Death Valley National Park, CA

Death Valley should have been temporarily named Rainbow Valley for the day, as we definitely saw a few! The Mr. and I went out of our way to drive through this national park, and we were glad we did. It was such an interesting drive and beautiful in it's own way.

Layers of colored rock.

Our first rainbow of the day-one of many!

Double

We had to stop the car at a lookout point in order to see where this rainbow ended. It was so cool to look over a cliff and follow the rainbow down to the bottom.

Some rain, another rainbow and beautiful contrasting earth tones.

We did see our fair share of dust, but I would guess October is one of the greenest times to visit Death Valley.

More beautiful designs carved out of the rock.

Not in October!

Huge sand dunes. If you didn't know you were in California, you'd expect to see a white robed man leading a camel or two.

Death Valley has the hottest, driest and lowest locations in North America - down to 282 feet below sea level! We weren't sure where the lowest spot was, but we did see this sign. An odd sign to see so far from from the sea!

Yosemite, CA- Way Up High

These "way up high" shots were taken from Glacier Point. Glacier Point's elevation is 7214 feet - over 3,200 feet above the floor of Yosemite Valley. Incredible!

Half Dome

Looking straight down 3,200 feet!

I think this is Vernal Fall.

I think this is Nevada Fall.

A tiny lizard amongst the pine needles. I caught this shot right before he scurried away.

Driving through the Wawona tunnel that is almost 1 mile long and drilled through solid granite.

In Yosemite Village we visited several museums and shops. Outside one of the buildings was a cross-section of a Giant Sequoia tree with it's rings labeled. It was quite interesting. This tree once grew in the Mariposa Grove, but fell in 1919 at the ripe old age of 1000 years!

Outdoor museum showing how local natives once lived.

Local wildlife.

El Capitan - a 3000-foot high chunk of granite and a world famous climbing destination.

El Capitan again, see the climbers? (See image below.)

A closer shot.

An even closer shot! I think it would be interesting watching these guys set up camp for the night. I would guess they had a hanging tent somewhere among all that gear. (Link photo not mine.)

One of the famous U-shaped, glacier-formed valleys - Yosemite Valley with El Capitan on the left. This photo is what is called "Tunnel View" as it is the shot a lot of tourists snap at the scenic viewing area just on the other side of the Wawona Tunnel.

Bridalveil Fall

It falls 617 feet.

More curvy roads on the way back to our hotel!

The next day The Mr. took a hike by himself to Taft Point and Sentinel Dome and caught these photos. Taft Point is 3,800 feet above the valley floor. Can you make out the climbers on El Capitan? The Mr. saw them!

See, there they are! Ha ha. I realized that there was no way I could prove to you that there are climbers in this photo, so I circled them. Actually, while adding the circle, I accidentally zoomed in on the photo and I believe these are not people at all, but two hanging tents.

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A shot of the 3,800 foot drop.

No comment.

Half Dome

Nevada Fall

The Mr. unknowingly channeled some Ansel Adams when taking this shot and I think it is funny how close it is to the photo I linked to! I just need to brighten it a bit and make it black and white.

This little chipmunk wanted to share The Mr.'s hiking snack. :)

Stay tuned for the next stop in our October adventure!

Yosemite, CA- Mariposa Grove

Oct. 14, 2011

We felt like ants as we looked up under the towering giants around us. The Mariposa Grove is home to Giant Sequoias and there is no way to explain how incredibly massive these trees really are - you must stop and visit for yourself someday if you haven't before! The Mr. and I decided to take the tram tour with audio headsets and the narrative was informative and very interesting. We thoroughly enjoyed it. At the end of the tram tour, you can choose to hop off and walk through some of the trees on your way back to the parking lot and see the trees up close and personal. Although many of the trees are surrounded by wooden fences in order to protect the shallow roots, we were able to get up close to quite a few and even walk through one. It was amazing.

We were told these ravens were skilled enough to open a backpack zipper and eat your lunch. They are smart birds!

Bachelor and Three Graces

The Grizzly Giant. Follow the left side of the trunk upwards and you will see a large branch. This branch is almost SEVEN FEET IN DIAMETER! That's how big these trees really are. Photos just don't do them justice!

The Faithful Couple is two trees that are attached in the center, but not at the bottom or at the top. It's pretty cool to see! Another cool tree is The Telescope Tree, but I missed getting a good shot of that one. A fire hollowed out the center of the tree, but because of the nature of these trees and how they are sustained, the tree is still alive. Click here to see it explained. You can stand inside the trunk of the living tree, look straight up and see the sky out the tippy-top of the tree. These amazing trees were created to withstand forest fires!

The base of The Faithful Couple.

One of those "I feel like an ant" moments. These trees are humongous!

The Clothespin Tree is another example of a Sequoia that lives through forest fires. According to the audio tour, the opening at the base of this tree is large enough to drive a car through.

Fallen Wawona Tunnel Tree

A Sugar Pine Cone - not from a Giant Sequoia as their cones are actually quite small. This photo was taken at the Mariposa Grove Museum - a log cabin originally built in 1930.

There are many etchings on the walls of the tunnel through the California Tunnel Tree. In this photo you can see the carvings on the left, and the bark of the tree on the right as it is slowly covering up the etchings in an attempt to heal itself. Just one more example of how cool these amazing trees really are.

1896 is supposedly the earliest date found inscribed along the walls of the tunnel. You can see the red "blood" of the tree in this photo.

Another shot where you can see that the bark of the tree is now curling into the tunnel and covering up old carvings on it's tunnel walls. It's hard to explain why this happens, but it is the same reason why the Faithful Couple grew together and the Telescope Tree is still alive. The most-alive part of the tree is not the core.

California Tunnel Tree and The Mr.

Bachelor and Three Graces

The Fallen Monarch. Check out this historical photo taken in 1899 of Troop F, 6th Calvalry.

There's more to come, stay tuned! :)