Yosemite

Finally!

After years of yearning to visit Yosemite, we are on our way, and we're spending one measly night in the park. Call it our orientation journey, as we are under no illusion that we can do it all in two days, or do real justice to the little we will see.

I've been joking that, unless I get attacked by a bear, this trip should be fun. I've also been reading a lot on bear awareness, just in case... bear sightings are not uncommon, but I'm really not expecting to see one, let alone get attacked by one. But just in case, I'll keep the camera close-by. In my bear awareness book, the picture comes first, the defensive moves second. I know it's stupid. It's also honest... ever wonder how photographers get those amazing shots of lions and bears, and all sorts of crazy wild animals? Yes, it's called a telephoto lens - it's also called the camera barrier that transports the photographer into another world, where reality is what's on the screen and everything else is secondary. Trust me. It happens.

Anyway. Back to Yosemite. We started our journey into Yosemite Valley wanting to stop at every turn on the road. The landscape is simply breathtaking and changes dramatically the farther you drive into the park. There was snow on the ground - in patches, protected by the many pines that abound on the hills. Before we even made it to Tunnel View, we came across a coyote and a few deer. Not a bad way to spend half an hour in the car. The girls were ecstatic.

As we drove into Yosemite Valley, we stopped at Bridalveil Falls, despite the cold weather and overcast skies. Did I say overcast? I should say foggy, hazy, overcast skies. Still, the falls are a sight to see. I can only imagine what they'd be like on a sunny day, in the early light of dawn, or as the day comes to an end. It's good a have an active imagination. It helps me enjoy things through a different filter.

We made it to Curry Village, where we'd reserved a cabin (with a bath!) to spend the night. We ran into a family from Katarina's daycare classroom. They were in Curry Village too, only in the tents and freezing their butts off. No freezing for me, thank you very much. I'm just pretending to be outdoorsy, and that's all well and good as long as it's warm and there's a shower nearby - preferably within my own four walls. I'm not ashamed of that.

From there, we took the road to the Ahwahnee Hotel - a must see if you're in the Valley. It's magnificent. It's huge. It was Sunday, so we succumbed to their Easter Grand Brunch (the price was also grand!) and were lucky enough to get seated without reservations. And here is where the sugar fast was broken, over a decadent dessert I'd call death in a chafing dish. Dark, moist chocolate cake topped with melting mini marshmallows and drizzled with caramel and chocolate sauce. Served warm... give me a moment, I'm having a flashback...

We hiked some before getting back in the car to continue our orientation and on our way to the visitor's center. We found out about the spots to hit on our short stay, the best places to take in the vistas, and about bike rentals. All part of the tentative plan for our visit.

On our way out of the visitor's center, and after another short hike and a 23 minute movie about Yosemite, Jim started yelling "bear, bear, bear!!" I thought, "yeah, funny guy," until I saw a whole bunch of cars piled on the side of the road. Ours ended up being one of them, as there was indeed a black bear grazing in the middle of the meadow. Out came the camera and the telephoto lens (I could've killed for a 400 mm at this point, but the 200 mm had to do.)

And remember what I said about the camera v. bear awareness?? True. Especially when the bear seems to be surrounded by on-the-spot paparazzi. There's always a good chance the guy next to you will be the one attacked, so there's safety in numbers (I know, horrible thing to say, but hey, being honest.) Turns out we all eager photographers were a bit too close for the comfort of one of the park rangers (not close enough for me, but not getting closer either), so she got us all to back up a few feet. OK, more than a few, but who's counting. Jim estimated the bear to be about 250 pounds. He looked at all of us. We all looked at him. We got along just fine a few hundred feet away. And that worked for us.

That's when it started raining. Remember the weather forecast? It went from sunny to snow to cloudy to rain to snow again. The weather channel had one forecast. Yosemite Park had another. Trust the Park's mostly. They called for snow. Shortly after it started raining and temperatures dropped to 41 degrees, the snowflakes followed. The temperature dropped to 34 degrees. We drove around some more taking note of spots to come back for, and then finally made our way back to Curry Village.

I forgot to mention the bear warnings we received. Turned out there was a bear lose in Curry Village who'd been testing car door latches overnight. In fact, the night before a car had been broken into by said bear. Lovely. I had visions of my Volvo getting ripped by a hungry bear. Except I took the precautions of not allowing any food in the car for a few days prior to our visit - no need to test how keen those noses are, is there? We took everything out. Food and "food-related" items include all your toiletries, chapstick, creams, anything with an odor. Who knew?

In the end, we probably had nothing to worry about, as we got snowed-in overnight. I kept waking up in this new environment and watched the sheets of snow come down. We woke up to 18 inches of snow on the ground, and more snow coming down. Lots and lots of snow. The Valley, which had been meadows of greening grass and green trees, was now a winter wonderland. We were treated to two very different views of the Valley in less than 24 hours.

Visibility wasn't great, so the pictures we took show the ghost of El Capitan. Half Dome was nowhere to be found. Still, it was truly beautiful, but left us with little to do. I expected we wouldn't be able to see much of the park. I didn't expect it to be this literally! Temperatures in the low 30s and snow coming down in sheets, we made our way slowly out of the park after lunch, and after putting on the chains.

Yosemite, we will be back again. We're not done with you, not after this tiny taste.