Chasing the Moondog
September 20, 2013
Soundtrack:
- Alice in Chains -- The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here
Friday. Time to head for home. We had studio time booked for Saturday and Sunday, so I needed to be back in time to load in Friday evening. I didn't have to rush, though, so I would take Highway 395 up the back of the Sierras and cut over at the Tioga Pass, which would take me through Yosemite National Park.
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| Death Valley National Park, CA |
The drive up 395 is one of my favorites. As you drive North, the Sierras are on the left the entire way up to the Pass. It's a 120 mile drive alongside a ten thousand foot tall impassable granite wall that refuses to give in at any point along that drive. It's as impressive as mountains get in the lower forty-eight.
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| Owens Valley, CA |
Tioga Pass takes you into the heart of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. What you can't see while driving along the back of the Sierras is just how wide they are. At this particular point, the mountain range is roughly sixty miles across.
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| Tuolumne River, Dana Fork, Yosemite National Park, CA |
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| Mormon Fritillary |
Tuolumne Meadows had a nice view of the mountains I'd just passed through. I guess normally you can go out and walk in the meadows, but there were signs along the way asking people not to enter. I'm not sure if this was due to the Rim Fire or some other reason. The granite domes rise right out of the meadow floor.
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| Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park, CA |
Highway 120 passes right along the shore of Tenaya Lake. That water is cold!
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| Tenaya Lake, Yosemite National Park, CA |
The highway doesn't take you directly into Yosemite Valley. Half Dome can be seen from Olmstead Point. This pretty much marked the end of my adventure. From Olmstead Point, I put my head down and barrelled home. I drove through a lot of recently burned out forest. The Rim Fire's path stretched for maybe thirty miles, starting in earnest at 120's West gate, but defensive burns had been set all along the road starting somewhere around Siesta Lake. It was a bit sobering. Only YOU can prevent forest fires!
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| Olmstead Point, Yosemite National Park, CA |
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