Yosemite - Spring 2011

Steve and Chuck and I went to Yosemite and it was good.

Chuck and I met at my place, then we drove up and met Steve at the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station (about 45 minutes). From there it was "only" about 3:15 to the Yosemite Valley.

As usual, photos cannot reflect the grandeur of the first view into the valley.

Snowpack is at 200% of normal, and it actually snowed a little bit in the valley last weekend. But today was nice, and the snowmelt was coming over the falls in torrents.

It was hard work climbing up to the rim, and the light wasn't ideal, so I didn't get my camera out until we got to the top. I was expecting snow, but despite the heavy snowfall deeper in the Sierras, there was substantially less at the top of the trail than I'd seen on previous trips (which were admittedly earlier in the season).

Note that with Yosemite Falls being on the north side of the valley, the trail gets more sun than elsewhere. The prediction was for a high in the mid 60's, but it felt warmer than that. It wasn't hot, but it was warm enough that I wasn't tempted to put on more than my shorts and T-shirt (although I also didn't want to stop too long under the mist from the falls).

The cascades above the falls.

The brink and middle cascades.

Another angle.

I got my camera out a few times on the way back down. Mmm...

Looking back up the trail.

The upper fall.

A woman contemplating the view from her perch.

Parking was much more full than I've seen before. We ending up parking up the road somewhat, which added to the hike, but it wasn't quite far enough to bother catching a bus. The upshot was that we had the opportunity to spot these deer in a meadow on our way back to the car.

On the way home we broke our usual tradition of stopping for dinner at Mountain Mike's in Oakdale. Instead we stopped a bit earlier in Groveland at a local pizza cafe that didn't just have delicious pizza, but also delicious vanilla malt shakes. Mmm...

Stevens Creek and Fremont Older - Spring 2011

Jamshid and I went for a hike from the north (far) end of the Stevens Creek Reservoir. We parked at a little parking lot for a group picnic area. People had formed an extra line of parked cars along one side of the parking lot entrance road, so we joined the line.

We took the narrow trail up the hill up into Fremont Older, then arced around as much of upper part Fremont Older as we could without descending towards Hunter's Point. We stopped for lunch at the top of Nob Hill, and the view was OK, but not quite as encompassing as from Hunter's Point.

We then followed the ridge road down to the south end of the reservoir and returned along the narrow Stevens Creek Trail to the car.

We saw a deer. We did not see the second deer until I got home and zoomed in on this photo.

These looked like some sort of fishing bird with long necks and long bills, but they didn't cooperate for a photo.

Pinnacles - Spring 2011

It was cool and cloudy, so Jamshid and I went to the Pinnacles today. From the Bear Gulch parking lot we circled counterclockwise up the Condor Gulch Trail to the High Peaks Trail, around to the reservoir, through the lower caves, and then back to the car.

There were raptors circling the high peaks, but it was hard to tell what they were. Condors or turkey vultures? Was the reddish-brown one a hawk or an immature condor? They did not cooperate for photos.

Castle Rock 2011

Jamshid and Chuck and I did a five-mile loop from the north (main?) entrance of Castle Rock to the campground and back. I didn't take any photos.

Chuck asked what poison oak looks like, and since I'd just seen a warning sign and identification guide yesterday, I was able to point some out to him. Then we realized that there was *lots* of it beside the trail. Be careful where you walk.