Wednesday, February 16, 2005

All night long rain pattered persistently on the cabin roof. Whenever I'd awake, I'd listen wistfully for the silence of snowfall, but my efforts were rewarded only by the steady beat of raindrops. I awoke shortly before 5:00 a.m. for the last time, still listening to the gentle rhythm above. No hurry to get out before sunrise today. I took my time fixing coffee and breakfast, checked email, and cleaned my gear in preparation for another wet day. I figured I'd skip the traditional stop at Tunnel View and go directly to the valley floor looking for misty forest scenes.

Like yesterday, hope bloomed brightly (inducing a stop at Tunnel View) as several large holes interrupted the solid gray overcast allowing blue sky to peep through and shed beams of warm-toned light on our blue-gray landscape. They closed before actually illuminating anything, and the cold rain continued.

Back to Plan A, I headed for the valley floor and made the rounds of the major features, lingering only at Half Dome to capture its mist-wrapped features in a variety of compositions. You can't have too many Half Dome pictures.

After searching the valley, I took Route 120 west and shot misty compositions like the first two shown here.

Then, another sliver of clear sky moved in. I captured quite a collection of waterfalls on 120, including the one shown here, which I think is the upper section of the Wildcat Creek falls (can't find a Yosemite map that shows anything else).

I tried to follow the light back to the valley, but it dissipated before offering any special visual treats. So, I explored the valley again, returning to Half Dome (which did have some blue sky and white clouds behind it for a few moments).

While I was lining up new Half Dome angles, a small herd of deer arrived, feeding as they walked. They allowed me to keep leapfrogging ahead, unafraid but too shy to willingly give me a direct look. I finally caught an alert moment when one of then paused from eating the lichen on a fallen log to look up as a Yosemite bus slowly drove by.

After that, I drove down to El Portal for gas and a look for more images along the way (didn't find any). By now the light had begun to fade, and the cloud cover closed solid. I called it a day, and headed back to the cabin to try and post this report before meeting Kay and Don Pitts for dinner at their bed and breakfast inn.

Maybe it'll snow tomorrow…keep your fingers crossed for me.

« Back  |  Next »