Bridgeport, CA - Mono Lake

Mono Lake is just on the east side of Yosemite, near the Tioga Pass entrance. We went down one afternoon after work to see the "tufas". The lake is high in alkalinity and almost 3x as salty as the ocean. The tufa towers are made of a calcium-carbonate substance that bubbled up from underneath the water. When they started to divert the lake's water to quench the growing Los Angeles population, the water levels dropped exposing these tufa formations. Some of these formations are now high on land, while others remain in the water or underwater.

This lake is also very popular for birds and birdwatchers. It is on the migratory paths of several birds. One, the Wilson's Phalarope, starts from Canada, flies to Mono Lake to molt and bulk up and then flies all the way (3,000 miles) to South America for the winter - and they do this flight in 3 days! Here's a picture of the American Avocet...
...and a green-back swallow on a tufa...
I don't know what kind of bird this is, but all of those little dots around him are alkali flies. If you click on the picture to enlarge, you might see them better. And there are thousands to millions of these flies around the lake. The birds feed on them. And when a bird, or Andy, starts chasing them around they swarm in a big, dark cloud and make an incredible buzzzzzing sound. Like a hornet's nest. The good news is is that they don't bite...they just bounce off of your legs when you walk by.Next to Mono Lake is Panum Crater. We took the Plug Trail up and into the crater. Inside we found all of these fantastic rocks that were part of the molten lava eruption. The textures, formations, and colors were so varied. From the top of the pile we could see parts of Mono Lake below us. Andy almost lost his favorite hat when it blew off his head and into one of the deepest, darkest crevices between all of the jumbled rocks. The black hole was like a magnet they way it quickly sucked in his hat. It was funny. But a big stick and with a little stretching and shimmying around, he was able to retrieve it before it fell even further down the volcano.
We had decided to skip the hike to Black Point, another volcano on the edge of Mono Lake, but later learned that the fissures are really worth seeing. So, we'll have to put that on our list for the next time we come through. That and the road bike ride down Twin Lakes Road in Bridgeport.

Bridgeport, CA - Bodie Ghost Town

Yesterday we went to see Bodie Ghost Town. Bodie was in it's heyday around 1879 - 1881. It had a population of 8,500 people and 2,000 buildings. But after the mines closed and several fires, all that remained by the 1940's was 10% of the buildings. Bodie was a real Wild West town with its badmen, prostitution, and a wicked winter climate (ele @ 8,300'). One little girl who was moving there with her family was quoted as saying:

"Goodbye God. I'm going to Bodie."

It was still one of the largest ghost towns we have seen yet. Many of the buildings are being preserved in the state in which they were found. They are not rebuilding the buildings but just trying to freeze them in time. So windows have been replaced to prevent further damage. Braces are being used to keep some of the buildings from just tilting over. But we were impressed with the condition of the town. Some buildings were brick, some wood, warehouses were made from stone, and the mining complex looked like tin. Some residents would cut away parts of 5-gallon steel barrels if they needed to make siding or roof repairs. They apparently used whatever was available.
But, I think, the fun part was peeking in the windows for a trip back in time. Many of the buildings still contained items. Residences had furniture, clothing, and other household items. The blacksmith shop still had blowers, anvils, and tools. The firestation had the water carts. The grocery store had cans and boxes still lining the shelves. Here in the grocery store, I was reading the names on some of the items: Hills Bros coffee, Bayer aspirin, Lea & Perrins, etc. Very familiar names.
We really enjoyed our visit. One of the things we try desperately not to do is compare one place to another. But when you visit so many places, you can't help it. We compared this visit to our visit to St. Elmo in Colorado. St Elmo did not have the number of tourists that Bodie had - adding to the ghostly surrounding, and when we visited St Elmo it snowed on us. Now, I'm sure if we visited Bodie in November it would probably snow on us, too, but Bodie might still be more crowded throughout the year because of its accessibility. It wasn't that crowded, just hard to get a photo without a stranger in it. We had the same problem in Yosemite, so you just either get creative or accept it. No big deal.

Bridgeport, CA - Travertine Hot Springs

Just up the road from us is the Travertine Hot Springs. We drove up there the first night we arrived to check it out.
It was really neat. It reminded me of Yellowstone with the algae and bacteria-colored areas and the development of layered rims lining some of the pools. There are several hot pools to choose from. Clothing is still optional, it just depends on who is there when you visit! Unfortunately we didn't take our suits with us because it was an impulse spur-trip, and I couldn't see myself going in without one. It appears that it might be a hot-spot, pun intended, for the after-work crowd...or perhaps it's just when it cools off in the early evening when it is more appealing. But, be warned, the mosquitos were out visiting as well.

One couple said they heard about this place from a book called "Hot Ponds". I couldn't find a link for that, but I found this site for Soak.net - a hot springs resource. We had looked for the hot spring because we so wanted a jacuzzi after coming out of Yosemite. Sadly enough we still haven't gotten back up there for a soak!

Yosemite Hikes

We had so many different books, maps, and brochures that we had used to prepare for our Yosemite trip. The one thing I found challenging was that not one listed all of the hikes in one easy-to-use reference sheet. So I created my own. We found this helpful when we wanted ideas of which hike is best based on the time we had that day.

I've uploaded my Excel sheet in case anyone is interested. Yosemite Hikes. Hope someone finds it useful!

Also, another recommendation for anyone planning to visit Yosemite...join the Yosemite Association. The membership package alone (books & maps) is well worth the membership fee. And it all goes to a good cause.

Bridgeport, CA

We're currently in an RV Park on the Bridgeport Reservoir, which is on the eastern side of the Sierras. We both wanted full hook-ups. I wanted heat at night and a full shower. It's the small pleasures in life that we seek at times. We also wanted to explore Bodie Ghost Town and Mono Lake, so we're just a short drive away. But, as with everything in life, some things are meant to change. We've decided to attend a 2-day trading seminar in Vegas. We'll leave our RV here and do the 6-7 hr drive in the car. We need to start re-focusing on the business.

Yosemite N.P. - Tuolumne

Tuolumne Meadows was a different scene than in the Valley. At 8,600' elevation there were snow-capped mountains and alpine meadows.
There were also many granite domes that were dotted with erratics. These boulders were left behind after the receding glaciers left them where they are today.We went on two hikes that took us to old mining 'towns'. The Great Sierra Mine sits up high at 10,760' with beautiful views of Middle and Upper Gaylor Lakes. There are remains of several stone cabins and we found three open pit mines. The colors of the rock turned the mountains red. It was beautiful against the deep blue lakes, white snow, and green shrubs. The other mining town we hiked to was Bennetville which still had mining equipment and wooden huts to explore. Some of the old equipment was manufactured in Philadelphia!
We did another hike to Twenty Lakes Basin, which is actually in the USFS, not the National Park. During the five-mile loop I don't think we were ever out of sight of water - a lake, a stream, a waterfall.
We had to cross several streams - either rock-hopping or logs - and several snow fields. We're so glad our friends talked us into getting our Leki Trekking Poles years ago. They really help me on steep hikes and snow crossings. I have these crazy fears: with river crossings, I always see me falling on wet rocks; with snow crossings, I always imagine myself sliding down the snow pack into the freezing glacial lake. I know its crazy, but sometimes we can't control our fears. Yet, I still love the adventure of these types of hikes.
We had asked the Ranger for recommendations on hikes when we first got to Tuolumne. She said that any hike we'd do in that area would be unforgettable. I believe she is right.

Yosemite N.P. - Crane Flat

We spent one night in Crane Flat Campground, with the intention of day-tripping to Hetch Hetchy. We decided against spending several nights up there, since there was really only one day-hike we could gather information on. All of the other trails are backpacking trails.

But we had a delay in the morning that threw us off schedule, and then we decided to do Hetch Hetchy on another visit. What was the delay? One of the best - a bear sighting.

This momma was in the meadow just outside our campsite. We watched her eat the grasses as we just finished up breakfast ourselves. How do we know she's a "momma"? Well, as I was outside breaking camp I looked up and saw her staring back at me through the trees. She kept looking up the tree next to her when I finally realized why...her little cub must've been sleeping in the tree right behind our RV. If only I knew! With her cub now on the ground she got a lot more skittish and the two of them trotted away.

These were the only two bears we saw in Yosemite. The only other bear sighting was in Sequoia. We had visions of bears walking through camp, tearing up cars, etc, and all we saw were these two.

Yosemite N.P. - The Valley

We were pretty tickled when we got to our campsite in the Valley to find that this was our view! Not bad, eh? We had thought we picked a great site because it was on the river, but didn't expect a clear view of Half Dome.

Now most of you have probably already seen so many pictures of the Valley, so I'm not going to include the standard photo ops, except this one from Mirror Lake.

One day I took advantage of a Photo Walk sponsored by the Ansel Adams Gallery. It was interesting and I enjoyed Christine's philosophical viewpoints. One thing she mentioned was how there are no 'surprises' anymore regarding Yosemite because of the internet. Everyone reads details and looks at tons of pictures, so when they get here they already know what to expect. This includes recent articles on the Moonbows that have been written. So she encouraged us to explore more and find the special places or the special moments and try to find something unexpected. I thought that was wonderful and I agree with her - especially having just been so surprised by the Chilnualna Falls hike. So, it is with trepidation that I'm going to share some of our experiences from our two "big" hikes in the Valley.

Our first challenging hike was to Upper Yosemite Falls. Not too long - about 9 miles r/t - but it had a 2,700' elevation gain. Some people we met consider it one of the hardest hikes in the Valley because there is no break in terrain. It's just up, up, up. We had views of Upper Yosemite Falls through the trees and then the trail wrapped around and put us above the falls. You can't see a whole lot of the falls, even when leaning over the railing. But getting there is the fun part:


While on top of the falls we met John, who is the owner of a guiding company, YExplore. I haven't checked out his site yet, but he was a nice, mild-mannered guy who seemed like he would be good to have as a guide. They also do photography tours which I thought sounded interesting.

We had been asking a number of people about hiking to Half Dome. At 17-miles round-trip, that would be one of the longest hikes we'd ever attempted. John got us all pumped up to do it. But then, later that night, Andy changed his mind. Then our neighbors in camp got him pumped up to do it. But then he waffled again. Andy does this stuff to me all the time. For example, he won't decide on whether he is going to do a triathlon til the night before. So, we agree that he can make the Half Dome-decision at the top of Nevada Falls. If he doesn't want to do it, we'll just do that portion of the hike. So we decide on the day and pack as if we're doing the whole distance.

So we arrive at the top of Nevada Falls after hiking up the granite-step Mist Trail and someone asked us if we were continuing to Half Dome. I had to turn to Andy and ask, "Are we?". Since it was only 8 am at this point (we left the trailhead at 5:45 am), Andy said "sure" since he didn't know what else we would do that day. So we continue the hike to Half Dome. Here's a side view that shows the upcoming trail. The lower half of the hump is what I, lovingly, refer to as "The Steps". Zigzagging granite steps carved into the side of the hump without any sort of railing or protection from a fall. I thought, "If these steps are this scary, what will the cables be like?".

Vertical. The cables were almost vertical - and no one had told us this! We expected steep, yes. We expected to pull ourselves up by our arms, yes. But, vertical? After cresting the hump and getting our first eyeful of the cables, we just sat down and stared. Like every other hiker on the trail with us. Since Andy has his fear of heights, I didn't know if he'd continue. I had spoken with bravado earlier saying if he couldn't do it, perhaps I would do the cables alone. Now that I was looking at them, I wasn't sure if I'd do it alone. Here's Andy waving 'goodbye' before his ascent.

Obviously we did it, and here we are at the top. The sense of accomplishment you feel from tackling something so daunting is wonderful. We had backed away from Angel's Landing in Zion years ago, and that had stayed with me. And, for the record: Andy loved the cables! He even loved sliding down the granite dome even more than pulling himself up. I'm still shocked by that.

We headed off the Dome at noon. The sun was beating down on us and we could feel it sapping our energy. We couldn't celebrate til we were down the cables and off the steps. I'm glad we listened to the advice to leave by 6:00am. I seriously questioned whether I could tackle the cables in the afternoon heat having hiked up to that point in the sun. Uphill hikers were looking spent. Here were some other tips to remember: take a water filter to refill bottles; get to the Dome by noon; protect your feet from water when on the Mist Trail (water levels were too low for us to worry about this, but you can get soaked on this hike); take an extra pair of socks and change them for the way down; use gloves for the cables - rubber palms are the best, leather can slip on the cables. And carry enough food for a 10-14 hour hike. We did it in 11 hrs 15 min. Our neighbors from camp had 6 people hiking and it took them 14 1/2 hrs because of the size of group and an injury on the trail. We took the John Muir Trail back down and this added an extra mile. The trail sign was also about 1/2 mile in from the road. So we totaled this hike as a 19-mile r/t hike. Again, slightly higher than the expected 17 miles. This doesn't include the 2-mile r/t bike ride to get to the trail (shuttle buses don't start til after 7am).

What we might've done wrong: a group of hikers told us about this spring on the trail down. We had enough water to make it to the river below (to filter), but everyone kept telling us how wonderful this spring water was. It was bubbling right out of the ground. They've been drinking directly out of it, unfiltered, for years. We were talked into refilling there. Without using our filter. We started to worry about it right away. A NPS Trail Crew told us we were crazy, which added to our worries. We got to the river, but saw people washing their feet and questioned what could be worse? We kept the spring water and kept hiking. For the next several days we suffered some stomach issues: cramping, bloating, slight nausea. One ranger told us it could be psychosomatic, which is possible considering how we fretted about it. But we were hoping our lapse in judgement wouldn't give us life-long giardia. We won't do that again. But, I'd be curious - anyone out there do the Half Dome hike and drink from that spring? Any after-effects?

Yosemite N.P. - Glacier Point Road

One day we took a drive up Glacier Point Road. We had heard that Taft Point and Sentinel Dome were worthy hikes, and you could connect them via the Pohono Trail to make about a 5-mile loop. These points would give us our very first views of the Valley and it's namesakes: El Capitan, Yosemite Falls, Half Dome.

Here's a view of Taft Point, with El Cap below:
At Taft Point there are also these fissures that are cut out of the cliffs edge creating a sliding board into the great abyss. Some of them are hidden behind bushes so they can be quite unnerving when you almost stumble upon one as you explore the area.

And here's the stunning Yosemite Valley. El Cap is on the right.
Sentinel Dome is yet another granite wonder. A climb to the top provides incredible 360-degree views. There used to be a twisted Jeffrey Pine at the top of the dome, but it died a few years ago and all that is left is what looks like driftwood. If you've been here, you might remember this famous tree.
After our hikes we went to the end of the road - Glacier Point. Partly to see the views, partly because we wanted hot chocolate. It flurried during our hike and the wind was bitter. All I could think of was how wonderful a cup of cocoa would taste. But the concessionaire at Glacier Point didn't have any - that should be a crime! How could any high-altitude concessionaire not sell hot chocolate? But the views were worth the drive to the end-of-the-road. In this scene you can see Half Dome to the left, Vernal Falls, and Nevada Falls.

No, this is not Andy being stupid. This guy, "Crazy-Crocs", went out on this overhang so his buddies could get a photo op. I told him he was crazy because he was wearing Crocs (and not even strapped) - not that I would've done this in my hiking boots anyway. I'm sure that rock has been there for hundreds of years, but it would be my luck to shift if I tried this stunt. That's Yosemite Falls behind him.
We loved our first views of the Valley from high up here on Glacier Point Road. It's an absolute wonderland of granite and water and trees.

Yosemite N.P. - Wawona

Well, we just absolutely loved our visit in Yosemite. There are tons of hikes to tell you about and a thousand pictures I could share. But I won't do that to you! I figured it would be best to break down my posts into the different sections of the park and just highlight certain things. Yosemite is huge, and unfortunately we did change our plans slightly and never made it to Hetch Hetchy. We decided to save that for another visit. We'll be back - there were too many hikes left unexplored.

Most park visitors who go to the Wawona area, which is south of the famous Yosemite Valley, go to see the big trees. The Mariposa Grove offers a tram or a trail system that winds around this grove of giants. After having recently been in Kings Canyon and Sequoia with those big trees, we were a little underwhelmed by these trees. We think the other parks had bigger trees - taller and thicker. But that could be because the wow-factor was taken away. No matter what, the trees are still impressive and the walk through the grove was nice.

We went up to Wawona Point, which is in the Grove, hoping for the spectacular view of Wawona Valley that I had read about. As soon as we crested the ridge, the clouds rolled in. So much for the view! But it is really interesting watching clouds roll over the surrounding hills and lift up from the valley below. We got bits and pieces of a view, but not in its entirety. Still beautiful - like the Pacific Northwest.

We also took advantage of some of the short hikes in this area, such as the Meadows Loop and the Swinging Bridge. This picture was taken from the Swinging Bridge - the clarity and the colors of the water were so striking. We had a lot of fun just playing around on the granite rocks in this area, we actually didn't even do the whole trail.

A longer hike we did, that we would highly recommend, was the Chilnualna Falls trail. It's about 9-miles or so. One thing we learned is that determining actual mileage of hikes in the park is nearly impossible. It depends on what you read - book, brochure, map, trail sign, whatever - they never say the same distance. We like to know because we are still determining our own hiking pace, and we like to know how long it could take for the hike, how much food/water to carry, and so forth. Some trails varied as much as 0.5 mile to 3 miles. That can be a big difference! Anyway, the entire trail for Chilnualna is worth it. There were several cascades or waterfalls along the way. The final destination is pictured here - a series of 5 cascades and pools:

I've seen pictures of when the water levels are much higher, and you can't see the rock formations and pools. I liked seeing it this way. The water is only running about 28% of normal for this time of year, so we were lucky to even have waterfalls! One of the reasons why we liked this hike so much was that we had no expectations for it. It wasn't recommended to us, we hadn't read much about it, and so we were pleasantly surprised at every turn. We took our socks and boots off on several occasions to soak our toes in the icy water. The "pain-factor" kicked in in about 5 seconds. The water was so cold, your body didn't have time to get numb - it just went straight to pain. Splashing the water on was refreshing, but soaking the feet was intolerable.

Friant, CA - Millerton Lake SRA to Yosemite

We stopped at Millerton Lake State Recreation Area (north of Fresno) for the weekend. We wanted something on our way and that had full hook-ups. Wow, I forgot what a real shower felt like and thank goodness we have electricity to run our A/C - it's 100 degrees outside here in the valley. Sometimes we get disoriented when the changes from one location to another is this extreme.

This weekend was for chores: haircuts, shopping, groceries, washing car and cleaning the RV, preparing food for Yosemite, etc. Nothing exciting - just those 'life' things we all have to do. We thought it would be nice to be somewhere somewhat natural for our adjustment. I forgot what a State Recreation Area can be like, though, and especially on the weekends. The campground was full and almost everyone had a boat or waverunners. They were out on the lake water-skiing or on tubes, or fishing. Beer was involved all day and all night. Eventhough it was cool out at night, we had to keep our windows closed because of the noise. I should also note that the full-hookup sites are glorified parking spaces. Double-wide, with a white stripe separating the sites. At least we had a picnic table and fire pit under the trees behind our site, and a nice view of the lake. Almost 90 % of the campground cleared out today, so now it's more to our liking!

Heading into Yosemite tomorrow. We'll be hopping around to four different campgrounds as we make our way through the park every few days. We're starting at the south end (Wawona) and heading north. So maybe we'll have satellite at a couple of these campgrounds to post some pictures.

Sequoia Nat'l Park

Sequoia adjoins Kings Canyon. Actually, it was hard to determine where one park stops, the other one starts, and then there's also Sequoia National Forest which is intermingled in there as well. Not too important, except knowing which agency to go to for trail information. You could get basic trail maps for the USFS at the NPS, though.

Lodgepole Campground (Sequoia) is about an hour drive, or more by RV, south of Azalea Campground (Kings), so it was worth moving to reduce driving time for touring. A great plus about Sequoia is the new pilot program for a shuttle service. Shuttles will take you from Wuksachi Lodge to Crescent Meadow with several stops in between. This worked great so we could both enjoy the view, feel good about helping the environment (air pollution is a big concern in these parks believe it or not), and allow us to do one-way hikes from one shuttle stop to another. They just started the service a week before we arrived, so they were still working out some kinks. Outside of one delay, we didn't really notice any increased waiting periods. We think all of the National Parks should offer shuttles.

We had two days to hike before my girlfriends arrived (with a 1 1/2 & a 3-yr old), so we tried to do the longer hikes on our own. We ended up just doing multiple short hikes. One was from Lodgepole to Wuksachi. Just 3 1/2 miles, but we couldn't resist a little respite at Clover Creek. Water rushed over the granite rocks, the sun was hot and the rocks were cool, and birds chirped in the background. It was a perfect resting area.
Then we hiked from Lodgepole to Sherman Tree and did the trails down in that area. Heres a segment of a stump to give you an idea of the diameter of these tree trunks.

And here Andy is standing next to a branch that fell off of the giant Sherman Tree. Yes, I said this is a *branch*. The diameter on this branch is as big as most of the trees back home.
Another day we hiked up to Moro Rock. 400 steps with a 300' elevation gain. This is a worthy stop, unless you're afraid of heights. Some of the railings seem a little low or are non-existent, which makes it all the more fun.
But the view is amazing with snow-capped mountains in the background. The view east wasn't as spectacular because of the air pollution haze that reduced our view. On good days you can see the Pacific coast. We could maybe see 20 miles? But that was much better than the day we drove out - where we swear the maximum sight was 5 miles. Pollution from San Fran and LA flow into the valley and just hangs there.
Then my girlfriends arrived! Their arrival is a story in itself. They drove in from San Francisco. We expected them around 5-6pm, they arrived at 11:30 that night. Unfortunately without cell service, I was a nervous wreck waiting for them. But there were work delays, child getting car sick, time to clean up the car, missed an exit, and you name it, it happened to them. After hearing their story, I wouldn't have blamed them if they turned around. But they made it and we had the four of them sleep with us in the RV that first night - it was a full house! The next morning we assembled Stacy's tent (another story: the tent was dubbed "The Palace" since it was 18x20! - almost bigger than our RV) and then we went out to play.
Here are the girls (L to R): Cassandra, Stacy, Diane, Alexandra, Tatiana
We took the girls out to look at all of the giant trees.
Andy even took Alex inside a tree, and inside a cave, and we had her playing with pine cones and ice skating on wet rocks, and all sorts of exciting things. I think we wore her out! This was her second camping trip and we wanted to make it memorable.

Here's Andy and Alex inspecting the roots of a downed Sequoia. The root system is shallow, which is amazing for such a tall and thick tree.
Sadly, it was a quick visit - just two nights and they were gone again. But spending time with dear friends is so valuable, I will always take what I can get and appreciate every moment.

The only thing we could say that we were disappointed with at these parks was the limited wildlife. Sounds surprising, doesn't it? It appears to have all of the right habitat, but we only counted 6 deers, one bear, and lots and lots of chipmunks and squirrels. We had hoped for more (safe) bear sightings or other mammals. At least we got 60 seconds of a bear running across the road behind our shuttle bus...at the Visitor Center.