glacier Point roads remain closed. In 2009, the Tioga Pass Road opened on May 19th. This year, work is still continuing to make the road drivable. Check the
following web site to get current status:
Climbing Half Dome the conventional way after hiking approximately 9 miles from the trailhead to the base of the dome now requires permits during weekends and holidays. This was a long-overdue measure which the Park Services put into place for the first time before the beginning of the 2010 season. The Half Dome cables for climbing the rock will not be in place over the May 28-31 climbing period. If you are planning a climb, check the web site below:
http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/conditions.htm#trails
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Spring Wild Flowers - San Francisco Peninsula
Russian Ridge
The display at Russian Ridge is not spectacular as it has been on some years but it is always a pleasure to walk on the trails. Looking east, one can see the Stanford Campus and, beyond that, Moffet Field and the east bay. To the west, the rolling hills, Rapley Ranch and the small pond adjacent to it.
Buttercups and Checker Mallows
© Musafir
Blue Lupines
© Musafir
Red Maids
© Musafir
Mule's Ear
© Musafir
Johnny Jump Ups
© Musafir
Looking east, Stanford Campus
© Musafir
Looking west, Rapley Ranch
© Musafir
California Poppy
© Musafir
*****
Johnny Jump Ups
Looking east, Stanford Campus
Looking west, Rapley Ranch
California Poppy
The poppy flowers;
how calmly
They fall.
-- Etsujin (translated by R.H. Blyth)
