Falling Rainbow

From Glacier Point last Sunday, the sunlight was turning the Upper Falls into a Pink Floyd cover (almost).  Jason posted a snapshot on his iPhone and now its the DSLR's turn.  Enjoy.

Merced River Canyon and Mt Florence

One more postcard of Mt Florence with the shadows of the Merced River Canyon in the foreground.  This was taken yesterday in the sunlight at Glacier Point.  Enjoy.

The View of Florence Today

The view from Glacier Point today. with more to come.  Mt Forence is looking majestic as always,with Lyel and McClure on either side.  I walked up the 4 Mile Trail today with Rojo, before taking family XMAS photos at the Ahwahnee hotel later in the afternoon- while we shared a nice bottle of wine with friends.  Oh, the life in Yosemite.  Enjoy.

November Rain

As Bill Russell pointed out, Its been a while since there was a new picture.  So, this is from last week as I drove back for a few days of work in the middle of a two week vacation.  And if Bill Russell is taking the time to notice there is a lack of change on the blog, I am going to fix that.  Its motivating.  Thank you.

Rasta Tree, Again

  

Mt. Whitney

Day hiked to the summit of Mt. Whitney yesterday and was home by 9:30pm.  The drive home was four and a half hours.

The Canadian Maple by the Chapel

Every year I say I am going to take its picture.  This year is one of the first times, thanks to Laura and Holden walking with me.  Hopefully I can take a few more in the next few weeks as it changes towards fall.  Enjoy these postcards.

The Retreat from Mt. Florence

We approached Mt. Florence from Merced Lake, leaving the trail towards Isberg Pass and heading up the West Ridge route.  The last saddle in the middle postcard is where we sat down, ate some food and at noon turned around to be able to get home in a reasonable amount of time.  No summit on this second attempt.  There was still 20 miles to go before a hot shower, food, bed and seeing our loved ones.  There will be a third journey to Florence and it may be in the middle of October if my plans and the planets align.  If not this year, then next.  Enjoy.  The last postcard shows how far from the Valley we were, as Shane hikes down the alpine tundra with the east face of Mt. Clark being miles away.

The Approach to Mt. Florence

Friday afternoon we hiked to Merced Lake to camp for the night and approach Mt. Florence from that direction the next day.  Mt. Florence is the pyramid shaped mountain in the center of the top and bottom photos.  The hike is 20 miles each way from the valley.  The middle photos are some of the views along the way Saturday: the 2nd postcard is looking towards Volgalsang Pass, and the 3rd postcard is looking towards the Clark Range.  Enjoy these today, with Part 2 coming tomorrow.

Soul Cal Summit

A labor day weekend trip up to Cucamonga Peak last Sunday.  Next hiked back when I lived there growing up, but wish I had.  This was fun.

Back from the Dead (The Starr King is Alive)

Meaning, this blog has been resurrected for the 3.5 individuals who follow it.  Today, I took a trip towards Mt. Starr King carrying a lot of heavy stuff in the backpack with hopes of climbing the Southeast route with Bryan.  Grey skies all morning and occasional mini drizzles made me call a halt to the trip.  We ate our sandwiches under a tree at 945am and then headed back the way we came.  We did talk of returning in a month or two so keep your eye out for the sequel.  These snapshots, hopefully, are the beginning of a return to taking Yosemite postcards again.  Thanks for your patience.

PS- The Dead reference in the title is because I find myself with no one home and an awesome Grateful Dead show from 10-17-83 coming through the speakers loud and clear in the living room.   Good ol' Grateful Dead!

The Banks of the River Run Through My Hometown...

I know the title sounds like a chessy country song, and it is!  Almost.  A great alt-country song by Whiskeytown named "Jacksonville Skyline."  The above snapshot is from Nov.18, 2010 along the banks of the Lower Falls of Yosemite.  This is another postcard from the archive, as all my photos lately have been of our son Holden.  Soon I need to get out there and begin shooting again.  I did want to add some miles to the grand countdown over the past two weeks.  Two Sundays ago, I was able to go up the Upper Falls trail again and back down for 7 miles.  And last Sunday, with Holden in tow, we marched up to the Vernal footbridge for another 2 miles.  We are down to 713 miles left and the year is almost half over.  Enjoy.

From the Archive

A photo from the archive: the Mist Trail living up to its name late last month.  I mostly needed to post something in order to record on the blog the 9 miles traveled from moving up and down the 4 mile Trail last Sunday on Mother's Day.  I didn't take my camera, but will start again.  We are getting closer to breaking the first 100 miles of the 800 mile goal, the total down to 722 now.  And hopefully more miles spent on the trail for a short time tomorrow.  Enjoy.

Liberty Cap Recap: The Final Three

Since there hasn't been any extended photo walks since liberty Cap, I thought I would beat a dead horse for 3 more snapshots.  The above gives us a pleasant view of the Bridge at Nevada Falls; the middle postcard shows some of the Muir Trail and its rock wall; and the final view is the summit walk on Liberty Cap and the beautiful earth-like curve of its surface.  Please enjoy.  I did take a quick gander up to the gate of Yosemite Falls for the view and accomplished 3 miles today- bringing the ever slow total down to 731 miles to go for the year.  At this rate we are looking to accomplish 200 miles of the 800 goal.  Oh well- we'll see.

Hazy Daze

A dreamscape.  A hazy illusion.  That old obscure object of my desire from last year seen from Liberty Cap.  Mt Florence is on the right, the grand pyramid.  Its about 20 or so miles from Yosemite Valley, behind Merced Lake.  Hopefully, this year we will try to get there and back in one day again.  Enjoy the postcard of the day.

Liberty Cap Views

A couple days ago, or Sunday some call it, we took a trip.  A complete circumnavigation of Liberty Cap, taking in the summit as well.  My accomplices were Bryan and Jim.  It was a morning to remember.  It was also a morning to remember to put on sunscreen (my arms got a little sunburnt).  Some snapshots of our voyage through the landscape of the park were taken and a few can be seen now.  One's in color & one's in B+W.  I am calling this journey about 9 miles.  Last Sunday I went to Nevada Falls as well, and came down the Muir Trail for another 6 miles.  My total should be down to around 734 miles to go this year.  It never seems doable, but I keep on doing it.  Enjoy.

Yosemite Falls Trail: Part 2

A continuation of the the theme from the last post. Showing the trail some love. Enjoy.

Yosemite Falls Trail

This is a snapshot from last night around 7pm. The theme of tonight's photograph (and tomorrow's) will be that I tried to include some of the trail in each shot and give a little shout out to the terrain we move across to get to the views we see. The falls are flowing really well right now from the storm a couple days ago. Hiking to the gate yesterday brought me 3 more miles closer to the yearly goal. And last Sunday I went up the Yosemite Falls trail for a personal best time of 1hr 58 min round-trip, which gives me another 7 miles. That leaves 749 to go. I need to get under 700 by the end of the month or else. Enjoy.

Last Nights Postcards

These snapshots are the companions to last night's series, facing another direction. And its appropriate because after hiking up Vernal and Nevada Falls this afternoon, I followed Shane back up to Columbia Rock and around the corner to the gate to look at Yosemite Falls. The 8 miles today brings my total down to 759 miles of trails in Yosemite to cover this year. And the wheel is turning. Enjoy.

Night Shots

Inspired by Kristal Leonard's night shots, I went up to Columbia Rock tonight after work to try my luck. After snowing again in the morning (and all day yesterday), the sun came out and dried up all the rain and the itsy bitsy hiker went up the trail again. I should have stayed longer and taken more sanpshots, but all I could think of was the hike down by myself in the dark. Next time I will bring someone with me. This one goes out to the my lovely wife Laura and our son Holden, both down in Soul Cal tonight. Miss you and love you both. Enjoy.
P.S. 767 Miles to go.

From the Archive's # 5

I did take a quick hop & skip to the top of Yosemite Falls this past Sunday before the weather was moving in. Later that day Laura and I took Holden on a good long walk in his stroller through the Valley as well. I didn't bring my camera with me which allowed for moving fast. That brings me down to 769 miles, and they are falling slowly. To get to the goal of 800 trail miles this year, we are looking for 68 miles a month, putting the end of this month at the 200 mile mark or 600 left. We are still moving towards that direction, or as the Grateful Dead said: "Sure don't know what I'm going for. But I'm gonna go for it for sure." Enjoy the snapshot of Vernal from the week before.

Vernal & Nevada Railings

It was the first trip up those two waterfalls for this year. The month of February was lost due to lots of work, but we are reclaiming some time for the outdoors again. The theme for this post seems to be railings, and they can be seen in both postcards. The weather was as beautiful as my wife and son, who took a walk with visiting family to Mirror Lake. That leaves 776 miles to go this year. Enjoy.

From the Archive's #4 (Meaning From January)

How about a nice postcard of North Dome, with a couple Quarter Domes in the background from January. And yes, it has snowed since then- just not many times. Enjoy.

From the Archive's #3

Its been a while, so I thought I would post an oldie from last month, January, but still from this year. This was the view from Columbia Rock looking towards the meadows behind the Lodge. I always like those close up river bend views. Enjoy this snapshot to keep us motivated.

Middle Falls, Middle Afternoon, Middle Aged

With some motivation from Rojo, the two of us left this afternoon for a quick stroll up to Columbia Rock and around the corner to the gate to see the middle Falls. Both of us are closer to 40 than 30 and talked about it for a half second on the trail, hence the title of the post. We desperately needed those 3 miles today so I'm glad I left the house. Only 781 to go. Enjoy the snapshot of the crows who were enjoying the view as well, digging rainbows and sunlight.

The Foresta Road & That Lucky Old Sun

We left Yosemite Valley today to soak up some sun in El Portal and still do some hiking. We chose the ForRasta Road, hiking from one shantytown to another: El Portal to Foresta. Parking the car, and walking up the road past all the houses with some dogs following us was the beginning. A couple hours later and 2300' of elevation brought us to some more houses and the point to turn around after passing a couple of cascades and waterfalls that are flowing beautifully from the winter storm two days ago. It was glorious to be in a t-shirt and tennis shoes again enjoying gorgeous late April weather in January. Today was a 12 mile day, leaving only 784 miles to go this year. Enjoy the two postcards above.