Blogs from Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park, California, United States, North America

Nearly all books (and many websites) on Yosemite contain an apocryphal story, which has been around since at least the mid 1960s. A visitor walks into the valley information center and asks the ranger what they should do with only one day to visit Yosemite. The ranger responds “Weep”. The first part of my second day in the park covers Yosemite Valley. As noted yesterday, the valley has a huge traffic problem. Since my campground sits at the eastern end, I have no choice but to add to it. In a convertible, the views partly make up for the traffic. They are not as good as people may think, because the road passes through big areas of pine forests with views of nothing but trees. The rest, though, is spectacular. One major thing makes the backups ... read more

On the crest of the Sierra, mountains slowly dissipate, gray to green to brown to smog to my west and like a cliff they drop off into the Great Basin to the east. Clouds drift across the surface of Mono Lake. Sky Pilots bloom in the old growth forest of five inch tall perennials. Flatter surfaces in the alpine, face thrashing winds and hold no snow. Ice does not form and as the glaciers of the last two ice ages choked out and carved most of the high sierra it left these areas unscratched as they stood above the ice, like islands. Only here, soil remained, where isolated plant communities evolved, leaving unique species now endemic only to these few surfaces. And now, just as the species, with nowhere higher to go as everything gets warmer, ... read more

Spent the day in Yosemite again. Started off by hitting a fall in the Valley that I had missed yestarday. Headed up north next to see a grove of sequoia trees. Continued on east after that to Tuolumne Meadows. A long and scenic drive. Had my Sound of Music moment there. Went on a hard hike up, then down into a meadow lake. It was very beautiful. On to the Redwoods tomorrow. It may be a long day of driving. ... read more

Yosemite National Park is a huge area- I have included a map in the photos to help the reader orient themselves so this narrative doesn't become overly cryptic. Before I get to the more relevant details, a brief word on how we are dealing with the lack of clothing etc after getting rocked in Tahoe. The Crash-Pad has not yet become a problem since we haven't done any bouldering. We carted that thing all over North America and when we are one stop away from the first place we would use it, it walks off...Oh well. Losing the packs sucks but we can do without them. Getting some of the clothes back is the top priority. We drive south on 395 before turning west into Yosemite; In Mammoth and Bishop, we plan to hit up some ... read more

Un día más, arriba todo el mundo...Es hora de ver cosas y andorrotear!! Los osos nos quieren!... read more