Yosemite

At the beginning of May, I was talking to my dad and he said he was thinking of making a trip to Yosemite. It had been decades since his last trip and there was a deal on tickets. I said to let me know when he'd get there and we could meet up. A couple days later, he said he'd be there in two weeks. I had just enough vacation time left over to make a 4 day weekend out of it. My dad's pictures are here.


We had a great time. It has taken me forever to get through the 500 some odd pictures I took, but I finally did. I got it down to 100.

I got there late wednesday night, so first order of business was to get a site reservation. We were staying in the legendary Camp 4 which is a walk in no reservation campsite with a firm number of spots. People start lining up at 6am to get a spot, and I was about number 57 in line. That morning there were 75 spots available, so everyone in line made it.

After getting the site, we took off to check out Vernal and Nevada falls. The water falls were amazing with all the snow melting. It was a crowded hike to Vernal Falls






But the water was shooting out of Nevada falls.




The next day was a little overcast, so we took a hike up to mirror pond. The trail was blocked by a rockfall, but we found a nice photo of a blossoming dogwood.



I stopped by El Cap to look for a few big mountain climbers. With a little focus you can start to see different groups. There are 7 climbers in the wide shot. Two on the lower left, two in the middle right, and two on the top right, with the lead climber of the group in the top middle. I hiked up to the base of the wall and found a couple more that were just beginning.


Seven climbers here.

Zoom in on two in the lower left.

Zoom closer.

Two on the upper part, with the lead on the left.

Two on the middle right.


The base of the wall had a great view.



Then I drove around to my favorite view point. Looking up the valley at the edge of the river is amazing.




We set of at sunrise the next day to get the sun coming around on Yosemite Falls.





The top was quite an impressive view. And there was a great view of the valley and half dome.




Then we ran into something I'd only seen in climbing magazines. 2 guys were setting up to do the slackline above the yosemite floor. Basically they stretch a 1 inch wide piece of webbing between two points and walk across it. This is a couple thousand feet above the valley floor. It was impressive to watch.




The hike down had great pictures of the Yosemite falls with rainbows and perfect clouds. It was hard to only pick a few to post.





That evening we went to take some pictures from the valley floor. On the way back we saw a bear, digging in a trash can, but it was a bear. That night we went to take a picture of El Cap with the lights of the clmibers that were still up.





The next day we went to the Sequoia grove. It's amazing to see trees that are thousands of years ago.



For the evening we went to Sentinel Bridge to capture the sunset on half dome. We were there with 15 other photographers. With the digital cameras of today it was neat to see the back of different people's camera to see the shot they were taking. None were the same.



As we were packing up to leave, there were a couple guys headed for the big wall. And I got a picture of the line waiting for a spot at camp 4.



Before heading out, I stopped by Hetch Hetchy. Muir complained about the daming of hetch hetchy, and said it was a more impressive canyon then Yosemite. I think he could have been right.



For only four days it seemed like forever. I got a pass so plan on making more trips this summer. One suggestion I'd make to anyone, is bring along a professional photographer, my dad had amazing pictures. Seriously, check them out and see what I stole from him...

Skiing

First off skiing.



Our spring was full of snow. But for a short while in May it was warm out. It was the weekend they delayed the Mt. Rose Pond Skim for and it was impressive. This year they made it a double dip pond. But the rim between the two made for a challenge. A lot of people went in, but it felt nice out.




Then it snowed some more... Kirkwood was offering a free pass on their lift tickets with proof of a season pass at a different resort. Matt and I have always wanted to try Kirkwood and this was a perfect opportunity. After only half the day we were sold. We went in and got season passes for next year. It's a little further away, but the skiing should be amazing next year.





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Southern California

After Coachella, I took Eve to the airport, and I headed north. I didn't have a direction, but just wanted to explore.



First stop was the Jawbone Recreation Area I had a book with a fun cross country route to take across the desert. The flowers were out and the air was cool, perfect for a drive. At one switchback going up a hill there was a washout I almost got stuck in. It was a deep and narrow and when I tried the first time I almost high centered myself. I got unstuck and decided not to try again since I was alone. I took a still scenic easier way out.



My first stop that night was Kernville. A neat town at the base of the Sierras, just off the Kern River. The river was flowing hard with all the snow from this winter. I camped at the campground and the next day explored the canyon. That night I headed around to the East side of the Seqoia NF intending to backpack into the domeland wilderness.




I took off in the morning, but after hiking in three miles, found the river was to high to cross. So I hiked out and drove around to the legendary Kennedy Meadows. It's a popular spot on the PCT. Since I already had my stuff packed, I hiked in a couple miles and camped next to the river. It was good to get out alone in the woods.



I hiked out the next morning and headed north on 395. The drive out was great with wild flowers all over the hills. I made a random stop for a wildflower picture, and ended up at a BLM Rec site called Fossil Falls where water had sculpted out channels in volcanic rock, but now it's dry.



I stopped off in Lone Pine for a few pictures. It's a one stoplight town, but has been a popular destination for a century. It is the access point to Mt. Whitney, and it was the shooting location for most old Western Movies. Ansel Adams took a famous shot there, Winter Sunrise over the Sierra Nevada. While I was there I heard, English accents, german, dutch and french. Quite eclectic.




I wanted to spend another day in the mountains, but weather was coming in and it looked snowy. So I headed home to clean up before going back to work.


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Coachella

March was busy with work, visiting every field office to help with data transfers. So when it was all done in April, I took 10 days off. I was going to drive down and spend the weekend at Coachella, then take the rest of the week driving back exploring southern California. Unfortunately, my hard drive died before I backed up the pictures, but at least I got the good ones loaded online first.


On the way down there, I made a quick stop into Nevada City to pick up a tent. Since it was already mid-April, I wasn't expecting much of the weather, but of course it was snowing on me. I took the scenic drive down the west side of the lake and crossed one pass as they were putting up the chains required sign. It was all clear when I got to the valley.



Friday after long lines in traffic, we got into the Coachella camping area. The first night was a big party to explore. The free pinball was the most exciting thing we found. People were getting pumped for it all to begin the next day.


There was tons of music. We started off with Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, a great band from Austin, then Cold War Kids. In the evening we went to The Black Keys and the surprise of the weekend Robyn on a random tip from an Aussie that lived in Reno.



The great thing about camping on the grounds was being able to go back for a mid day break and drinking. It was hot, but we also took showers in the afternoon. It made the evenings much more tolerable.



Saturday we say Trampled by Turtles, Two Door Cinema Club, Broken Social Scene, took a quick break and came back for Mumford and Sons, Empire of the Sun, Arcade Fire and Scissor Sisters. The Scissor Sisters were playing their last show of the tour and really brought the energy.


My friends in San Diego have been telling me to come to Coachella for years, so it was great to see Jeremy, Nicole, Tony and Amanda, but the only picture I really have is Jeremy dancing, but I wouldn't expect less.



Sunday seemed to be the hottest yet. The beer was running low and the sleep was little, but we still saw some great acts. We took refuge in the afternoon in the Heiniken tent which was air conditioned with a DJ. We saw Nas and Damian Marley (apparently any marly can cover One Love), Tinne Tempah who was unfortunately delayed, Ratatat and the closer was Kayne West. I didn't think I was that big of a Kayne fan, but he put on a two hour, 3 act show complete with a dance troupe of his greatest hits. I was singing along with every one.