So Much for the Alpine Glow

Our first attempt to reach Yosemite National Park failed miserably. We left the HHH in the mid afternoon after a morning of doing some chores and catching up on our hygiene. We drove all day, through mild but tedious traffic and successfully reached Yosemite at 8p.m. to find out that all of the ranger stations and camp grounds on the side of the park we were on had already closed for the season. Since all the camping in the valley was full as well we had no choice but to tuck our tails between our legs and retreat to a rest area back on the highway. This however put us in a prime location for the

next morning to get up early and make the most out of our stay in Yosemite. We entered the Yosemite Valley around 10:30 a.m. and slowly made our way toward the visitor center stopping at almost every turn to soak up the stunning scenery. Upon arrival we received our standard list of hikes for the area and also discovered that it was going to be hard to camp in the valley. Apparently all of the campgrounds that were still open this time of year were by reservation only, which of course, we didn't have. The ranger told us that we could take a shuttle over to Curry Village and put our name on a waiting list to see if we could get a spot to camp. Deciding that this was a primary concern, as we both did not want to drive back to a rest area again tonight, we hopped on the shuttle and headed to Curry Village hoping against hope to be able to purchase a spot for the night. When we got to the registration office we put our names on the list and got the 12th spot on the waiting list. The ranger told us that the raffle began at 3p.m. sharp and if we weren't present when they called our name, we would forfeit our spot. With this news Katie and I began to schedule our morning being sure not to venture far out of the valley, ensuring that nothing would come between us and 3p.m. We decided to do a hike, a 2 mile loop trail to Mirror Lake. We took the shuttle to the trailhead and got off with about 10 other people and began to hike up the trail. The path was also a horse trail and was completely

blanketed in horse nuggets that rent our nostrils as we strode forward. Once we got to the "lake" we discovered that it is really a seasonal river that floods, not a constant lake. Since the snow had long melted away from the previous winter, we were greeted by a small river and a large bed of sand. Though there was no mirror, nor lake for that matter, the views were still amazingly beautiful and the hike was definitely not in vain. While standing gazing at the surrounding mountains we began to hear a low murmur which steadily grew into a thunderous roar. Before long the valley was resounding with this ominous noise and everyone around us stopped to look around. Slowly the noise quieted, became a low murmur once more and was gone. We had just experienced a rock slide and even though we didn't see it, it was pretty cool. The sound distinctly reminded me of kayaking in front of a glacier in Alaska and hearing the ice calve moments after seeing it happen. Both were memorable experiences if for nothing less than being slightly frightening. After the hike we spent the rest of the time walking around Curry Village until it was 3p.m. and we could find out whether or not we would be camping in Yosemite. We were 12th on the waiting list and the ranger came out of the station and announced they had 15 spots available! We waited patiently for them to call our names, quickly snagged our golden ticket, then went to wait in line to pick out our spot. The administrative stuff complete, we headed down the road to our campground and set up camp for the night. We wanted to formally secure our site before heading out again to see the sights. That evening we had planned to do a hike through a redwood grove which was near a gas station in the park which we were in desperate need of visiting. But once we reached the gas station, dusk was setting in and we both agreed that we would rather spend the night around the fire rather than walking in the woods. Curry village has a pizza deck that offers some moderately priced and fairly decent pizza which you can enjoy out on a deck amongst nature... sorta. Since we were only camping 1 night and didn't want to buy all of the food supplies for cooking on the fire, we opted for the pizza deck. While we were eating the sun was setting behind the valley and we glimpsed Half Dome bathed in a dark orange hue; it was the alpine glow. Back near the road we had seen lots of people scattered throughout the fields waiting for this moment. We could just envision the barrage of photographs that Half Dome was experiencing at that very moment. After dinner we picked up some firewood and smores and headed back to camp. That night the Giants were playing game 4 against the Phillies and everywhere the game could be heard blaring from car stereos. This did create a different atmosphere than what you would normally think of when you imagine Yosemite valley, but it was something you could easily block out as well. The Giants ended up winning and the campground burst into cheers and applause then as if a light went out, almost completely fell silent 10 minutes later. No fires were even glowing anymore, save a couple off in the distance. It was crazy. All of a sudden shouts began to ring out then horns and whistles began to blow. From the mingled cry's we could faintly discern that a bear had entered the camp just a few rows away from ours. We saw people running over with flashlights, banging pots and pans, trying to scare the bear out of camp. This put Katie into a frightful mood. During the party this past weekend, Phil and Evan had told us a story of their friend who was camping in Yosemite and got bit by a bear through their tent. Then as we arrived to camp we were shown pictures of cars broken into and ravaged as well as canisters that bears had eaten into pieces. Even when we purchased the camping space for the night we had to have a special talk with the ranger who told us we had to put everything with an oder in

the bear box for the night. The ranger also told us that they had a bear break into a car the night before in the campground just across the street from ours. Needless to say, Katie's fear was not without merit, and this bear scare as soon as the lights went out really gave her the creeps. We stayed up pretty late, burning all of our wood as well as the numerous pamphlets we had acquired during our travels. The moon was insanely bright, not yet full but if you looked away from the fire for more than a minute the moonlight poured through the trees and illuminated the whole forest floor. Once we were ready for bed, Katie made sure that I packed the bear mace, my knife, and my hatchet in the tent so that I could protect her if the bears decided they wanted a midnight snack. We passed the night safely and I was only roused one time by shouts of a bear in the distance. I thought briefly about getting up to investigate but decided the calls would be much louder if the threat was nearer, then drifted back to sleep. In the morning we quickly packed up camp and hit the road. Last night we had devised a travel plan that forced us to adhere to a rigid time frame if we wanted to get it all in. First on our list was to travel up to Glacier Point, doing a hike along the road on the way up. We were doing great on time until we reached a construction site which we had to wait 40 minutes at before passing through. Once we got onto Glacier Point road, the traveling went much more according to plan. Our hike for

the day was a 2 mile loop trail to the top of Sentinel Dome. The appeal of this trail was its panoramic views of not only the Yosemite Valley but also the High Sierra's surrounding it. The valley looked amazing from atop the dome, everything so peaceful and still, even the waterfalls were so distant that you couldn't hear their rushing water. After the hike we continued on to Glacier Point where we were rewarded with stunning views of Vernal and Nevada Falls. We had not yet seen these waterfalls and only now were we seeing them in their weakened Autumn state, but even so, they were vastly impressive. Aside from seeing the waterfalls for the first time, the view was much the same from Glacier Point as it was from Sentinel Dome, so we did not stay long also conscious that we still had to adhere to our time schedule. From Glacier Point we headed back into the valley and took the Tioga Pass road to the east side of the park. Here we planned to visit Devils Postpile National Monument as well as Mono Lake before we ran out of daylight. We didn't really know much about either of these sites but Mono Lake came recommended by our travel book and the other is a National Monument, so you know its

got to be good. The Devils Potspile was a crazy place. When you enter the monument the road that you travel down is 8 miles of twists and turns, one lane sections, and shear drop offs along the mountain edge. During the normal tourist season you are not even allowed to drive down the road having to take a shuttle bus.

Once we reached the bottom and hiked to the monument we were greeted by a strange and intriguing sight. The postpile monument looked like it was made out of play-doh sticking straight out of the earth after being pressed through the spaghetti maker. The columns were shaped into perfect hexagons and at the top they were perfectly cut and polished by passing glaciers which adds to the impressiveness of this sight. At first glance this structure reminds one immediately of a small Devils Tower, but on closer

inspection it is evident the correlation is not warranted . Unfortunately, all of the interpretive signs in the area were stripped

bare and the self guided tours were closed up for the season so this natural wonder remains sort of a mystery for Katie and I. We left this natural oddity and headed straight for another. This time it was nearby Mono Lake. This lake is one of the oldest lakes in the North America clocking in at 1 to 3 million years old. Today, the water level has been vastly depleted; most of the water being diverged to supply the city of Los Angeles. This drop in water has exposed the tufa towers; a concentration of calcium carbonate formed underwater from the mineral springs below the then water level. These tufa towers are what make the lake an especially interesting place to visit. The lake is 3 as salty as the ocean and is home to the second largest population of migratory birds in the US. We arrived right at dusk allowing us just enough time to walk around and read the interpretive signs before the light faded completely. At this hour

especially, the place was full of photographers, many of them hoping to grab a shot of the alpine glow in this picturesque setting. We grew weary of walking in between all of the tripods

and ducking out of peoples photos so decided to head back to the parking lot having already completed the interpretive trail and now just looking around. As we turned to leave Katie noticed that the sky was turning a deep red before our eyes. It lasted only about 5 minutes, slowly changing from orange to red, red to purple, then purple to the deep blue of the evening sky. The best part about experiencing the alpine glow in this beautiful setting is that none of the

photographers flooding the shoreline with camera gear saw a second of it. We were alone looking at the sky while they all had their lenses pointed in the other direction. One lone camera man was near us and photographing the sky but it seemed that he couldn't make up his mind about the right spot and he just walked back and forth positioning his tripod but before long it was to late. With the sun finally absent from the sky we piled in the van and headed back to a the interstate, a short 4 hour drive through mountain roads to a rest area, where we fell asleep as soon as CJ quit moving.