My first a.m. in Mammoth. Yosemite was incredible. I wish I had better
words to describe the awe, emotion, beauty. Never seen anything like it.
Yesterday, I started the day having a very civilized (and expensive) brunch
at the legendary Awahnee Hotel in Yosemite with one of my ski patrol buddies. Attended a ski patrol seminar at Curry Village where I met an incredible woman/author who has an MA in snow, is an international avalanche specialist and rows for months and 1000's of miles along Alaska and Norway for fun. Wow. And, she's eloquent, smart and her fascinating stories go on forever.
The Awahnee: I"ve always wanted to go to this place. Told my husband 11 years ago I wanted to go there for our 5th anniversary. We never made 5 years, but here I am today, finally. It was built in 1927, it's majestic, stone and wood lodge Frank Lloyd Wright-ish built right up against sheer granite cliffs that soar 2000 feet straight up... magical translucent red and yellow oaks, scattered amongst redwoods outside the 3 story high windows with panes of mission styled stained glass at the top. The fireplaces could fit a Volkswagon inside; they are the size they should be.
Yosemite valley is a very crowded place filled with tourists in cotton clothing, city coats and dress shoes under sweat pants. This is my first time here. Surprising… I expected it to be filled with climbing aficionados with “real” gear, folks who knew a thing or two about the elements and the force of nature. But alas, there are a lot of ya-yas and RV’s milling about this stupendous place. Despite this, my mouth was constantly open, literally gaping at the beauty of the these yellow, pink and red leafed trees between the thick forests of redwoods and evergreens. I’ve come at EXACTLY the perfect time when the trees have turned and before they shed their leaves to bare bark for the winter. The valley is tight and surrounded by sheer, granite walls with stains of water falls and glacial tears, dotted with trees at the tops. The valley is only 4000 feet, the tops: 8000. I took photos that upon review were famous shots I’ve seen thousands of times before in posters and experienced for the first time in person…... El Capitan through the 3 story high lodgepole pines…... I didn’t even realize. what I was shooting until later. This place is pure contrast. Yellow leaves with black trunks. Valley filled with humanity and poetic forests, shuttered by rude granite walls, where many famous climbers have fallen to their deaths; some very recently.
When I first drove from the Fresno gate into the park, I had an interesting
reaction: there is a long tunnel that opens up to the gaping walls of Yosemite that is so stunning and shocking a sight, that I pulled over and just cried. As I drove closer to the valley, I couldn’t stop tears from streaming down my face. It was wild. I was bowled over by emotions to what I was seeing…
After brunch yesterday, Sully and I then drove up out of the valley and east across Yosemite through the Tioga Pass to Mammoth. We stopped at the pristine high Sierra Tenaya lake. Sully trundled through the edge of other lakes, cracking the ice at the edges under his curious little paws. His ears were as pricked as could be sticking his nose into marmot holes. I thought about how I would make myself “big” with my coat if we were fortunate enough to come nose to nose with a bear. I hoped I wouldn’t get caught with Sully off leash by some of the nazi rangers that so adamantly patrol this park. We stopped at rivers, passed by glaciers. We walked out into Tuolame Meadows………..wow. Vast sheaths of yellow tundra grasslands; rivers through it that tinkled over the rocks, backed by forests and surprising, smooth rock formations topped with big blue skies and puffy clouds. We went back to Saddlebag Lake, an 11,000 foot high lake I was introduced to only a month ago. It was the wildness and purity of this place that whet my appetite for this trip. The little fishing place there is all shuttered up for the winter and the lake is now brown, readying for the winter. A bit of snow on the ground from last week’s storm. What should have been a 1 ½ hour ride took all day, whilst listening to Neil Young, Zero 7, Thievery Corporation, Shelby Lynne, Pete Yorn, Allman Brothers, Robbie Robertson, Stevie Ray Vaughn, CSN, Al Green, Hem, Golden Palaminos, Peter Gabriel, Btribe, Smashing Pumpkins, Snow Patrol…...
Exiting the Yosemite gate and heading down to the big 395 highway at Mono Lake was like coming down off of hallucinogens.
We went down to the hot springs tubs in the Owens Valley in the afternoon
for a soak. What a great day. So much in a few hours.
Now we're in the comfort of the little condo. Sully is curled up on the couch, nose to tail, happy to be still and in a familiar place. Coffee and a book…...making a list of things I want to do today: run, hike, read, find schedule of yoga classes. Simple. It's cold this a.m., about 40, but is up to 60/70 in the daytime. No snow. They are blowing a strip of manmade on one hill for opening day on Thursday. I’ll ski here for the first time on my new knee. Can’t wait.
words to describe the awe, emotion, beauty. Never seen anything like it.
Yesterday, I started the day having a very civilized (and expensive) brunch
at the legendary Awahnee Hotel in Yosemite with one of my ski patrol buddies. Attended a ski patrol seminar at Curry Village where I met an incredible woman/author who has an MA in snow, is an international avalanche specialist and rows for months and 1000's of miles along Alaska and Norway for fun. Wow. And, she's eloquent, smart and her fascinating stories go on forever.
The Awahnee: I"ve always wanted to go to this place. Told my husband 11 years ago I wanted to go there for our 5th anniversary. We never made 5 years, but here I am today, finally. It was built in 1927, it's majestic, stone and wood lodge Frank Lloyd Wright-ish built right up against sheer granite cliffs that soar 2000 feet straight up... magical translucent red and yellow oaks, scattered amongst redwoods outside the 3 story high windows with panes of mission styled stained glass at the top. The fireplaces could fit a Volkswagon inside; they are the size they should be.
Yosemite valley is a very crowded place filled with tourists in cotton clothing, city coats and dress shoes under sweat pants. This is my first time here. Surprising… I expected it to be filled with climbing aficionados with “real” gear, folks who knew a thing or two about the elements and the force of nature. But alas, there are a lot of ya-yas and RV’s milling about this stupendous place. Despite this, my mouth was constantly open, literally gaping at the beauty of the these yellow, pink and red leafed trees between the thick forests of redwoods and evergreens. I’ve come at EXACTLY the perfect time when the trees have turned and before they shed their leaves to bare bark for the winter. The valley is tight and surrounded by sheer, granite walls with stains of water falls and glacial tears, dotted with trees at the tops. The valley is only 4000 feet, the tops: 8000. I took photos that upon review were famous shots I’ve seen thousands of times before in posters and experienced for the first time in person…... El Capitan through the 3 story high lodgepole pines…... I didn’t even realize. what I was shooting until later. This place is pure contrast. Yellow leaves with black trunks. Valley filled with humanity and poetic forests, shuttered by rude granite walls, where many famous climbers have fallen to their deaths; some very recently.
When I first drove from the Fresno gate into the park, I had an interesting
reaction: there is a long tunnel that opens up to the gaping walls of Yosemite that is so stunning and shocking a sight, that I pulled over and just cried. As I drove closer to the valley, I couldn’t stop tears from streaming down my face. It was wild. I was bowled over by emotions to what I was seeing…
After brunch yesterday, Sully and I then drove up out of the valley and east across Yosemite through the Tioga Pass to Mammoth. We stopped at the pristine high Sierra Tenaya lake. Sully trundled through the edge of other lakes, cracking the ice at the edges under his curious little paws. His ears were as pricked as could be sticking his nose into marmot holes. I thought about how I would make myself “big” with my coat if we were fortunate enough to come nose to nose with a bear. I hoped I wouldn’t get caught with Sully off leash by some of the nazi rangers that so adamantly patrol this park. We stopped at rivers, passed by glaciers. We walked out into Tuolame Meadows………..wow. Vast sheaths of yellow tundra grasslands; rivers through it that tinkled over the rocks, backed by forests and surprising, smooth rock formations topped with big blue skies and puffy clouds. We went back to Saddlebag Lake, an 11,000 foot high lake I was introduced to only a month ago. It was the wildness and purity of this place that whet my appetite for this trip. The little fishing place there is all shuttered up for the winter and the lake is now brown, readying for the winter. A bit of snow on the ground from last week’s storm. What should have been a 1 ½ hour ride took all day, whilst listening to Neil Young, Zero 7, Thievery Corporation, Shelby Lynne, Pete Yorn, Allman Brothers, Robbie Robertson, Stevie Ray Vaughn, CSN, Al Green, Hem, Golden Palaminos, Peter Gabriel, Btribe, Smashing Pumpkins, Snow Patrol…...
Exiting the Yosemite gate and heading down to the big 395 highway at Mono Lake was like coming down off of hallucinogens.
We went down to the hot springs tubs in the Owens Valley in the afternoon
for a soak. What a great day. So much in a few hours.
Now we're in the comfort of the little condo. Sully is curled up on the couch, nose to tail, happy to be still and in a familiar place. Coffee and a book…...making a list of things I want to do today: run, hike, read, find schedule of yoga classes. Simple. It's cold this a.m., about 40, but is up to 60/70 in the daytime. No snow. They are blowing a strip of manmade on one hill for opening day on Thursday. I’ll ski here for the first time on my new knee. Can’t wait.
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