Yosemite 2007 June 8 - San Francisco Here We Come

We woke up to a very smokey campground. The good side of this, is that Bob was able to take some interesting pictures in the morning.








Our last stellar blue jay.


Our cooler is prepared for it's last ride. Although Bob had it strapped shut well for the airline trip, TSA opened it up for inspection and didn't pack it as well and the hinges broke apart. We left it in San Francisco.


When we arrived in San Francisco we drove straight to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was foggy. We also drove up the bluffs across from the bridge but the fog was definitely too thick there for us to get a good view.








We crossed back into San Francisco and checked into the hotel and had a traditional lunch of soup in a bread bowl at the wharf.
















Then we walked down to Pier 39 to see the sea lions.












We drove over to Golden Gate Park hoping to see the Japanese Tea Garden, but it was closed for the day when we got there. All was not lost as Jenny found the Shakespeare Garden and fell in love with it.












We went back to the city and rode the cable car until the end, and then walked back to the hotel. We then called it a night.

Yosemite 2007 June 7 - Yosemite Valley / Mirror Lake

Our destination today was the Mirror Lake Trail in the Yosemite Valley. This was an easy one mile hike to the lake and then we continued another three miles looping through Tenaya Canyon. On the way there we caught sight of another bear.


We saw these ducks on a pond off the trail. First they are swimming by themselves and then then all loaded up on mom.




A butterfly on the trail.




This picture of the stellar blue jay is one of my favorites for the trip.
























Mirror Lake is pretty small. We actually passed by it when we started the hike thinking the real thing must be further down the trail. Mountain lakes go through a natural process of shrinking and in spring and early summer Mirror Lake is a small lake, later in the summer it becomes "Mirror Puddle" and then eventually, "Mirror Sandbar". So after we hiked around Tenaya Canyon we backed tracked to see Mirror Lake. Here is the reflection it is famous for.














After the hike we took a much appreciated shower at Curry Village in the valley and had some pizza. Then we walked through the grand Ahwahnee hotel and grounds. When we arrived back at our campground we found that the winds had changed and we were getting some smoke from the prescribed burn in the area. It really didn't bother us, but we did a lot of cleaning and airing out of our gear when we got home.

Yosemite 2007 June 6 - Glacier Point

Today we drove up to Glacier Point, a great spot to see the valley from up above and all the granite that surrounds it. When you see half dome, think of the people that hiked up to the top - a 17 mile round trip.








(Here you can see Upper & Lower Yosemite Falls. We hiked the Upper Fall.)


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Bob, John & Jenny hiked part of the Panorama Trail from Glacier Point.














On the drive back to the campground, I spotted a bear and grabbed the video camera only to find out it was at the end of the tape. I raced to the back of the van and unwrapped a new tape and as soon as I was getting in position for my shoot, the bear turned around and ran out of view.




There was a prescribed burn by our campground. The winds were favorable and the smoke didn't bother us.