I won't try to post them all here, and if you're one of my FB friends you can see a bunch of them there. But here are some of my favorites.These are from Manzanar ... a very sobering place. I can't believe what the Japanese Americans had to endure.
Memorial at one of the few remaining gravesites:
The cemetary:
Paper cranes flutter in the wind:
It was warm, but the breeze kept it bearable. And the ranger let Jed & I sit inside of their museum (in the foyer) while Marianne visited the exhibits. Then I went in to check them out. It reminded me of the Museum of Tolerance in many ways.
From there we headed to Mammoth Lakes. Besides being a premier ski destination, it's also one of the many gateways to the Pacific Crest Trail, which goes from Mexico to Canada. We went up and took a stroll around Horseshoe Lake. Couldn't be away from the car for long, though, because we had food in it & we were in very active bear country.
Jed got to go swimming but chose to just get his feet wet.
Mammoth is in an active volcanic zone, and there's evidence of it all around the lake. This is one HUGE root ball!
Evidence of the volcanic activity:
Jed is an incredible traveler.
It doesn't hurt that I carry doggy jerkey in my pockets & he knows that whenever we stop he gets a small treat!
After our overnight in Mammoth we headed to Yosemite, but not without a stop at Mono Lake to see their tufa formations first.
Then it was on to Yosemite! We had to climb to almost 10,000 feet before heading down into Tuolumne Meadow and the Valley.
Many people don't realize that there are giant Sequoias outside of the traditional groves. Here's an example of one growing right next to the highway on Tioga Pass. It's the tree with the red trunk:
And the "high country". It really is magnificent.
There are pack mule outfitters that will haul your stuff to camps way up in the mountains. We saw two pack trains head out.
One of the many lakes along the highway ...
One of the downsides to bringing Jed along is that he's not able to walk any of the trails. This is typical in any National Park, not just Yosemite. Dogs are allowed on anything that's paved, so we were able to go to the base of Yosemite Falls. Marianne wanted to take a short walk into Tuolumne Meadow, so Jed & I took a break from driving. Marianne found some cute inhabitants in her stroll!
Then it was off to the Valley!
My secret getaway in the Valley is the Cathedral Picnic area. There are never very many people there, even on the busiest of days. Yesterday was no exception. I have a 30' lead that I attach to Jed's harness so that he can swim in the Merced. While it's not particularly deep at this time of year it's still running pretty fast & I want to be able to haul him in if need be. He had a blast and would have swam all day if I'd let him.
Believe it or not, there are people on that rock face. El Capitan is one of the premier climbing spots in the world. It's fun to sit with a good pair of binoculars and watch them inch their way up.
There are LOTS of people visiting from all over the world. It's fun to just sit and listen to all of the different languages being spoken.
And then you look at how small you really are, compared to the magnitude of the valley ...
Had to have a little cool refreshment! Jed got the cone (with a little ice cream included).
Yosemite Falls. It's not as full as it was even a few weeks ago, but still has more water than it normally does this time of year.
And people still scramble all over the rocks to get down to the water. Pretty dangerous if you ask me ...
Depending on which way you get into the Valley, this is what greets you. We said our good-byes from the Tunnel View.
It was good to get away, even if it was only for a couple of days. I might just make it until my next camping trip now!
Laura -- and Jed
carold
