Still shameless: annotated tour of Glacier Point and Sentinel Dome

 

Shot from Glacier Point of Half Dome (well named, eh?)

and just behind Half Dome on the left is Cloud's Rest.

Also well named, as I tried to show it to Sprout earlier

in the week but it was hosting clouds, so was not visible.

Half Dome and Cloud's Rest on the left,

And to the right, just left of Nevada Fall

is Liberty Cap.

When climbing UP to Nevada Fall

it sure seemed higher that that picture shows.

The scale of this place does that.

If we'd seen this view BEFORE that hike,

Sprout was sure she'd think

"Oh, easy hike. 30 minutes tops."

Hours later... =)

So we hiked the Mist Trail up to Vernal and Nevada falls.

Got SOAKED. Crazy wet from fall mist.

Fun, exciting, envigorating, kinda cold,

made the STEEP stone path a little scary,

but also TOTALLY makes that hike memorable.

Can you see the TINY people?

Click on this to zoom in a bit, if you can't...

Highly recommend. 

That hike is virtually all I remember of my 

1st trip to Yosemite.

That, and staring straight up giant granite cliffs,

mouth agape, stunned into silence.

GORgeous cup fungus we found hiking from parking space

to (the SUPER crowded) Glacier Point.

I LOVE serious glowing orange.

Feels like a life-giving color. *sigh*

The above photo taken by Sprout, bb's co-conspirator/visitor,

from Sentinel Dome, granting a view of

North Dome and Basket Dome on the left

(rounded granite thangs, left of snag),

and Half Dome on right..

Gee, can you spot me, blending in,

wearing ORANGE pants & wearing a red backpack?

I didn't know I glowed like that,

tho' Sprout assures me it wasn't so vibrant in person.

Here's the adorable Sprout, who's hat says "Moxie"

(which I LOVE), bravely tending to her toes.

We got soaked 2 days earlier (Mist Trail to Vernal and Nev. falls)

& hiked for HOURS, so her tootsies were unhappy.

If you look closely, you may see about 5 band-aids. =)

Waterfall in the background is Upper Yosemite Fall.

Sprout is sitting at Sentinel Dome,

which is behind bb (camera girl), to bb's left.

bb hiking back from Sentinel Dome,

walking gingerly over bridge

which is buried in about 4 feet of snow.

Again, glowing...

Sarcodes sanguinea, a.k.a. snow plant.

As mentioned in a bb comment here,

"According to botany.org, they parasitize fungus, but don't kill them.

They are not saprophytes (live off dead material),

tho' they used to be called that."

And, since they parasitize fungus,

they don't need chlorophyll to make energy,

so are free to dash headlong into intense colors

with no concern for being green.

Snow plant was really OUT this last week. NICE.

I heart red, so was super happy.

And in the words of Paul Harvey,

"So, now you know....

the rest of the story."

=)

biobabbler

Mumday interpreted... Yosemite! plus bonus pics...

 
So, was waiting in line for the "lead car, follow me" truck to take us (the other cars and I, this was a bb solo trip) past road construction in the park, when I spied in my rear view mirror, this creature,

working the cars behind me.

Making his way up the line,

I had a visceral flashback to waiting in a mile-long line with my friends at night in Tijuana, to cross the border back to San Diego. All kinds of vendors walking up, down, and across the many lines of stuck-in-the-car potential shoppers. Some carrying ceramic lawn figurines, Madonnas, wearing stacks of huge, glittery sombreros, etc. All at 3 in the morning.

Hadn't thought about that in ages.

Then I busted out my sandwich to fuel up for the hike, and suddenly, out my window:

Eventually he/she figured out I was just going to take pictures and was NOT going to feed the wildlife (thank you very much), so:

No room for sentiment in such a business venture.

One of the first views, taken from the Glacier Point area:

What a gorgeous hunk of rock! (per usual, DO click on this pup...)

Here's a sign post by the trail head leading to, among other places, Illilouette Fall. The middle metal pieces--I LOVE THIS DESIGN! It's SO attractive and SO rustic and SO park wilderness-like and so durable!

Whomever came up with these is a genius. And you SEE the landscape through them, they throw the MOST amazing shadows, etc. Looks awesome on snow. (phew. pardon. =) )

Looking up from the trail to Illilouette Falls:

SO awesome in person. Yum.

See, I was trying to take a shot of the view, and this thoughtless wooden-legged man walked RIGHT in front of me. And then just STOOD there. Really. How rude!

 

These are the pictures I was finally able to take, one he'd finally noticed me, and lumbered down the trail (you'll have to join them, left to right, in your head):

That's the east end of Yosemite valley. The round rock lump on the left is North Dome, an AWESOME hike with the most amazing view of half dome, eye-to-eye. The next round rocky lump slightly further away is Basket Dome. I'm just going to assume you know which Half Dome is.

Half Dome on the left again. The waterfall you see on the right is Nevada Fall.

 

Had not noticed before, that this rock looks just like a big man-face. Lichen eyes, huge round nose, and gentle smile. I'm thinking he's happy 'cause the view he stares at forever is this:

That's Vernal Fall in the middle, and Nevada Fall on the right.

Destination: Illilouette Fall.

Tough to get decent lighting 'cause it was mostly in the shade, so pardon the over exposed bits (sound racier than it is). There's not a really great spot from which to gaze at the fall once you're there.

'Cause, you know, you might fall...

I loved hanging out in the landscape above the fall. So must soft, smooth polished rock. And talk about an amazing watery sound-scape! It's pretty loud. AWEsome place.

The bridge connecting the trail eastward so you can continue and hike to Nevada Fall, etc. I ran into a few people who were coming from, or going to Happy Isles, as part of a FAT loop hike. AWESOME!

Great colors and textures.

I loved the small pool of lighting that this golden leaf created.

 Standing in her element (nature, next to babbling brook):

Biobabbler