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.

796 Miles to Go

I created this fun game for 2012. Since the drinking cups talk about the 800 miles of trails to be found in Yosemite, I figured it was time for Rojo and I to hike 800 miles this year. We don't have to cover every trail in the park, however it needs to total 800 miles of actual trail. The average becomes 16 miles a week which makes it sound more doable. Today is the 23rd day of January and my first time out hiking- I covered 4 miles total with David going up the Yosemite Falls trail in a snow storm. This game may be a little more exciting than I planned. But a challenge is what a resolution is about. Wish us luck.

Tenaya Lake Christmas Day 2011

A new postcard. Perhaps a poster. Maybe a snapshot.

An Early Christmas Gift from Laura

With the warm weather continuing and Tioga Pass open, Bryan called me up and asked if I could go to Hoffman. Laura gave me an early Christmas present and said yes. So at 6:30am we were driving out of the Valley listening to a live Pearl Jam show from 2003 (a 48 song concert from Boston!) and finding ourselves alone of the highway. The weather had to have been 60 degrees (it was perfect) and there was no wind or a cloud in the sky. By 10:15 we were on the summit of Mt. Hoffman (renamed Mt. Holden for the day) taking pictures and then returning back to the car. I was dropped off at home by 1pm and had a great afternoon with Laura and Holden, and then a beautiful evening at the Bracebridge event- Holden was the star once again. Enjoy some high country snapshots taken in December, of all months. This is some crazy weather, lets all use it.

Yosemite Point of View

There was a light snowfall that blew across Yosemite Valley Thursday night. So today being a day and a half later, we (Bryan, Jim and myself) found ourselves wandering up the Yosemite Falls trail to Yosemite Point to see how much snow fell and to see the valley from on high. These are a couple of the views. The first postcard is the overlook of Yosemite Falls from the higher vantage of Yosemite Point. The second postcard is near the top of the Falls trail. Enjoy.