Sunday, February 20, 2005

Had to shovel those damn steps again. That's the bad news. What's the good news? Last night it snowed hard, dumping about four inches of sticky, wet snow. I got excited when I peeked out the bedroom window right after the alarm woke me at 5:00 a.m. and saw nothing but white! Of course, I wasn't thinking about the steps. And they didn't get shoveled until later.

I left early for Yosemite Valley, hoping that the snow level had dipped and left a white blanket there, too. I had the Pathfinder in four-wheel drive, slipping and sliding down the mountain in anticipation, but the snowline showed up before the valley did, and it looked like it was going to be another rainy photo day in Half Dome's neighborhood.

I did a quick lap, taking a few half-hearted shots at mist on the valley walls, but the combination of flat blue-gray light and ongoing drizzle weren't tickling my inspiration after seeing all that fresh new snow.

Then I got it. (I'm slow sometimes.) If the snow wasn't going to come to me, I'd go to it!

I drove back up the mountain to Badger Pass, Yosemite's downhill and cross-country ski facility. On the five-mile road leading to the base, I stopped at every turnout and scoured the area for images. At the top, I walked around the immediate area and found a couple dozen more interesting compositions.

When the creative buzz wore off (and I got hungry), I headed back down into the valley. After lunch, I made the rounds again and found a few errant sunbeams shining through the clouds and playing across the walls, so I documented their mischief before the clouds closed and the sky turned solid gray again.

Photographically speaking, that was pretty much the day's end. I drove back up to the cabin, downloaded the morning's work to my laptop…and shoveled those damn stairs. Around 3:30 p.m. I headed back down, hoping for a break in the clouds, maybe even a colorful sunset. As I passed through the valley, all remained gray, so I headed down Route 140 to El Portal to gas up. Came back through the valley, read the sky and made the decision to head back to the cabin.

The weather report predicts heavy snow tonight. And I'll drive through it in the predawn darkness to see once again if it's found the way to Yosemite Valley. Maybe tomorrow…

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