Yosemite

July 13, 2007--From Sacramento I headed down through the backroads of hillbilly California to Yosemite. The area is full of old mining towns and cute little main streets. The real surprise to me was how many of the people I talked to along the way love living there (even people my age)! As I headed into the park, I caught my first glimpse of granite bluffs and had to snap a picture... I had no idea what grander sights I was about to see!


Once I got down into Yosemite Valley I stopped by a creek right below El Capitan, the famous granite cliff rising straight up from the valley floor. Apparently this cliff is drool-worthy among big rock climbers.




































I also played around in the water a bit... turns out to be a little more difficult to take a timed picture of yourself when you have to wade through water to pose!



Driving further up the valley I saw the Sentinel: (note: all pictures here and elsewhere in my blog can be clicked on to see them big!!)



Lower Yosemite Falls:




Ahwahnee:



Then I took a little walk to see Yosemite Falls a little closer and this pretty meadow with the Sentinel behind it. The falls were pretty thin, being late in the season, so I didn't bother walking further.






















Driving out of the visitor center there was also this gorgeous view up the Merced River at the famous Half Dome.



Next I headed up out of the valley to the south rim to find myself somewhere to camp. On the way I turned around at the "Tunnel View" to catch this incredible view of the valley (El Capitan on the left, then Half Dome in the background and the Sentinel a little to the right).


I finally made my way to the Bridal Veil Creek campground, hoping they would still have space for me. I found the sign at the entrance saying "full." Crap! Luckily I was able to find the camp hosts, who told me there were actually two spots left. One was surrounded by small children, including about 15 Mexican ones across the road, so I chose the one next to a small family on one side and 3 Asian guys on the other. I set up camp, then went wandering out to the meadow as the light faded.

















I also took a picture of myself camping--this may be the only picture you'll ever see of me without makeup!! (put some aviators on me and I would look rather like the Unabomber...)



Then I headed back to my camp for dinner: Ritz crackers, hummus, Irish cheddar, and a bottle of wine (any experienced camper knows how necessary the latter is for sleeping through the night on the ground!!) and wrote some postcards by the lamplight.



Progressively as I was sitting there, more Asians kept arriving at the campsite next to me. Before long, 3 had turned into 10! I was wondering what kind of crazy Asian party I was in for. But they were very nice and before long had invited me over to share their campfire, apparently feeling guilty to see me there sitting by myself. After some convincing I went, and had a blast talking with these guys and sharing their s'mores. They were all Hmong, an ethnic group spread throughout China and southeast Asia, who had all grown up together in Stockton, CA. Most interestingly, they were all devout Christians, but their Hmong heritage was Shamanist... leading them to thoroughly believe in ghost stories and tell me personal ones that had happened to them and their friends for the rest of the night!!