Tuesday Update

Wow...what a day.

We started off with breakfast early this morning at Degnan's Deli in Curry Village, then a bit of wandering around before the 8:30 photo walk run by the Ansel Adams Gallery. The photo walk was good; the guide took us through the Ahwahnee Meadow, which we hadn't planned on visiting. Got a nice view of Half Dome and Yosemite Falls.

After the photo walk we went on a quick hike on the Mirror Lake trail. Mirror Lake is a lot different than when Ansel shot it, but I think I have a couple decent images from the hike. The lake (which isn't really a lake at all, we learned today, but rather a pool built from natural dams of the Tenaya River - aren't you glad you know that now, too?) is a lot smaller, as it's been filling with sediment for, oh, at least 30 years. I'll take that as my excuse as to why my Mirror Lake images won't look as good as Ansel's.

Lunch was at the tequeria in Curry Village - yummy nachos!

After lunch we headed to the Mist Trail. Our original intention was to get to the vista where we could see Vernal Falls. Well, we got there alright, and then decided that hey, wouldn't it be cool to actually climb the Mist Trail and, you know, see/feel the mist? Uh huh. So off we went, with the mantra, "We don't need no stinkin' ponchos."

Turns out the Mist Trail is not really a trail so much as a steep set of wet, lopsided, granite steps that you climb while being pelted with freezing cold water. It was surreal. M kept saying, "We can turn around if you want. We can go back if you want." Hell, no. At this point we were part way up and I was already soaked. It got personal: me against Vernal Falls and whatever the name is of the large chunk of granite I was climbing.

We finally made it to the top and it. was. amazing. Totally worth the hike. We made some images and rested for a bit on a giant slab of granite next to the water racing over the edge, and then continued on a bit to get to a vista point for Nevada Falls, which feeds Vernal. Then we got to come back down the wet, lopsided, granite steps while being pelted with freezing cold water. (Oh, and Papa, there was no railing at all. But you shouldn't worry after the fact, because if I'd have fallen I'd have bit the dust well before hitting the rushing water, as the jagged boulders that line the trail side would have done me in first!)

I do have images from all this, and promise to eventually post them, but once again I'm plum tuckered out and am ready to hit the sack. We've got one more hike planned for tomorrow morning; a quick one on the Yosemite Falls trail is a nice way to end our stay here.

We leave Yosemite tomorrow, sadly, and drive back to San Jose to turn in our rental car and catch the Coast Starlight up to Emeryville. A cab ride to the hotel, and then Thursday morning we're on the California Zephyr bound for the midwest.

We've had such a wonderful time this past week, and I'm looking forward to relaxing on the train on the way home (and letting my calves recuperate from the Mist Trail).

Good night!