Sunday, October 2 …

We are in Death Valley National Park and I am way behind on the America West travel articles.  We spent three nights in Yosemite National Park.  We left Oregon with regrets that were somewhat eased by our tour of the beautiful Northern California Coastline on Highway 101.

We turned left out of Yosemite, leaning toward Texas.  We have several more possibilities for adventures but all are east of us – on the way home. 

It is hotter’n hell here in the valley.  It is called Death Valley for a reason.  We left Lone Pine this morning after spending the night in a very nice commercial campground.  It was in the low 70s when we left there at about 10;30.  Our leisurely drive through the Mojave and across more of the Sierra Nevada Mountains brought us to Furnace Creek Ranch Campground and Resort in Death Valley where it is 111 at six o’clock.  Hot and Windy!!!

By the way, my Nikon seems to have healed itself.  Some of the electronics must have gotten wet?  It started working again the day after it got wet. I hope it doesn’t corrode in the future.

I took a few pictures on the way across the mountains and through the valleys.  It was mid-day and very bright.  I’ve been getting more and more use out of that gradated Neutral Density filter.  It makes the sky much darker by reducing the exposure by one stop in the upper half of the image – or to one side if you so choose.  The filter rotates just like a polarizing filter, which I have also used a great deal.  I’m getting a lot of vignette when using the widest angles.  That can usually be corrected in post-processing.  And, you can buy the extra-thin filters that have less of the vignette effect.

I liked that sun flare.  I think it adds to the feeling of how hot it gets here.

We’re relaxing in the trailer and trying to get oriented for an afternoon/evening expedition.  I’m thinking of Zabriskie Point or driving back to Stovepipe Wells to photograph the Mesquite Flat sand dunes at sunset.  Tough decision. 

Yosemite…

Our stay in Yosemite was filled with fun and excitement.  Getting there had some adventure but you can get into only so much trouble going so long without ever disconnecting from the trailer.  I’ve gone so long now without updating my notes that it is hard to remember what we did – that and I am getting too damned old to remember even what we had for breakfast. 

I posted about the terrifying drive across Highway 36 from 101 in Interstate 5.  I think we camped five straight nights without ever disconnecting.  All that driving with little sightseeing really eats into the fuel budget.  But, Jane says we are back into the black.

Our day trip along Tioga Pass Road in Yosemite was one of the best days of the entire journey.  We accidently came across Mono Lake, Got a great sunset over Half Dome, and drove through a forest fire on the way home.  I have pictures of Mono Lake and the Sunset but we were being hustled along (and were gladly hustling along) through the forest fire.

The fire was “officially” a controlled burn.  It sure was close to the road for being controlled,  And, some very tired and dirty fire fighters seemed to have been at it for several days.  Those guys certainly earn their money.

The fire was still burning right beside the road when we left Yosemite.  Tioga Pass was our way out of the park.  I was not certain we would be able to exit that way.  It had been closed for several hours the night before we left.

The red glow and purple clouds in the sunset over Half Dome (photo above) are partly from the forest fire and the smoke.  This image is from Olmsted Point.  I think Olmsted Point is about eight thousand feet, well above Half Dome.

In addition to all the excitement, Tioga Pass Road offers some of the most beautiful sights in the park, along with many trail heads for those who like their nature “Off the Beaten Path.”  We had a picnic “tailgate” lunch at Olmsted Point and made photo stops at Tenaya Lake and Tuolumne Meadows along with several unnamed sights. 

A toll fee is collected at the Tioga Pass fee station that is just a few feet short of ten thousand.  Needing fuel, we drove out to Lee Vining, eleven miles down the mountain.  Lee Vining is a major point on the tourism trail.  They offer everything an adventurer in the area could want – fuel, camping, gear, groceries.

It was there that I realized that the Mono Pass/ Mono Lake that I kept seeing mentioned was exactly the one I had wanted to see.  I had learned about it from reading the blogs of other photographers. 

We took a gravel road off US395 to the lake and stayed for the evening light.  The Tufa Formations are a mixture (reactions) of salt and other minerals.  The information on the lake itself states that it is a sister lake to the Great Salt Lake in Utah.

Our first day in Yosemite was an orientation.  I spent some time ogling Ansel Adams prints that were selling for as much as $12,000.   We toured the Visitor Center, Indian Cultural History Museum – watched an Indian lady weaving a basket from tree bark – had a nice lunch (and ice cream) at the Degnan Deli, then drove the Glacier Point road. 

Glacier Point is a must-see sight.  It looks down on Yosemite Valley or, more appropriately, Tenaya Canyon, with Half Dome and several waterfalls as prominent landmarks.  It is the road to the South Entrance, Wawona.  Tioga Pass is the East Entrance.  We were camped in the west side of the park, Hodgdon Meadow,  just inside the Big Oak Flats Entrance on the highway from Manteca.  It was a long 26-mile drive into Yosemite Valley but all we could get when making reservations so late.  Thankfully, Jane called.  We had counted on a first come first serve arrival until hearing – “It ain’t gonna happen.”  Even then, we were able to get only three days rather than the four requested.  Weekends were completely booked.

We knew that the campgrounds were booked solid in summer but had failed to consider all the foreign travel to the US. We see a lot of Orientals every year.  Now, Italians, French and Germans are seeing America in large numbers. The guys who started the Rental RV Businesses must be getting slap rich. Anyway, we had to clear out on Saturday.

On our last full day we started late and spent the afternoon touring the valley on the FREE shuttle bus.  That was the day we hiked up to Mirror Lake.  That is Jane with the mountain reflecting in Mirror Lake behind her.  It was an ambitious hike (for us) but well worth the effort.  For most, it is an easy two miles on mostly flat, paved road.  Cars with handicap identification can drive to a parking area near the lake.

We watched rock climbers on the face of El Capitan as we left the valley on our final day.  We enjoyed watching them but were nearly as entertained watching everyone else watching the rock climbers.  Every time someone would stop and look up, a dozen more cars would stop to see what the first one was seeing.  Sort of like the “Bear Jams” in Yellowstone or Glacier.  Just a different flavor. 

I’ve skipped a lot of what we saw while sightseeing with the truck and trailer connected.  I’m remembering the Northern California Coast and viewing the mating elk in a field along Highway 101.  Jane objected to my posting of Animal Porn.  Maybe I’ll sneak it in later. 

The previous post discussed our last night in Oregon. We gathered some information on Redwood National Park that turned into Redwood National Park AND State Park – run by the state of California. Prices were ridiculous. We did a drive through – it surrounds Highway 101 – but passed on camping in the park.

The California coast is beautiful. Even more than beautiful, I guess. We drove the coast slowly, stopping often. At times we were right on the beach; other times we were high on a mountain looking down. It made up for the Redwoods disappointment. 

Our campsites between Oregon and Yosemite were nothing to write home about, just convenient wide spots in the road.  All were places with Pull Through sites; the kind that allow us to connect to hookups without disconnecting the truck and trailer.  Those are good for getting an early next-day start.  Early being relative – before noon for us. 

If anything good that has not been covered comes to mind, I’ll make an additional post.  Until then, We will be touring Death Valley.

l8r

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