Yosemite

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I am staying in a park about 30 miles south of Yosemite National Park, in a place is called Bass Lake. I think I have just seen too many beautiful places this year because this lake really did nothing for me. However, my purpose for this stay was to go to Yosemite.
The trip over here from Delta Shores was great. I had been a bit worried because we had certainly been feeling the Santa Ana winds that have been driving the forest fires around the Los Angeles area. However, Monday morning there was hardly a breeze. I drove out of the open delta region and into more densely forested roadways……I am here to tell you that if a single tree supplies enough oxygen for a human being for a year we won’t be running out of oxygen any time soon. I will be glad to get into the wide open spaces again! However, I arrived here safe ‘n sound and am thankful for it.
I headed out early morning for my trip into Yosemite. More trees!! My first stop was at the Mariposa Grove; a small grove of Giant Sequoia trees. The NPS Fire Department was doing controlled burning throughout the grove. The drive into the Yosemite Valley is about 20 miles further…more trees! However, once there it is absolutely beautiful.

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Photos

Bronze
This bronze shows perfectly the way the glaciers moved down the valley grinding their way through the granite

Yosemite Valley
Just awesome

Half Dome
This famous view is almost always on the advertising brochures for Yosemite. This mountain and El Capitan behind are very popular with rock climbers during the summer

Yosemite Valley
Different viewpoint

Yosemite Valley
Looking down -- quite the vertigo shot for me!

Giant Sequoia
These trees grow in height for their first 800 years and then, for the rest of their lives they expand. The oldest known tree is 3000 years old.

Burning
There are only 76 small groves of Giant Sequoia trees left. The wood is fragile which has discouraged loggers. In the 1970s the Forestry Service learned that the tree bark is fire resistant, and that the cones only open and drop their seeds in response to fire, also that the seeds will only germinate in bare soils exposed by fire. Each year the FS exercize controlled burning to a portion of the grove mimicking that condition.

Controlled Burn
The day I was there they were exercizing controlled burns all over the place. It was well monitored dozens of fire trucks on the roads. The burn in this photo could be seen for miles around

Fish Camp
This little (and I mean little) place was once a mining camp.