Back From the Sierras

We are back from a wonderful trip to Yosemite and then the Twin Lakes area near Bridgeport, California.

Below, the drive into the Yosemite Valley:


It was an eventful trip, which included most of the Yosemite Valley losing electric power due to a fire. For the last 24 hours or so of our stay the restaurants and stores in Curry Village were running on generator power, while the rest of us were in the dark. Fortunately we had our camping gear and so had plenty of lanterns and flashlights!

Click to enlarge:


We hiked to Vernal and Lower Yosemite Falls and explored the Mariposa Grove of Giant Redwoods. We also checked out the beautiful Ahwahnee Hotel. More to come on those experiences later in the week.

Below, El Capitan:


After two full days at Yosemite we moved on to our regular camping spot outside Bridgeport, California.

Fishing on Robinson Creek was nonexistent, possibly because of a sad mudslide just a couple weeks ago, which completely wiped out the hatchery near Independence. There is a closer hatchery in the Mammoth area, but we were told a year or two ago that the fish stocking the Twin Lakes and Robinson Creek area come from Independence. So no Rainbow Trout for dinner this year!

Below, the early morning moon in the sky above Yosemite's Camp Curry:


Midway through our camping week we took a day trip to Reno, Nevada, in order to fly our oldest daughter home for summer internship obligations. Reno is roughly two hours north of Bridgeport via the 395. It was enjoyable seeing a little more of the country, including Carson City, which is along the way.

While we were in Reno we toured the National Automobile Museum, which was worth the drive.

Robinson Creek:


While in Reno, we learned about the earthquake which had hit Southern California. Fortunately when our daughter arrived home the worst damage she discovered was toppled stacks of CDs. A couple fragile items had tipped over or fallen but happily didn't break!

A friend comes to visit our campsite:


I have several posts planned for the next few days, in which I'll share some more photos of our travels, as well as review the Yosemite experience.

Last week was a busy news week -- thanks to the C. Crane Radio my husband got me a few years ago, I get great reception in the mountains and don't miss a word of Rush (grin) -- and I'll probably be posting a roundup or two of some of the articles which caught my eye while reading the papers up north.

The Yosemite Fire creates a layer of haze over Lower Twin Lake:


As a side note, our camping week is the one time of year I actually pay to read the New York Times, and that week is definitely enough! The bias drips from the pages.

Did you know McCain injected race into the campaign by responding to Obama saying people will try to scare voters because he's black? That's how the NYT framed the issue. Did you know Obama is "a man of few rhetorical stumbles"? That was given as fact in a news article on Page One. (The Times writers and editors need to read here and here, just for starters...) And did you know Friday's Republican House revolt over oil policy didn't make yesterday's front page?

Our trip was exciting to the end -- on our drive home we bought a puppy! My husband had been impressed with a pet store he stopped in last summer, particularly as the prices are far less expensive up north in a more rural area, and we decided it was time to give our dog Chance, who we rescued and adopted last summer, a little brother.

Like Chance, the puppy is a Chihuahua-Dachsund mix. No name yet! So far Chance seems to be taking to the little guy. Chance came to us already housebroken so we are having a new experience dealing with a puppy. It will be a busy week adding a second dog to the mix, but it was a nice way to come home.

Monday Update: Here's a closeup of the puppy. Thanks to all for the name suggestions in the comments. (The latest my children have come up with is Zorro.) Keep 'em coming!


Related Posts: Mariposa Grove, Vernal Fall, The Ahwahnee Hotel, and Yosemite Falls.