Point Reyes Backpack

Eucalyptus, Clouds - Point Reyes  2012

Eucalyptus, Moon - Point Reyes  2012

Mike's annual Point Reyes backpack routine: hiking in near the youth hostel on the Limantour Road to Coast Camp.

Very windy. Great view of the eucalyptus from site number one though.

Dress Code

Dress Code - Alameda County  2012

Luckily it's only enforced on Friday and Saturday nights. So all other nights, wife beater tank tops and mouth jewelry OK.

Rocket Reuse

Rocket Reuse - Alameda County  2012

In the small (?) town of Alameda.

Rocket Reuse, as well as a Mike self-portrait, as well as Dan with his new Canon full-frame Mark XXXVIII.

Both Mike and Dan very cool, but not nearly so cool as this fellow.

SF Skyline

San Francisco Skyline - Alameda County  2012

The San Francisco skyline as seen from the town of Alameda, across the bay. An unusual angle, actually. Luckily I had along my Olympus E-PL1 with the telephoto lens.

Broom

Broom & Oak - Marin County  2012

Broom, Hills, Clouds - Marin County  2012

At least, I'm pretty sure that the yellow stuff in the photos represents broom, an invasive species roaming throughout Marin County. Could be worse, of course. I'm talking about you, thistles.

Very photogenic, however. Hm.

Lower Yosemite Fall

Lower Yosemite Fall - Yosemite  2012

Rainbow, Lower Yosemite Fall - Yosemite  2012

Last stop on Mike's spring Yosemite visit: a morning stroll to the base of lower Yosemite Fall. As usual, lots of spray in the air, with a rainbow thrown in for good measure.

Thence, an uneventful trip home on highway 120, stopping for gas at Crane Flat and Oakdale.

Monday Raven Blogging

Raven - Yosemite  2012

While Mike sat at his picnic table, idly thumbing through his Kindle, this large raven was poking around the picnic area firepits looking for something good, being scolded by two smaller birds.

El Portal Views

Hillside - El Portal  2012

Merced River - El Portal  2012

Getting towards sunset in the El Portal area: green hillsides starting to turn brown, the Merced River swirling noisily. Can get very hot in this area.

Kindle Aggravation

Kindle - Yosemite  2012

What kind of page is that? You would never see a page like that in a real book. Of course, it isn't really a page, is it? It's just the 86th percent portion of the book.

And yes, there are other aggravations as well. I guess that the main one is that when you buy a "Kindle book" on Amazon you really haven't purchased a book: you've purchased a file that resides on the Kindle and that can't be loaned or donated afterwards. So you really don't own a book.

Great for camping, though.

Cascade Creek

Leaves & Pine Needles - Yosemite  2012

Mike spent some time in the afternoon wandering around the Cascade Creek picnic area, just a few people there. He happened to have his Kindle with him, so he sat for a while at a picnic table and read.

Yosemite: In The Shade #2

Pine Tree, Rocks - Yosemite  2012

Tree Trunks - Yosemite  2012

Cool stuff seen in the gloom of the rocks near Yosemite Fall. Tripod required.

Vernal Fall

Vernal Fall - Yosemite  2012

Vernal Fall Trail - Yosemite  2012

This year Mike decided to hike up to Vernal Fall in order to occupy himself during the flat mid-day light.

As expected, the upper part of the route was extremely wet, requiring a waterproof parka. Also, a large portion of the trail is made up of steps cut into the granite, very slippery in the mist. When Mike got to the top he positioned himself, then whipped out his camera from underneath his parka, and took a quick few shots. Lens got wet anyway.

. . . from the archives #72: Vernal Fall Trail, Yosemite 1961

Trees & Granite - Yosemite  1961

Joe, Nevada Fall Barrier - Yosemite  1961

Mike recalls hiking up to the top of Vernal and Nevada Falls in the spring of 1961 with his family, but somehow there's no photo of the actual waterfalls to be found in his contact sheets. He can only suppose that the moisture in the air was much too wet for him to pull out his relatively large camera.

Continuing on up past Nevada Fall he stopped at the top and took a photo of Joe standing in front of the upper level barrier, the high water evident.

Monday Bunny Blogging

Rabbit - San Benito County  2012

Next to my campground table. I got the impression that this fellow thought that he was totally hidden. I kept getting closer until the rabbit filled the entire viewfinder. Still didn't move. Then, when I looked for him later he was gone.

Note to self: possible Easter post pix.

Tenaya Creek - Merge

Tenaya Creek - Yosemite  2012

OK, there's this certain spot that I always return to, shown above. Sometimes there's dogwood, sometime there's not. This time there wasn't. So, a nice three-photo merge, but no dogwood. [Update: Click to enlarge.]

There was dogwood in 1991.

Thalia

Thalia - San Francisco  2012

Seen in San Francisco's Mission District.

Actually, doesn't really look like Thalia at all.

Yosemite: In The Shade #1

Tree Trunks, Merced River - Yosemite  2012

New Growth - Yosemite  2012

More pix from Mike's early morning walk.

Yosemite Valley Morning Hike

Dogwood Blossoms - Yosemite  2012

Half Dome - Yosemite  2012

Mike dragged his (new) tripod around with him on some of the roads and trails found at the east end of Yosemite Valley. He was hoping to find the elusive dogwood blossoms, but he was just a little too late in the season. Scattered stands here and there, but nothing impressive.

More dogwoods: 2008 dogwood search account.

What turned out to be more interesting was the telephoto view of the face of Half Dome looming overhead.

Yosemite Falls, Early Morning

Upper Yosemite Fall, Merced River - Yosemite  2012

Upper Yosemite Fall & Truck - Yosemite  2012

Mike had hoped to arrive in the valley before sunrise, but did not. However, he was treated to a solitary view of the sun slanting through spring-foliaged trees, cliffs and fall in the background. Residual haze left over from the day before, but still . . .

Also of note: a small bear that scampered across the road in front of Mike as he was entering the valley. Mr. Bear didn't even bother to look left or right!

Glacier Point

Yosemite Falls from Glacier Point - Yosemite  2012

Tree, Half Dome - Yosemite  2012

Mike got to his El Portal campground around noon, had lunch and a beer, then set up camp: a walk-in camp, requiring a few trips to bring the equipment down.

Since the rest of the afternoon was free, he decided to head on up to Glacier Point, actually a substantial drive. There had been some clouds in the vicinity, but by the time he got to the view, they had disappeared.

Too bad, because what was left was just a little unpleasant: smog-impaired views of the valley below, and Half Dome in extremely flat light. Oh well! Some of the visitors were intriguing enough, though.

Visitor, Nevada Fall - Yosemite  2012