The still-considerable amount of snow above the 5500' level was both a blessing and a curse. That is, while the snow melt produced bigger name waterfalls as well as smaller waterfalls, which are usually only seen in late winter and early spring, the evaporation contributed to cloud cover, which obscured such prominent Yosemite features as Half Dome (and dropped some light rain on park visitors).
The late snow melt also kept the rafters away from such stretches of the Mercerd River as that to the right -- though it may be that the portion I photographed as I approached the Arch Rock Entrance on SR140 is simply too rough every season of the year.
Because of a large gathering of people and cars around the Bridalveil Fall Parking Lot as well as the turnoff for Yosemite Valley I turned right and headed toward the Wawona Entrance and SR41. Note that the top of El Capitan is obscured.
Clearly a forest fire made a shot from the road toward Wawona of the foothills and Central Valley beyond easier. I doubt if this is the fire which burned from Yosemite to near the eastern outskirts of Tuolumne [City] during the 1990s, but part of the reason for that massive fire was the policy of both the USPS and USFS during the 50s & 60s when we put everything out. [I say we because I worked for the USFS during the summers of 58-61 while attending San Jose State.] That policy was clearly a failure, as many native Americans could have told us, for smaller frequent fires stop the build-up of undergrowth, dead trees, etc. which fuel massive fires. Indeed, the 2 gvt agencies actually start forest fires now where Mother Nature has not done her job with lightning strikes in overgrown areas.
While stopped for lunch I realized that the vehicles headed south toward the Wawona exit out-numbered those headed north toward Yosemite Valley. Hence I turned around and headed back toward the Valley. The shot through the trees caught El Capitan with "its hat off."
If you click 1 or 2 times on this photo, you'll see a small 3-stream waterfall to the right of the granite outcropping. The numerous black stains you see on the rocks are caused largely by water flow.
Bridalveil Fall to the right of the ponderosa pine and the eastern flank of El Capitan to the left of the pine; these two prime attractions are virtually opposite one another at the western end of Yosemite Valley. And the tourists this time seemed to be Indian, Latino, and college kids using their spring breaks whereas there were tours of Germans and Chinese at Sequoia N.P.
While I thought I elevated my shot enough to avoid other tourists, note that the shot of the snow on the north side of the southern rim of the Valley is marred by a few sight-seers.
A view of Northside Drive along the Merced River from the higher Southside Drive.
El Capitan from the floor of Yosemite Valley. While working for the US Forest Service, we provided mutual aid for a fire which started near Briceburg on the Merced River virtually due west of Yosemite Valley. I worked a 12-hour shift on the eastern perimeter at the top of the canyon. Two things about that shift were unforgettable: 1)Seeing the sun come up directly over El Capitan and 2)burning my left wrist on the muffler of the flame thrower we were using to set backfires -- in the same place where I burned it with a soldering iron when we lived on California St. in Santa Cruz.
I believe this is Ribbon Fall to the west of El Capitan. I let a young Indian couple take photos with her standing in front of a plaque listing the falls of Yosemite. When they finished I discovered that my batteries were dead. [Don't know if they were just married or to be married; but if she gets copies of all the photos, she almost certainly could sue him for breach of promise -- especially if he turns out to be a successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur.]
--
Links:
- National Park Service site for Yosemite
- Yosemite photos on Trip Advisor web site
- More Yosemite photos by a UNC grad
- Yosemite photos by National Geographic
Sa 23 April Actual Route: Mariposa - Briceburg - El Portal - Yosemite - Mariposa
Su 24 April Route: Mariposa County Fairgrounds
No comments:
Post a Comment