Glacier Point
May 17, 2014
My parents were in town for the weekend. I took them to Yosemite last year when they came down. That worked out pretty well last time, so I thought we'd give it another go this year. By all accounts, it was a day well spent.
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| Pale Swallowtail -- Yosemite National Park, CA |
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| Leaping Lizards! |
Our initial plan was to see the giant sequoias in the Mariposa Grove and then head over to Glacier Point to take in the view. We scrapped that plan after finding the parking lot was full. We could have parked five miles down the road and taken a bus to the grove, but the parking lot at the bus stop was full as well. It just wasn't meant to be. Luckily back up plans aren't hard to come by at a place like Yosemite.
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| Lumberjackin' |
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| Snowberry Checkerspot |
After stopping for lunch and sticking my feet in the frigid waters of the South Fork of the Merced River (refreshing yet painful), we headed up to Glacier Point, stopping here and there for pictures and miniature adventures. Dad said he saw a field that looked like it was on fire so we stopped for a few pictures there. Not literally on fire, mind you. The bushes were red and kind of glowing in the sun. The bushes are behind Sam in that picture of him with the rusty chainsaw we found inside the hollow of a burned out tree. You never know what you'll find out in the woods.
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| Yosemite National Park, CA |
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| Yosemite National Park, CA |
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| Yosemite National Park, CA |
Saying the road to Glacier Point has a handful of nice views is kind of like saying you think the Pope might be taking that whole "Catholic" thing kind of seriously. Glacier Point just might be as good as it ever gets. I think I got some pretty good pictures, but the size and power of these vistas is mostly lost. Go there. See it. Breath the air. Breath deeply. It's not something to be missed or forgotten.
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| Yosemite National Park, CA |
It was pretty crowded at Glacier Point. I usually find the Yosemite crowds to be a bit annoying. That's one of the reasons I like the less popular parks like Death Valley and Capitol Reef. I didn't mind the crowd at Glacier Point, though. Everybody was pretty cool. Maybe I was just a little in awe of the view, too. Perhaps a bit of both?
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| Yosemite National Park, CA |
After taking in Glacier Point's scenery as best we could, we drove down into the valley, stopping at Tunnel View for the requisite photo ops. The sun was hidden behind clouds when we got there. As we watched, it broke through the clouds, slowly spreading its glow across the walls and trees of the valley. It was all so dramatic, at least for those of us that are into that kind of thing.
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| Tunnel View, Yosemite National Park, CA |
We stopped at the base of Bridalveil Falls. Sam and I tried to hike up to the base of the falls by going up and around the side, and we got up pretty high but ultimately were blocked off by some steep rocks and dense vegetation. I think we gave it a pretty good effort. I'm guessing we might have picked a better route.
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| Ribbon Fall, Yosemite National Park, CA |
We spent a little time scouring the face of El Capitan for climbers. As sometimes happens I found more at home looking over the pictures than we were able to see looking directly at the cliff. I can't imagine trying to sleep on that slab of granite. It must be a pretty cool view to wake up to, though.
That was pretty much it for the trip on Saturday. Without the hike into the sequoias it ended being more driving than I'd planned, but the majestic views were well worth it.
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| Four Climbers on El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, CA |
Our first stop in San Francisco was the Palace of Fine Arts. I like taking visitors here because not only is it beautiful it's also completely and utterly worthless. One of San Francisco's most endearing traits to me is its ability and willingness to build things for no other reason than "Hey, man, it would be cool." The Palace of Fine Arts is perhaps its finest example.
The windmills in the park are also good examples of San Francisco's useless beauty. They were originally functional, supplying the power needed to pump water in the park. They were replaced by electric pumps decades ago. Both windmills were recently rebuilt, again because some people got it into their heads that it would be a cool thing to do.
