Yosemite
Went and visited Yosemite last week.
Felt the quote by John Muir describes the view (the entire trip, actually), quite well.
This grand show is eternal.
It is always sunrise somewhere.
The dew is never all dried up at once, a shower is forever falling: vapor ever rising.
Eternal Sunrise, eternal sunset.
Eternal dawn and gloaming, on seas and continents and is lands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.
Okay, maybe that wasn’t the most descriptive piece I could have chosen.
But it fits.
Every visit has something new, a view that wasn’t seen before, a change that captures the attention.
It is never drab or dull, or weary, because it is always changing - the seasons mark the passing years, and time leaves its mark, and yet, there is a sense of eternity in the show. No matter where one stands, Yosemite shows that even the biggest, most impressive living thing - whether it be animal, vegetable/plant, or human - can’t cast a shadow big enough to change eternity.
…
Anyway, my thoughts, and my visit to follow.
(After one more quote)
Lafayette Bunnell 1880 - “The whole valley had the appearance of park-like grounds with trees, shrubbery, flowers, and lawns.”
Very beautiful the National Park is.
Just not as cold or wet as I expected. It is springtime, and there should have either been mounds and knolls of snow off the road, or rivers threatening to overflow their banks and natural levies.
Neither was evident.
In fact, not until we (Mom and I) reached an elevation of 5,000 feet, did I see any snow at all. And that was just patches. (Even at 6,000 feet, I saw green bushes and small trees pot marking the small piles).
It is very dry right now.
Not good.
BUT.
It is still one of the most breathtaking tourist attractions of California.
Very Crowded in summer, when everyone (or so it seems) takes their vacation and makes their way into the Yosemite Valley and nearby mountains for a rare opportunity.
Mainly: photo ops and pictures of famous rocks, cliffs (El. Capitan), spectacular waterfalls (Horsetail wasn’t flowing this year, so sad. Bridal Veil Falls did have some water flowing), and several other things I can’t recall at this moment.