Old Retired Guy Blog
Oct 21 - Nov 1, 2006
Return to the - - - - - Scenes from February and March, 1974
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South to Yosemite & San Francisco (Page 3/6)[October 26] Kathy woke early and enjoyed her cup of coffee while watching birds from the comfort of the cottage. Jim had to get back to San Francisco and, though our plans had been to drive there at the same time, the weather was just too great to leave behind. Kathy called and found out that Doe's Cottage was available for one more night so we stayed.
We
stopped at the Visitor Center, ate lunch under the trees, and paid a visit to
the Ansel Adams Gallery, where we bought some small souvenirs like Ansel Adams
post cards and a gold-plated leaf. I have Ansel Adams autobiography, which
I have paged through to look at the pictures but have not read. I'll have
to move that back into my try-to-read-some-day-when-you-have-time pile of books. Most of the afternoon we strolled around the meadow looking at the trees, the river, the granite, and the sky. It was a wonderful surprise to cross a bridge and see a chapel in the distance. With all of the surrounding beauty there's no need for stain glass windows. This would be a great place to get married.
As dusk started to approach we drove to the west end of the valley and watched the shadows slide over the meadow. Bridal Veil Falls and the Cathedral Spires were the first to be captured by the evening with El Capitan not very far behind. What a great day. We hated to leave since this was our last day here but we eventually drove out of the park, descended to Mariposa, and spent one more night at Doe's Cottage.
South to Yosemite & San Francisco |
Since we spent two days in the high country we decided to spend some time in the
valley. I have a lot of fond memories of 5 weeks in the valley in 1974. In
the 32 years since that visit there have been some changes -- the valley floor
seems more thickly vegetated and some of the roads and buildings have changed.
The big features -- the granite monuments -- still loom over the valley
reflecting the sunlight on one side and casting dark shadows on the other.
As I've said a number of times on the pages of this entry, the sun continued to
shine and the leaves decorated the roads leading into the valley. Bridal
Veil Falls and El Capitan were as beautiful as ever. The Sentinel Dome,
the Three Brothers, and the Cathedral Spires continue to guard the valley.
Unlike 1974, however, when we were here in the winter, Yosemite Falls was
completely dry. All that could be seen were the stains on the granite
marking where the falls would return with the autumn rains. Half Dome still
rose majestically over the Merced River, a view made so famous by
Ansel Adams that I was almost embarrassed to stand there and try to copy such a
master.
