Thanks for all the anniversary wishes folks! We had a great trip, and we're glad to be back. I have tales and photos to share, hopefully later today.
I'm just popping in to tell you about a book I'm reading, called "The Wild Trees" by Richard Preston. It's about the crazy ecosystems that exist in the canopies of redwood forests, and about the even crazier people who climb these trees and wander around hundreds of feet above the ground. I saw the author on both The Daily Show and the Colbert Report, then I saw the copy come into our library.
Anyway, it's a very compelling read. AND, it turns out these crazy tree climber / scientists are also Tolkien Dorks. One of the tallest trees they've discovered so far they named Laurelin, and the section I'm about to start reading is called "The Fall of Telperion." Go Tolkien Dorks!
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
Yosemite, Day Two
Also known as "Anniversary Day!!" Nathan and I played several more rounds of "What were we doing a year ago today." We enjoyed remembering how great it was to be with so many of our loved ones, eating great food, enjoying the planetarium, and heck, getting married. I can't believe it's been a whole year!!! Mostly I can't believe it's been a year since I've seen most of you. Well, I look at you in pictures all the time, but still. Your actual selves.
We had our Big Hike lined up for Monday morning. I'd never been able to get to the top of Vernal Falls or Nevada Falls, either due to laziness or trails closed off due to snow. I was determined this would be the day. So we got up at our usual time, gathered our stuff, and hit the trail. (The ladies restroom in Curry Campground was surprisingly busy at 5:45 am. Who gets up that early? And who brings an electric toothbrush on a camping trip? Why, I ask you? Why?)
The hiking gear distribution in our family breaks down thusly:
Jenn carries : first aid kit, bug repellent, water and snacks for two, various clothing layers she might need, her camera, small tripod, sunglasses, and journal.
Nathan carries : his camera, all the lenses we might need. His bag is heavier. :)
The first part of the hike we've both done before, to the bridge below Vernal Falls. It's less than a mile, mostly uphill, and as we've walked our daily walks, we've been thinking of this first part. We've done the math, even. Our Big Hill at home is 0.2 miles, and the Big Hill to the Bridge is 0.8 miles, so we know we're climbing our own big hill four times. With gear. Turns out we hadn't been carrying gear at home. We do a fairly tidy job of getting to the bridge. AND, because it's not yet 7 a.m. we have the bridge below Vernal Falls entirely to ourselves. This has never happened to me before. We take many pictures. I use my tripod and get the water to blur. I'm quite excited.
There are two paths to the top of the falls. One, short and very steep, called the Mist Trail, where one is likely to get quite wet. The other, the John Muir Trail, is longer, less steep, and dry. I decide we should take this trail.
It was a long three miles or so, my friends. Several times we passed, and were passed by a group of six guys. I thought they'd just blaze by us and be gone, but no, they'd pass us, then in a few minutes, they'd be stopped, and we'd pass them. It was pleasantly shady on our way up the hills and switchbacks, probably because it wasn't much past eight o'clock. We ended up at Clarke's Point, 5400 feet of elevation. We ran into the same six guys, a lively chipmunk, and a map.
From Clark's Point, one has several options, depending on the type of trail you want to hike and your destination. We helped the six guys decide which path they should take to get to the top of Half Dome and wished them good hiking (I wonder if they made it.) For ourselves, we decided we didn't need to get to the top of Nevada Falls, which was now before us, but that we'd head downhill (YAY!) to the top of Vernal Falls, which was now below us.
What fun it is to walk downhill after two or so hours of walking UPHILL. And the views were incredible. How often to you get to look down on a waterfall? We walked down to the observation area near the falls and hung out for awhile. Nathan took some video footage, and I tried to instill some fear of humans into the squirrels that wanted to know more about the sunscreen I was using. Nathan was more successful than I was.
Many of the folks at the observation area had come up the Mist Trail, the short path that winds up the side of the waterfall, and they were, indeed, misty. We were headed down that way.
It was an amazing trail, I'm glad we just went down it. Three tenths of a mile down granite steps that were often much smaller than my feet. We developed a side of a side stepping motion that felt safer, though must have looked rather silly. We had to "pull over" frequently for folks who were on the way up. As we were just getting to the mistiest part of the mist trail, right after Nathan said "Well, I guess we consider this our shower for the day," one of the ladies coming up the hill got an call on her cell phone. Don't worry, she answered it. Sure, "Hi, I'm in a National Park. I'm standing on a dangerous set of slippery granite slabs, and that roaring you hear in the background is actually millions of gallons of snowmelt rushing by. I'm holding up traffic here on this narrow path, so hey, how are you? Talk to me!" People are weird. I believe that in my heart.
By the time we got back to the bridge, the morning people were up and around. It was teeming with tourists. We'd already been to the top though, and felt, I'll say it, rather triumphant. We passed hundreds of people on the downwards trek of the first big hill. They looked tired. It was hotter now, and they were walking uphill. I smiled at them encouragingly, and thought "Poor fools. "
Back in our camp, we had some pastrami and cheese (delightful!) and took a nice afternoon siesta. So very civilized.
In the late afternoon, Nathan suggested we take a trip to Sentinel Bridge. We availed ourselves of the Yosemite Shuttle service for the trip to the bridge. Awesome, they Yosemite Shuttle. Hybrid buses on a regular route through the park, helps keep some cars off the road in the Valley. Thumbs up, Yosemite National Park. When we got to the bridge, we discovered it was a hot spot. This photo doesn't quite do it justice, I didn't quite find a time when all the photographers were leaning at the right angle so you could see them all. You'll have to imagine five more guys with camera bags going on down the line. And me, of course. (Really, why is it that you rarely see girls out there with cameras. More than the little palm sized cameras, I mean. How is it that taking pictures became a guy thing? Why?)
The view was awesome from the bridge, I can see why it was crowded. We sat with our feet dangling over the edge of the bridge, and watched the rafters go down the river, with Yosemite Falls in the background. A glorious afternoon, really we totally lucked out on the weather.
After sitting on the bridge for awhile, we walked back to Curry Village through the meadow in the center of the Valley. Now that it was the end of Memorial Day weekend, most of the hordes had left the park. There were no traffic jams, the sides of the roads were clear, mostly, and it was more, well, idyllic. Less urban.
We made it back to our camp, and had some PBJs. I caught and released a wasp in our cabin. The same wasp, I guessed, that I had already caught and released twice the day before. I never put a tag on her, but I feel it was the same wasp. I called her Waspy. I tried to explain to her that while I was a patient person, and willing to admit that she was here, in our cabin first, that I would eventually grow tired of showing her outside in a plastic cup. Waspy never got the message. She continued to visit the whole time we were there. Of course, after I named her, I couldn't exactly step on her, now could I?
Later, after we'd been asleep for several hours, I woke up to the sound of a lady clapping and proclaiming "Go Away Bear! Go Away Bear!" She used her words. For a moment, I thought she'd driven the bear towards our block of tent cabins. There was a persistent growling sound very near to our tent. However, it was a very consistent growling sound, and I soon realized it was, in fact, our neighbor snoring.
We had our Big Hike lined up for Monday morning. I'd never been able to get to the top of Vernal Falls or Nevada Falls, either due to laziness or trails closed off due to snow. I was determined this would be the day. So we got up at our usual time, gathered our stuff, and hit the trail. (The ladies restroom in Curry Campground was surprisingly busy at 5:45 am. Who gets up that early? And who brings an electric toothbrush on a camping trip? Why, I ask you? Why?)
The hiking gear distribution in our family breaks down thusly:
Jenn carries : first aid kit, bug repellent, water and snacks for two, various clothing layers she might need, her camera, small tripod, sunglasses, and journal.
Nathan carries : his camera, all the lenses we might need. His bag is heavier. :)
The first part of the hike we've both done before, to the bridge below Vernal Falls. It's less than a mile, mostly uphill, and as we've walked our daily walks, we've been thinking of this first part. We've done the math, even. Our Big Hill at home is 0.2 miles, and the Big Hill to the Bridge is 0.8 miles, so we know we're climbing our own big hill four times. With gear. Turns out we hadn't been carrying gear at home. We do a fairly tidy job of getting to the bridge. AND, because it's not yet 7 a.m. we have the bridge below Vernal Falls entirely to ourselves. This has never happened to me before. We take many pictures. I use my tripod and get the water to blur. I'm quite excited.
There are two paths to the top of the falls. One, short and very steep, called the Mist Trail, where one is likely to get quite wet. The other, the John Muir Trail, is longer, less steep, and dry. I decide we should take this trail.
It was a long three miles or so, my friends. Several times we passed, and were passed by a group of six guys. I thought they'd just blaze by us and be gone, but no, they'd pass us, then in a few minutes, they'd be stopped, and we'd pass them. It was pleasantly shady on our way up the hills and switchbacks, probably because it wasn't much past eight o'clock. We ended up at Clarke's Point, 5400 feet of elevation. We ran into the same six guys, a lively chipmunk, and a map.
From Clark's Point, one has several options, depending on the type of trail you want to hike and your destination. We helped the six guys decide which path they should take to get to the top of Half Dome and wished them good hiking (I wonder if they made it.) For ourselves, we decided we didn't need to get to the top of Nevada Falls, which was now before us, but that we'd head downhill (YAY!) to the top of Vernal Falls, which was now below us.
What fun it is to walk downhill after two or so hours of walking UPHILL. And the views were incredible. How often to you get to look down on a waterfall? We walked down to the observation area near the falls and hung out for awhile. Nathan took some video footage, and I tried to instill some fear of humans into the squirrels that wanted to know more about the sunscreen I was using. Nathan was more successful than I was.Many of the folks at the observation area had come up the Mist Trail, the short path that winds up the side of the waterfall, and they were, indeed, misty. We were headed down that way.
It was an amazing trail, I'm glad we just went down it. Three tenths of a mile down granite steps that were often much smaller than my feet. We developed a side of a side stepping motion that felt safer, though must have looked rather silly. We had to "pull over" frequently for folks who were on the way up. As we were just getting to the mistiest part of the mist trail, right after Nathan said "Well, I guess we consider this our shower for the day," one of the ladies coming up the hill got an call on her cell phone. Don't worry, she answered it. Sure, "Hi, I'm in a National Park. I'm standing on a dangerous set of slippery granite slabs, and that roaring you hear in the background is actually millions of gallons of snowmelt rushing by. I'm holding up traffic here on this narrow path, so hey, how are you? Talk to me!" People are weird. I believe that in my heart.
By the time we got back to the bridge, the morning people were up and around. It was teeming with tourists. We'd already been to the top though, and felt, I'll say it, rather triumphant. We passed hundreds of people on the downwards trek of the first big hill. They looked tired. It was hotter now, and they were walking uphill. I smiled at them encouragingly, and thought "Poor fools. "
Back in our camp, we had some pastrami and cheese (delightful!) and took a nice afternoon siesta. So very civilized.
In the late afternoon, Nathan suggested we take a trip to Sentinel Bridge. We availed ourselves of the Yosemite Shuttle service for the trip to the bridge. Awesome, they Yosemite Shuttle. Hybrid buses on a regular route through the park, helps keep some cars off the road in the Valley. Thumbs up, Yosemite National Park. When we got to the bridge, we discovered it was a hot spot. This photo doesn't quite do it justice, I didn't quite find a time when all the photographers were leaning at the right angle so you could see them all. You'll have to imagine five more guys with camera bags going on down the line. And me, of course. (Really, why is it that you rarely see girls out there with cameras. More than the little palm sized cameras, I mean. How is it that taking pictures became a guy thing? Why?)The view was awesome from the bridge, I can see why it was crowded. We sat with our feet dangling over the edge of the bridge, and watched the rafters go down the river, with Yosemite Falls in the background. A glorious afternoon, really we totally lucked out on the weather.
After sitting on the bridge for awhile, we walked back to Curry Village through the meadow in the center of the Valley. Now that it was the end of Memorial Day weekend, most of the hordes had left the park. There were no traffic jams, the sides of the roads were clear, mostly, and it was more, well, idyllic. Less urban. We made it back to our camp, and had some PBJs. I caught and released a wasp in our cabin. The same wasp, I guessed, that I had already caught and released twice the day before. I never put a tag on her, but I feel it was the same wasp. I called her Waspy. I tried to explain to her that while I was a patient person, and willing to admit that she was here, in our cabin first, that I would eventually grow tired of showing her outside in a plastic cup. Waspy never got the message. She continued to visit the whole time we were there. Of course, after I named her, I couldn't exactly step on her, now could I?
Later, after we'd been asleep for several hours, I woke up to the sound of a lady clapping and proclaiming "Go Away Bear! Go Away Bear!" She used her words. For a moment, I thought she'd driven the bear towards our block of tent cabins. There was a persistent growling sound very near to our tent. However, it was a very consistent growling sound, and I soon realized it was, in fact, our neighbor snoring.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Yosemite, Day One
(I'm back dating these posts, pretending either that I wrote them from Tent Cabin 545, where there was no electrical outlet, or, if you prefer, that I had a time machine.)
We took a bit of a circuitous route to Yosemite, following a path laid out by a GPS with only a vague familiarity with the areas we were passing. It was a pretty route though, and we passed through one small town where the firemen were collecting money by passing boots around from car to car at intersections, and another small town where there was a guy on stilts (we never did figure out why.)
I hadn't been to Yosemite in the busy season in years. Decades, even. I've been going in February, March and October. So imagine my surprise to discover traffic jams in the valley. Stop and go traffic to get to a tent cabin. Rangers on bikes who wouldn't let us pass if we didn't have reservations. (You shall not pass, rangers on bikes, I just can't help this stuff.)
We did have reservations, though clearly we forgot to reserve a parking spot. I guess it's some sort of commentary on our times when parking in a National Park is a big issue. I mean, I went to the National Park to get away from problems like parking. Luckily, we did find a spot that only required a moderate hike to the check in desk. From there, a guy with a golf cart helped us shuttle all of our stuff to our cabin.
Which led to another sort of dilemma...do you tip the guy who shuttles your luggage from the outer reaches of a parking lot to a canvas tent, via golf cart? All sorts of etiquette contradictions there. Have you ever tipped a National Park employee? Is a bellhop really a bellhop if he's in a golf cart?
We settled in nicely, though the bear locker we were assigned was much smaller than we expected. The tent cabins were hopping, especially several large rocks that were covered with children. Provided us with some interesting eavesdropping. My favorite jewel was a ten year old (or so) girl who started to shout out a story with the preface "This is a non-fiction story that took place, oh, about an hour ago."
Once we settled, we packed up some photo gear, and started a good wander. We ended up by Mirror Lake, feeling proud of ourselves for not being overly bothered by the shallow but long uphill climb to get to the water. We puttered around, took many photos (which I'll add in here soon) and then headed back to the cabin.
I led us through a few rounds of "A year ago today, we were...." Rehearsal dinner night!! Good times!!
Then, we crashed. We were asleep before the sun set.
We took a bit of a circuitous route to Yosemite, following a path laid out by a GPS with only a vague familiarity with the areas we were passing. It was a pretty route though, and we passed through one small town where the firemen were collecting money by passing boots around from car to car at intersections, and another small town where there was a guy on stilts (we never did figure out why.)
I hadn't been to Yosemite in the busy season in years. Decades, even. I've been going in February, March and October. So imagine my surprise to discover traffic jams in the valley. Stop and go traffic to get to a tent cabin. Rangers on bikes who wouldn't let us pass if we didn't have reservations. (You shall not pass, rangers on bikes, I just can't help this stuff.)We did have reservations, though clearly we forgot to reserve a parking spot. I guess it's some sort of commentary on our times when parking in a National Park is a big issue. I mean, I went to the National Park to get away from problems like parking. Luckily, we did find a spot that only required a moderate hike to the check in desk. From there, a guy with a golf cart helped us shuttle all of our stuff to our cabin.
Which led to another sort of dilemma...do you tip the guy who shuttles your luggage from the outer reaches of a parking lot to a canvas tent, via golf cart? All sorts of etiquette contradictions there. Have you ever tipped a National Park employee? Is a bellhop really a bellhop if he's in a golf cart?
We settled in nicely, though the bear locker we were assigned was much smaller than we expected. The tent cabins were hopping, especially several large rocks that were covered with children. Provided us with some interesting eavesdropping. My favorite jewel was a ten year old (or so) girl who started to shout out a story with the preface "This is a non-fiction story that took place, oh, about an hour ago."
Once we settled, we packed up some photo gear, and started a good wander. We ended up by Mirror Lake, feeling proud of ourselves for not being overly bothered by the shallow but long uphill climb to get to the water. We puttered around, took many photos (which I'll add in here soon) and then headed back to the cabin.I led us through a few rounds of "A year ago today, we were...." Rehearsal dinner night!! Good times!!
Then, we crashed. We were asleep before the sun set.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Peer Pressure
Our hard work has paid off! Dad's ready to join the blogging pool. Thought I'd just cultivate a little peer-pressure for that idea. He's thinking it might be a week or two before he's ready to commit to the daily grind of writing, but it's out there on the horizon!
One MONTH of Walking
Well, friends, we're past the one month walk. One month of getting up at 5:45 am and walking for an hour. We've made some new friends. There's the guy with the chocolate lab; he's got one of those handle thingies that pick tennis balls off the ground and throw them without slobbery hands. There's the guy with the black poofy dog. There's another guy who walks three dogs at one time. We know several newspaper delivery guys. And one lady who uses us as a benchmark -- she's extra proud of herself if she's coming down the big hill while we are headed up, as most days it's the other way around.
We've seen some critters, too! Most mornings we see two or three bunnies. One Sunday we saw three raccoons, finishing up their night. There is a hawk of some kind that sits on a power pole near the top of the big hill. And the same Sunday we saw the raccoons we saw what was either a VERY large house cat, or a little bobcat. It ducked into some bushes before we were certain.
So we're off tomorrow to try our practiced legs in the hills of Yosemite. Nevada Falls, here we come!!
We've seen some critters, too! Most mornings we see two or three bunnies. One Sunday we saw three raccoons, finishing up their night. There is a hawk of some kind that sits on a power pole near the top of the big hill. And the same Sunday we saw the raccoons we saw what was either a VERY large house cat, or a little bobcat. It ducked into some bushes before we were certain.
So we're off tomorrow to try our practiced legs in the hills of Yosemite. Nevada Falls, here we come!!
Friday, May 25, 2007
Temporarily Unisex
As I mentioned a few days ago, we have quite a few signs in the library. We have piles of simple signs at the ready for when things break. Yesterday, I was at the circ desk joking with the other circ desk worker as we flipped through the piles of signs trying to find the ones that accurately represented the state of disrepair of the computers.
"Internet Unavailable" -- no
"Out of Order, use machine in children's room" -- no
"All library computers are down" -- ah yes, this is the pile we need
Today all the computers are festooned with these signs. It's no use people, all these computers are broken. The person working the ref desk just came in to report that a patron walked up to one of the two dozen computers with signs taped to their screens, and flipped the sign over. She sat down, and attempted to use the computer. When it didn't work, she asked why not.
The Ref Desk worker waved her arm at all the signs. "The computers are down," she said, "that's why they all have signs that say they are not working."
The patron said "This one had a sign that said 'Temporarily Unisex.'"
Several things to love here.
1) We actually have a sign that says "Temporarily Unisex," for when one restroom breaks. Then boys and girls share the one remaining restroom.
2) In a sea of broken computers, the patron thought one was working.
3) She wasn't put off by the unisex sign. As though, on other days, we have some computers for males, and others for females.
4) And of course, she seemed surprised when the computer didn't work.
I heart patrons. No really. They are entertaining.
"Internet Unavailable" -- no
"Out of Order, use machine in children's room" -- no
"All library computers are down" -- ah yes, this is the pile we need
Today all the computers are festooned with these signs. It's no use people, all these computers are broken. The person working the ref desk just came in to report that a patron walked up to one of the two dozen computers with signs taped to their screens, and flipped the sign over. She sat down, and attempted to use the computer. When it didn't work, she asked why not.
The Ref Desk worker waved her arm at all the signs. "The computers are down," she said, "that's why they all have signs that say they are not working."
The patron said "This one had a sign that said 'Temporarily Unisex.'"
Several things to love here.
1) We actually have a sign that says "Temporarily Unisex," for when one restroom breaks. Then boys and girls share the one remaining restroom.
2) In a sea of broken computers, the patron thought one was working.
3) She wasn't put off by the unisex sign. As though, on other days, we have some computers for males, and others for females.
4) And of course, she seemed surprised when the computer didn't work.
I heart patrons. No really. They are entertaining.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
If you like movies about spelling bees.....
you should see this one. Heck, even if spelling bees don't seem like compelling movie fodder, you should still see it. If you liked "Whale Rider" then you should extra-definitely see this movie. If you like Scrabble, you should see this movie. If you like the word "pulchritude" then you should see this movie. If you think it really *does* take a village to raise a child, regardless of the fact that you feel dorky saying it, then you should see this movie. I think that covers everyone in the world, right? You may spend some time wondering "What exactly is the connection between Starbucks and this movie?" You won't be on the edge of your seat wondering "What is going to happen next?" But you will, I bet, experience a severe warming of the cockles of your heart. Maybe in even in the sub-cockle region. Maybe (say it with me Jean) even in the colon.
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