We were a little desperate to leave Reno, so we splurged on a rental car with the intention of driving back to San Francisco by way of Yosemite National Park!
What a good idea that turned out to be. We camped out in the Sierra Nevadas right near Buckeye Hotsprings (hot springs: my new thing) and drove up and into the park early the next morning. Very abruptly, the lazy rolling desert in the rearview disappeared into the shadows of the mountains. Giant granite cliffs loomed over us and dropped off into deep forested valleys. In some areas, wildfires burned across the hills and left in their wake the skeletons of tall, solitary pines. It was a long and winding drive, and the whole morning the moon was still high in in the sky, dodging in and out of sight but following us all the while. Reminded me of that famous Ansel Adams photograph, only more beautiful. Despite the throngs of tourists and disneyland-like appeal of the major sites and hundreds of RVs rumbling everywhere (all this felt wholly American to me) It was clear to
us that Yosemite is a special, sacred kind of place.
We learned all about the Paiute Natives who lived in the area for thousands of years, until the gold rush of 1849 brought sloughs of settlers and their subsequent territorial disputes. We learned about Galen Clark, the park's first caretaker and the man responsible for it's preservation under the authority of President Lincoln. We learned about the mountain lions and muledeer, the peregrine falcons and gray wolves. Gosh, we learned about it all! Each day we were there, we took day-long hikes to the remotest places: Unicorn Peak, where we found our own secret valley with rivers and lakes unspoiled by the masses; Yosemite Point, where we hiked to the very top and took an icy dip in the tallest waterfall in North America. The temperature dropped to a low 35 degrees at night, and I abandoned our tent to sleep fitfully in the backseat of the car. It was an exhausting time; we bickered a bit, and slept and ate so little, and hiked so much. But every vista was worth the climb, and every morning we woke up stiff and sore, we were greeted by the majesty of our surroundings and reminded what a beautiful world we live in. Historically, people have always been wowed and a little mystified by Yosemite-- John Muir, Ansel Adams, my dad... But every cheesy thing that's ever been said about it is true-- it really is an incredible place.
8:14AM
Oakland, California
What a good idea that turned out to be. We camped out in the Sierra Nevadas right near Buckeye Hotsprings (hot springs: my new thing) and drove up and into the park early the next morning. Very abruptly, the lazy rolling desert in the rearview disappeared into the shadows of the mountains. Giant granite cliffs loomed over us and dropped off into deep forested valleys. In some areas, wildfires burned across the hills and left in their wake the skeletons of tall, solitary pines. It was a long and winding drive, and the whole morning the moon was still high in in the sky, dodging in and out of sight but following us all the while. Reminded me of that famous Ansel Adams photograph, only more beautiful. Despite the throngs of tourists and disneyland-like appeal of the major sites and hundreds of RVs rumbling everywhere (all this felt wholly American to me) It was clear to
us that Yosemite is a special, sacred kind of place.
We learned all about the Paiute Natives who lived in the area for thousands of years, until the gold rush of 1849 brought sloughs of settlers and their subsequent territorial disputes. We learned about Galen Clark, the park's first caretaker and the man responsible for it's preservation under the authority of President Lincoln. We learned about the mountain lions and muledeer, the peregrine falcons and gray wolves. Gosh, we learned about it all! Each day we were there, we took day-long hikes to the remotest places: Unicorn Peak, where we found our own secret valley with rivers and lakes unspoiled by the masses; Yosemite Point, where we hiked to the very top and took an icy dip in the tallest waterfall in North America. The temperature dropped to a low 35 degrees at night, and I abandoned our tent to sleep fitfully in the backseat of the car. It was an exhausting time; we bickered a bit, and slept and ate so little, and hiked so much. But every vista was worth the climb, and every morning we woke up stiff and sore, we were greeted by the majesty of our surroundings and reminded what a beautiful world we live in. Historically, people have always been wowed and a little mystified by Yosemite-- John Muir, Ansel Adams, my dad... But every cheesy thing that's ever been said about it is true-- it really is an incredible place.
8:14AM
Oakland, California
View from the top: Unicorn Peak
More photos after the jump?
this guy!
No comments:
Post a Comment