Small Adventures Bring the Greatest Pleasures

In Northern California, the usual damp skies, chilly nights, dark clouds, and heavy rains have haunted us no less this winter. It rained for 10 straight days before we had even a partly cloudy day last week. Then, Friday night it came down hard once again but it didn't keep us from taking an adventure the next day to one of the most beautiful places in the world, Yosemite Valley.

My husband, Noodlehead (good friend who lives near by) and I set out at 6a.m. on Saturday morning determined to see a gorgeous white, snow covered Yosemite Valley. As we drove along a peeking sun rising through the dark skies to the east, the drive was peaceful and lonely. With little to no traffic on the highways, we past the rich agricultural communities of Oakdale, Avalon, and a ghostly Chinese camp.

After nearly 3 hours, we found ourselves speechlessly entering the beautiful meadows of Yosemite Valley and the welcoming sounds of the gushing Merced river. The storm from the previous night left behind damp roads vanishing quickly as the sun made its way through the curtain clouds and tall standing pines. We got of the car at various points for shots at Bridelveil Falls, El Capitan, Yosemite Falls (above) and Half Dome.

As the day went on, the sun decided to stick around and lead us along the trials of Vernal Falls and the valley floor. Without our hiking shoes, we did not plan on doing hikes but with the three of us, you just never know and sure enough we were at the top of Vernal Falls (above right) before we knew it. We also visited the beautiful Mirror Lake which serves no better purpose than to give all visitors the opportunity to cheat the strenuous 12 hour hike and reach Half Dome, its reflection in the water of course. Couldn't get a good picture of Half Dome but the above (left) picture of a neighbor will do just as well.

Afterwards, we had a picnic lunch and continued on our way to our final stop, the nicely remodeled Yosemite Falls (above). It provided scenic paved trails, informational bulletins about the surrounding animals and vegetation as well as sitting areas for those who just want to sit and relax. And, that's exactly what we did the rest of the loooonnnnggggg way home!