In the Valley

The course continued, after leaving the fire vantage point, towards Yosemite valley. We caught our first glimpses of the interior of the valley from a pulloff where an ABC news van was parked, presumably reporting on the blaze. Smoke cast a thin shroud over the massive rock formations eclipsing each other in the opposite direction of the fire. I'm not sure which of the massive guardians of the valley were visible, but my perception of Yosemite had already been wrong. The peaks are so much more majestic than even Ansel Adams could capture. We pressed onward to the interior of the park.

Shortly afterwards, we parked in the lot designated for Bridalveil Falls, one of the few park waterfalls that flows year-round, not just during the spring snowmelt. The trail up to the viewing point was paved and took little time to scale. It terminated in a boulder field, through which a small creek gurgled. The waterfall appeared to be a small trickle at the top which atomized into a fine mist before recondensing on the rock below and forming the creek next to us. We scrambled into the boulder field to enjoy the cold water of the creek and a better view of the vapor falls. Unsatisfied with the adventurousness of the trail, I decided that I would go explore upstream. Pri said she was good where she was, so I handed her my camera and dashed off into the rocks. the climb up was pretty fun, paralleling the path that the water had found easiest to come down, I ascended between boulders varying from the size of grapefruit to some larger than an SUV. There was a small pool about 100 feet from the bottom of the cascade where several other people had congregated to swim and hang out. I paused for a second to catch my breath and a young kid of about 10, who had come up with his dad, welcomed me to the top. After a few minutes I continued towards the terminus of the waterfall.

There were fewer people seeking this goal, and before long I was the only person climbing. Several large shelf like rocks were positioned for a great view of the stream below, and I made a note to stop here on my descent. The atmosphere up here felt cooler due to the air conditioning effect of the waterfall. The rocks became more jagged and paradoxically more slippery as I approached areas that saw less voluminous and more misty water flow. After cresting one last boulder the foot of the fall was finally visible. The air was actually cold up here where the condensation of mist was enough to reform a stream of water down the rock a few dozen feet above me. A large pool collected the water here, with a small oultlet feeding the creek below. I carefully walked over to the place where the water first hit rock and felt the small but powerful stream. After briefly debating taking a plunge in the icy collecting pool, I figured I should head back down. I stopped at the shelf rocks and looked out the entrance to Yosemite valley. I could see hints of the sun hidden behind the massive smoke cloud of the distant fire. Looking down, I imagined I could see Pri and started again towards her and the trail back out.

Five points to anyone who can find me in the picture above.

Finding a way down was actually more difficult than going up, and several times I had to abandon my chosen path to avoid unscalable drops. I gradually my way down a different way than I had gone up, and eventually made it to Pri. We collected some of the cold water in a vial, then returned to the car.

The road to the inner sanctum of the valley is basically a one-way loop. Upon entering the loop, we were granted a view of half dome and sentinel rock. There are no words to describe what viewing these geologic anamolies is like, but they loomed on either side of us throughout the drive. At some point we realized that it was impossible to predict the exact sunset time, as the jagged edges of the valley and the angle of the sun vary throughout the valley. We pulled off at a parking lot to see the Merced River and assess the position of the sun. Unfortunately we were moments late to see the sunset from the river (though in the tree lined parking lot it was still suspended above the cliffs). We waded out up to our shins into the ridiculously icy water, and after saying hi to some ducks, headed into the valley.

What I thought was a simple one way loop became incredibly complex with side loops and buses. We found our way to the second trail we had planned on doing, Cook's Meadow, where two male mule deer were just hanging out in the grass while a Dow lazily grazed alongside. Luckily the sun had not yet set here, so In the company of the deer we watched the sun sink behind the peaks rimming the horizon. The smoke from the fire cast a red-orange glow to the sunset light.

Once the sun set, in the elongated twilight cause by being in a valley, we wandered the trail for a bit, then made our way to the visitor's center. The personality of Yosemite, as all the parks before it, was unique. There seemed to be a smattering of accessible trails and attractions like Bridalveil and Cook's Meadow, but the majority of the park felt inaccessible to anyone unwilling to go backpacking for a week or more. The visitor's center has no parking next to it, so reaching it is almost a hike in itself. After checking out the awesome 3-D map of the valley, we went back to the car and started drivng out. Our campsite was in the mountains that form the northern rim of the valley, and in order to reach it we had to climb the mountains via Tioga Pass. Since we were feeling lazy, we debated staying in the valley at the one campsite with vacancy. As we exited the valley loop, the visage of El Capitan stood out against the night sky. Ansel Adams is lucky I wasn't around back in his day, for my iPhone photography surely rivals his 4x5 photography.I guess my point is, if you really want to see what the valley looks like, check out Adams' images. We briefly debated staying at the massive tent cabin city in the valley, the only place with availability, and we even swung around the valley loop to check it out, but the nosiness and $80 price tag deterred us. Darkness gripped the park and we exited the loop again, making our way towards Tioga Pass.

[adam]