Yosemite on ice
the 4th of December, 2005, and we had our earliest start of the tip so far. Up by quarter to 6 (supposed to've been 5 O'clock, but oh well.), we were on the road by 6:15, taking the Bay Bridge (not my photograph) out of town and heading west. As the sun rose, we passed a bunch of power generating windmills, and, after stopping for breakfast at a diner which seemed to be headquarters for every emergency service in the district (2 cops and a table of paramedics were there when we arrived, and 2 groups of firemen arrived later), we pushed on, driving through what felt like the heart of middle America, despite being less than 100 miles from the coast.
Eventually, we left the walnut groves and country towns and hit the hilly, scrubby wilderness I was expecting all along. We passed through several 19th century gold-rush towns before hitting the long, spectacular entrance road to Yosemite National park. This road follows the Merced river through a steep, narrow valley before arriving at arch rock and the entrance to the National Park proper. Passing through, into the park, we got to see just why this place is so famous around the world. I took a whole bunch of pictures during our afternoon in the Yosemite valley, and I'll post a few for y'all to see, but it really is impossible to appreciate without being there for real. The best way I could describe it is to say imagine the Grampians. Now take that spectacular landscape, and scale it up about 10 times. That is Yosemite valley. and it truly is one of the grandest things I've ever seen, purely on account of its massive scale.
The other thing about Yosemite, which I failed to mention before now, is just how cold it was. The minivan we're hiring to cart us all around has a little thermometer built in (As well as a compass, both very handy things). Anyway, as we were driving towards Yosemite, we were keeping an eye on the temperature. As were we driving through the countryside not far out of SF, we noticed that it had gone down to 33 degrees fahrenheit (freezing is 32 degrees fahrenheit, and 1 degree fahrenheit is about 0.55 degrees centigrade, for those of you without a converter). Well, when we got into the park, we watched the temperature fluctuate, mostly in the 30s, until it reached a minimum of 31 degrees fahrenheit (-0.55 degrees celsius, for those of you who missed the link before). That is freaking cold. There were pools of ice by the side of the road, frosted over fields, and frost in the shape of a shadow. Ice was collecting around many of waterfalls, as the water froze before it hit the ground, and all of the high peaks had snow on top.
But the most spectacular part of the day was the late afternoon, around 4:00 (did I mention that the sun went down -early- over here), when the sun one side of the valley just right, and lit them up like nothing I've seen before. It was stunning.
So we drove back to our accomodation for the night (it's in Mariposa, a fair way but a spectacular drive from the park), and were cold... Another day of cool sightseeing today, I'm sure it'll be another amazing experience.
Eventually, we left the walnut groves and country towns and hit the hilly, scrubby wilderness I was expecting all along. We passed through several 19th century gold-rush towns before hitting the long, spectacular entrance road to Yosemite National park. This road follows the Merced river through a steep, narrow valley before arriving at arch rock and the entrance to the National Park proper. Passing through, into the park, we got to see just why this place is so famous around the world. I took a whole bunch of pictures during our afternoon in the Yosemite valley, and I'll post a few for y'all to see, but it really is impossible to appreciate without being there for real. The best way I could describe it is to say imagine the Grampians. Now take that spectacular landscape, and scale it up about 10 times. That is Yosemite valley. and it truly is one of the grandest things I've ever seen, purely on account of its massive scale.
The other thing about Yosemite, which I failed to mention before now, is just how cold it was. The minivan we're hiring to cart us all around has a little thermometer built in (As well as a compass, both very handy things). Anyway, as we were driving towards Yosemite, we were keeping an eye on the temperature. As were we driving through the countryside not far out of SF, we noticed that it had gone down to 33 degrees fahrenheit (freezing is 32 degrees fahrenheit, and 1 degree fahrenheit is about 0.55 degrees centigrade, for those of you without a converter). Well, when we got into the park, we watched the temperature fluctuate, mostly in the 30s, until it reached a minimum of 31 degrees fahrenheit (-0.55 degrees celsius, for those of you who missed the link before). That is freaking cold. There were pools of ice by the side of the road, frosted over fields, and frost in the shape of a shadow. Ice was collecting around many of waterfalls, as the water froze before it hit the ground, and all of the high peaks had snow on top.
But the most spectacular part of the day was the late afternoon, around 4:00 (did I mention that the sun went down -early- over here), when the sun one side of the valley just right, and lit them up like nothing I've seen before. It was stunning.
So we drove back to our accomodation for the night (it's in Mariposa, a fair way but a spectacular drive from the park), and were cold... Another day of cool sightseeing today, I'm sure it'll be another amazing experience.
posted by Jono Russell at 1:40 am
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