Tag Archives: Yosemite

Winter Sunset on the Merced River (Yosemite National Park)

Winter Sunset on the Merced River (Yosemite National Park), originally uploaded by Robin Black Photography. They say pro nature photographers (including Black, who kindly posted this picture) flock like swallows to Yosemite in February, for the low sunsets and the colors at Horsetail Fall. 

Snow falling and night falling oh so fast…in Yosemite

From the Yosemite Ranger's lovely Twitter feed. A picture:  And a poem… Snow falling and night falling fast, oh, fastIn a field I looked into going past,And the ground almost covered smooth in snow,But a few weeds and stubble showing last. The woods around it have it—it is theirs.All animals are smothered in their lairs.IContinue reading “Snow falling and night falling oh so fast…in Yosemite”

Yosemite backcountry July 2010: It’s still coming down

At the wilderness center in Yosemite Valley yesterday, I overheard the rangers discussing in amazement the weather, which surprised forecasters by producing not just some rain, but substantial and painful hail this week in the mountains. From last Wednesday, in the early afternoon at Lower Ottoway Lake: Those innocent-looking clouds built up and gave usContinue reading “Yosemite backcountry July 2010: It’s still coming down”

Bears and Minivans in Yosemite (the beta)

Fascinating study in the Journal of Mammology sent to me by a reader. The opening of the study and the headline in the Los Angeles Times agree: Minivans in Yosemite are targets for bears, maybe because they're usually inhabited by messy young children. As reporter Carla Hall put it: It's official. Those discerning car critics,Continue reading “Bears and Minivans in Yosemite (the beta)”

First Snow in Yosemite (fall of 2009)

A week ago yesterday, it was 96 degrees in Yosemite Valley. Yesterday it snowed — pretty hard — forcing the closure of the road to Glacier Point, and forcing me to walk up from the valley. But the beauty of the snow was a fine compensation, as Emerson would say…here's Sentinel Rock, from the so-calledContinue reading “First Snow in Yosemite (fall of 2009)”

Stink-Eye from a Deer

The Federal government took control of Yosemite Valley in 1890, the second chapter of The National Parks documentary reminds us, and prohibited all hunting. So it’s been twenty or more generations since a deer in Yosemite Valley has encountered a human with the intent to kill. They have less fear of us than we haveContinue reading “Stink-Eye from a Deer”

A Good Practical Immortality (in Yosemite)

Talk of immortality! After a whole day in the woods, we are already immortal. When is the end of such a day? –John Muir, from his notebooks…and here, via Timknows, a picture of a favorite place I and friends will be visiting soon, Washburn Lake, in the Yosemite backcountry. All this to announce that I'mContinue reading “A Good Practical Immortality (in Yosemite)”