June 16th, 2001

In Fresno...

Woke up early in the morning, and got ready to leave for Yosemite. Alie's friend from the Marshall Islands, Ryan, arrived at around 7:30 in the morning to pick us up.

Pretty much, all you missed yesterday was him arriving up from Bakersfield. The first two pictures are from them going out to dinner yesterday. Apparently, he grew up in Bakersfield, which is only a couple hours away. Small world.

After being picked up we head out and get gas at a place called AM/PM. From there we stop at a place called Von's which is like a Walmart, but with food thrown in too. (Kinda like a Super Walmart, just not as big). We get food for later on in the day, and breakfast to eat on the way up.

The drive reminds me of the trips I took up to Shaver Lake, just quite a bit longer. We pass through a moderately sized town along the way called Coarsegold... and a ways beyond that you arrive at the Entrance to Yosemite. What's amusing is that once you get to the entrance, to see the really cool stuff(the things in the glacier carved Yosemite Valley) you have to drive for like another hour. Most of the road leading up to the Valley is the typical winding mountain road that I've seen before. There are some nice views as we travel along.

Inside Yosemite Valley... elevation 4000ft

Quite suddenly, you run into a tunnel blasted through the mountains. It sort of sneaks up to you after all the winding driving. It's a fairly long tunnel too... but when you come out on the other side... well... basically there's a stone reinforced wall on the other side of the tunnel as you come out. This is to stop people from driving over the edge of the cliff as they exit the tunnel and are confronted with the awesome view before them.

If Shaver Lake was paradise, in the Yosemite Valley... I died and went to heaven. If you've got a fairly high speed connection(even if you don't) I suggest opening the panorama photo. That's what you see as you exit the tunnel. The panorama doesn't even, truly, do it justice.

The picture is huge... just so you know...

I stand there, slack jawed, taking this all in. OMFG. This just can't be real.

I take all the pictures I want to get, and we begin our tour of Yosemite. Well, I could've taken about a dozen more standing there... but...

Ryan has been here before, so he ends up becoming the guide for our wanderings by default. The first place we stop is called Bridalveil Falls. It's gotten this name, I gather, by the way the water falls from the cliff face. It's not so much a fall as it is an extremely heavy mist that almosts clings to the rocks on its way down.

Again, the pictures don't do it justice. There's a path that runs from the parking lot up to a point a ways down from the base of the falls. If you want to navigate a fairly sharp incline of broken and jagged granite, you can go up to the point where the water strikes the base of the cliff. This isn't exactly what I had in mind to begin with, but...
I pass my camera to Alie and Ryan and tell them I'll be back in a few minutes. You know, it's one of those things where I'd climb, see I could climb a little higher, climb some more, see I could go a little higher, climbed... etc... I just kept going. I bump into some other tourists as I make my ascent, they're heading up as well. So 2 guys, a girl and me all begin clambering up the rocks, going higher and higher. I'm finally confronted with a particularly nasty looking climb to get up any further. By this time, I had started to get dizzy. So I found a nice granite outcropping showered with mist from the falls and had a seat for a while, and watched the water stream down.

I'd managed to lose track of time, so I didn't see Alie and Ryan again for about an hour and a half. This was in part because I'd lost the path I'd hiked up with them and I ended up wandering around all over the place trying to find them again. They'd kept busy while I was gone, so it wasn't any big deal. The descent down had been easier than the climb up... but still between the climb and looking for them my legs felt like jelly. I don't think I've ever had my legs so tired that they shook before... but they were. I rested for a bit and drank water from the stream coming from the waterfall.

The next stop was Swinging Bridge. It's this wooden bridge that stretches across the Merced River. The water is frigging cold, but of course I have to go wading in it. We get some good pictures and walk around some.

The next stop is The Ahwahnee, this beautiful granite stone hotel that's been given National Landmark status. The hotel is huge, and has all sorts of walk through and common areas for visitors.

It's amazing when you go out in the back of the hotel. It opens up and you can see mountains surrounding you in all directions. I believe it is the Merced river which flows through the back of the hotel. The scenery is breathtaking. Around now I entertain thoughts of growing out my hair and growing a beard. Of building a shack out in the middle of nowhere around here and wearing cut off jeans and flannel shirts. Of sitting around with a typewriter and writing up anti-technology manifestos. Of building bo- oh wait a minute. Most of that's been done already. Well, skip the last couple things. ;)

While we relax in the Ahwahnee a wayward squirrel manages to find its way inside and begins sniffing around curiously. It seems to have almost no fear of humans as it wanders around. After a time one of the hotel employees spots it and a chase ensues. The floors in the hotel are all hardwood, so the squirrel is often running sideways as it careens here and there trying to avoid being caught. Finally it finds its way to a door and tears off into the surrounding woods.

Next we go to this place called Yosemite Village, which is sort of a collection of Tourist shops, administrative offices, eateries and places to rest. There's also an Ansel Adams gallery where you can buy prints and other things he did in photographing Yosemite.

From there we drove somewhat randomly around the rest of the park for a while. We stopped at another village called Curry and to poke around and see if there was anything of interest there.

After a time, we noticed it was starting to get on in the afternoon and so we reluctantly began to head home.

I wish I had a week to spend there in Yosemite... you'd need that to even put a dent in all the things to do here. There's just something about the mountains... the elevation, the pine scented air, the towering mountains. It's amazing all the things you can discover... all the things that become clear to one as he hikes the trail, wanders the paths and takes in the sights.

The more time I spend here, the more I understand Pirsig's fascination with the mountains and the high country...

The ride back is anticlimactic, aside from the fact that Ryan stopped to pick up a dead racoon to skin and stuff. The rest is hardly worth mentioning...