We were all up shortly before dawn, though none of us slept particularly well. Something about cabins that are more than 125 years old...not only are they authentic, but the walls are very thin. A card game among the family next to us had us up later than we'd hoped. Nonetheless, we awoke to gray skies and a steady, cold drizzle. We filled up at breakfast and then hopped in our car for the 45-minute drive north, up and down into Yosemite Valley. We climbed from 5,000 ft to over 7,000 ft at Badger Pass (where there was still eight to 10 feet of snow along the road) and then steadily down into the valley. By the time we reached the valley floor, the clouds were very low and we did not even catch an early glimpse of any of the falls or cliffs. That changed, as the cloud rolled through quickly, giving us alternating periods of soft and steady rain.
For anyone who has seen Yosemite, you'll know that words don't suffice
. Even in the rain, it was everything for which we had hoped, and more. The crowds at the park, particularly in the summer, are legendary, so we were fortunate that the traffic was not worse. We did deposit our car for most of our day in the valley, and relied on the Park Service shuttles, which are mandatory during busier times of year. Once again, each shuttle we rode was full of Europeans -- a true cacophony of different languages surrounding us. We saw the major sights and then went to the Ahwahnee Hotel for lunch. The lodge is one of the nicest and most historic in any of the National Parks. It was originally built in the late 1920's by the Park Service's first director, to attract wealthy Americans to the parks, hoping that they would donate funds and lobby Congress for additional park funding. It was a beautiful hotel, and our lunch (far more economical than supper would have been), was great. The views were marred by clouds, but memorable nonetheless. The hotel was used as the basis for the "Overlook Hotel" in The Shining, including the very creepy black and red elevator banks
.
After some more touring around the valley, we retrieved the car and decided to drive further north, to the Hetch Hetchy area. Again, for those who braved the Burns' documentary, Hetch Hetchy had been devoted a lot of time. John Muir fought an ultimately failed effort for 30 years to prevent the State of California from constructing a dam in this valley, which was said to rival Yosemite in beauty. Even though it is within the confines of the park, a now closed loophole allowed Congress to authorize the dam -- which had been successfully blocked by President Roosevelt during his first term. Lore is that Muir died of a broken heart, as he passed away shortly after the appropriation was made. To this day, the dam there provides the primary water supply for San Francisco. It was a beautiful drive up to the dam area, but it was also eerie, as we were the only people on the roads. After we left the valley, we were literally on our own for a couple hours. As we finally reached the Hetch Hetchy entrance -- we'd had to leave Yosemite Park, and travel about 20 miles through Forest Service land, and then reenter the park near the dam. Anyway, snow was beginning to fall and the fog was alarmingly dense as we reached the lone ranger manning the entrance booth. She told us we had 40 minutes before they were going to lock the gate, regardless of whether we were back or not. Armed with this little nugget, we drove in, and the snow came harder and faster
. The road was very narrow with sheer cliff on one side. We made it to within about 3 miles of the dam proper before I called a halt and turned around. The weather was getting very bad, there was NO ONE ANYWHERE, and I had visions of being locked in the park overnight.
The snow continued, but turned to rain as we returned to Yosemite Valley. Had a steady rain as we ate dinner back in the valley, at the Yosemite Lodge, and around 7:00pm we got in the car for what should have been a 45-minute drive back to Wawona. As soon as we left the valley, the rain had turned to snow -- a wet, sticky snow. As we reached 4,00 feet, the sign said that chains were required. I was sure they were not referring to us -- how could they? -- so we pressed on. The snow got worse the higher we got, and my speed dropped, to the point we were crawling along at around 15 mph, hoping that we would not lose traction or slip. It seemed like hours before we reached the high point at Badger Pass, and started down. I do believe the downhill ride was more harrowing, as I was certain several times I would not be able to stop in an emergency. We did eventually drive out of the snow, back to rain, and by the time we reached Wawona we were all physically and mentally drained. Sleep came fast and deep.
Calm Before the Storm...
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Yosemite National Park, California, United States
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