04/06/03:
Put a lot of miles on the truck today. Decided to head inland to Yosemite National Park. I figured there'd be a lot of snow and a lot of things would be closed. Whatever scenery was still open to the public should be greatly enhanced by the snow. As it turns out there wasn't all that much snow.
Drove from Salinas and got to Madera by 11am (first day of daylight savings time). Its 70 miles to Yosemite so off I went. I came in from CA-41 and drove the 20 odd miles along Wawona Road. I started mumbling to myself halfway along this road. Nothing spectacular nor interesting at all. Just an average nice road through pines and snow. Nothing else at all.
Then I passed through a tunnel and directly on the other side is Yosemite Valley. I had forgotten whatever I once knew about Yosemite but as soon as I saw that long waterfall dropping from cliffs way above I remembered seeing pictures of it. Tall cliffs and mountain peaks were covered in snow making for some good pictures.
The road leads down to a short trail leading to the falls which are Bridalveil Falls. The trail is paved and while short, is steep. For whatever reason they choose not to even try to keep this trail clear and the steep part was covered with thick ice. I got half way up and ended up sliding back down. There were women and kids and old people all trying to get up this trail and god only knows how many fall and hurt themselves. Several of us chose to forge a new path off to the side. Wind was blowing mist and spray off the falls in our direction making pictures from that angle difficult.
The road continues around Yosemite Valley and eventually you come to Yosemite Falls. This is a double decker falls that's not quite as high as Bridalveil Falls but is in two levels. (Actually it is a triple decker, 2500 total feet and the 3rd highest in the world). Very pretty.
Huge giant granite walls everywhere, especially on the way back along CA-140. A rock climber's dream, including El Capitan, a famous rock climbing wall and Half Dome another famous climb.
I finally headed down CA-140 to Merced but ended up going back down US-99 to Madera for the night. Lots and lots of hiking trails throughout the park although 3 of the scenic roads were still closed for the winter.
10/01/03:
Stopped by to explore areas that had still been snowed under in the spring. Came in from the east on CA-120. Some nice views but most of the drive just through the woods. 20 miles inside the park my eyes started burning and everything turned hazy. Then I smelled smoke. A number of fire crews were out fighting many, many small fires started by a recent lightning storm.
Grabbed a campsite for the night and was kinda settling in. Two young women had a nearby campsite. I guess they were trying to bathe because one was running around with just a bra on top. Then she had a top but no bottoms and was running around with just panties. I know the feeling of trying to get some privacy when bathing so I left.
Drove 30 miles or so, mostly through the woods to CA-140 without seeing much and then returned to camp. The girls were gone by then. Nothing left to do with many smoldering fires throwing up smoke screens so I left first thing in the morning.