Upper Midwest - Day Fourteen (Yosemite Valley)

Biking and Hiking Yosemite Valley means, of course, entering Yosemite National Park


The views from the Valley floor are iconic:



Um, because I have Deede Dixon's bike just sitting in the back of my car, I think I will take advantage, and bike around Yosemite Valley!! They have a nice bike map, but it is kind of hard to get lost:


It really is too big an area to just walk around. I saw couples running/jogging, so that would be a good way to cover a lot of flat ground, but the bicycle is PERFECT - the blacktop is smooth, and I have been blessed to visit at a very "low traffic" day/time-of-year.

I locked the bike and hiked up to Mirror Lake (which, being a "seasonal lake", was dry) - but it still had beautiful views:

I got back to the car, had lunch, drove around

to the Upper Pines/Trailhead parking area. Once I parked, I was able to ride the bike about a mile down the (restricted) road to the trailhead (The Mist Trail). I locked it up and started the hike to Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall. It was a pretty cool hike - 9.8 miles in 3 1/2 hours:

It was strenuous going up (I pass people sitting just getting their breath - that's ok, it's not a race!), and Vernal Fall is beautiful:

as is the view back down the river bed behind me:

note: that IS NOT the trail I hiked up!
I continued the hike up (see the tiny people)

to Nevada Fall

the trail goes up and around it to the left, and I felt pretty good, so I continued up into Little Yosemite Valley

The Merced River is beautiful! It was so still and peaceful (there were no people up here):

I saw a sign pointing me toward Merced Lake, but it did not have any milage on it, so I figured What the heck. I walked (pretty flat) for about another mile when I came upon another sign, but this one said that Merced Lake was 8.4 miles ahead! I think that's as far as we go! So I turned around and headed back down - at the top of Nevada Fall, I go left (over the Fall)

and go down the other side of the Valley on the John Muir Trail. The views from this trail are incredible!


maybe this was where John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt stood?

down the trail, back to the car, and leave the Park as the day is ending

Thank you God for a Beautiful Day!

Upper Midwest - Day Thirteen (Modesto - Hetch Hetchy Reservoir)

Today I will be driving up to hike around the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir (100 miles). With the back-and-forth to the Evergreen Lodge, it will be 130 miles altogether.

It looks a lot more fun with Terrain View:


Throughout the Park, there is evidence of the forest fires that raged through here in August 2013:

but growth is coming back, and logging efforts are clearing much of the devastation. At a turn in the park, the first view of Hetch Hetchy is wonderful:


I was up at Hetch Hetchy early in the morning 8 years ago, and was the only person in this magical place. John Muir said "Hetch Hetchy Valley is a grand landscape garden, one of Nature's rarest & most precious mountain temples." Initially protected by the establishment of Yosemite National Park, in 1913 the city of San Francisco won congressional approval to build the O’Shaughnessy Dam which buried this extraordinary wilderness valley under 300 feet of water. There is currently a fight to restore Hetch Hetchy (click here for hetchhetchy.org).



I wanted to do a morning hike, go back to the Evergreen Lodge to fill my water bottles and eat lunch, then do a longer hike in the afternoon. I thought the hike to Lookout Point would be perfect:
moderate,
2 miles round-trip,
begin at Hetch Hetchy Entrance Station,
"This quick hike takes you to a viewpoint overlooking Hetch Hetchy Valley."

Unfortunately, they had closed that trail "because of a wasp's nest". Ok, so I figured I would do another short trail - Poopenaut Valley:
strenuous,
3 miles round-trip,
"This trail provides quick access to the Tuolumne River, descending 1,229 feet to the river below O'Shaughnessy Dam."

Hey, I'm in pretty good shape - how "strenuous" can it be?

Of course, I'm used to going up first, then down - get the hard part over first.

Down at the river, looking upstream:

looking downstream:

and of course I love the meadows!

note - it was pretty "strenuous" coming up the last half from the river, but just put one foot in front of the other, and that gets the job done. Hey, that's why I do my Step Classes at the MAC! (Thank you, Shannon)

Back to the Evergreen Lodge, where they let me check-in early!

The trees on the property are wonderful!

and the pool "ain't half-bad, either"


So I altered my plans and took a swim and hung out at the pool for a little while. I was the only person there, in 73 degrees and blazing sunshine! Am I doing something wrong?? Wendy says that I am "taking advantage of opportunities", and I learned a long time ago to never argue with my wonderful wife, so I guess I will just enjoy this to the fullest.

Later, I parked up at the dam:


For my afternoon hike I was going across the dam and east along the north side of the reservoir - the Falls (Tueeulaia, Wapama and Rancheria) were all supposed to be dry, but we'll see what we see. The view from the dam looking east is Iconic!


It is a nice place to hike - there is almost no elevation change (a pleasant contrast to this morning's adventure), and the views are pretty nice:


This is a perfect time of day to do this hike - the changing sunlight on the granite is fabulous!




10.22 miles - a GREAT afternoon Hike!


I hate to say it, but my timing was perfect - I got back to the car at 6, just as it was starting to get dark. Headlights on for the drive back to the Lodge. I ended the day with a root beer, a rib-eye steak, and a big glass of milk (smores for dessert) - Thank You God for a Beautiful Day!

Upper Midwest - Day Twelve (Berkeley - Haggin Museum - Modesto)

Deede and I walked around University of California, Berkeley, visiting the Bancroft Library and the Berkeley Art Museum:

Then I dropped Deede off at the movies, and I headed over to the Haggin Museum in Stockton, then down to the Super 8 in Modesto:


The UC Berkeley campus has some beautiful spots:




Nick Hadley was out here for the Physics program (Masters? or was this his PhD?)
Unfortunately, the Bancroft Library has a "no photographs" policy - they had 2 Thomas Hill paintings, and a nice Herman Herzon painting of Yosemite.
Unfortunately, The Berkeley Art Museum had neither their Bierstadt nor their Heade nor their Thomas Hill paintings on display.

So I dropped off Deede and headed off to the Haggin Museum in Stockton. Wow de wow de wow!!!
1) They have an EXCELLENT collection of Hudson River School artists.
2) They currently have an exhibition titled "Heroes & Villains: The Comic Book Art of Alex Ross". (no photos allowed in the exhibition)
3) They are closed Monday and Tuesday, and the Wednesday hours start at 1:30 PM, which is right when I got there!


I was allowed to take photos of the regular collection - I took pictures of 26 works of art:
Albert Bierstadt (9)
Robert Albert Blakelock (2)
William Bradford (2)
Alfred Thompson Bricher (1)
Jasper Cropsey (1)
Childe Hassam (1)
Thomas Hill (1)
George Inness (1)
David Johnson (2)
William Keith (1)
Homer Dodge Martin (1)
Thomas Moran (1)
Julian Rix (1)
Auguste Rodin (1)
and a combination: John Frederick Kensett and Daniel Huntington - Morning Mist, 1873

I will limit this blog to six:
Albert Bierstadt - After a Norther, Bahamas - after 1878

Albert Bierstadt - Yosemite Valley - c. 1863-75

Albert Bierstadt - Sunset in the Yosemite Valley - c. 1868

William Bradford - The Berg - 1870s-80s

Alfred Thompson Bricher - Marine - n.d.

George Inness - the Juniata River - 1856 (very early in his career)

This is the upstairs gallery - the museums I have visited seem to have the most beautiful spaces:


And then it was time to check into the Super 8 in Modesto:




Wow - thank you God for a GREAT day, and God Bless Deede on her adventures!

Wednesday, October 29, 2014
110 miles!

since the Grateful Dead are from the Bay Area:
The Grateful Dead - Two From The Vault (2 cds)