Monthly Archives: October 2021

Yosemite 2021 – Rocktober

Posted on October 19, 2021 by JimG

Monday, October 18, 2021

We pulled up in front of El Capitan, a huge block of granite.  The first thing I noticed was that there were a lot of cars parked in front of it.  I asked why there were so many cars and he responded “Rocktober!”   This is the month for climbing up El Capitan.

Earlier the guide mentioned that when you stand in front of El Capitan, it feels like it looms out at that top, he said that it doesn’t.  He was right, it felt like wall came out over us, but it was an illusion.   We walked into the meadow to get an unobstructed view of the El Capitan.

El Captain is three times the height of the empire state building.   The climbers on the wall looked like small specs, barely visible.

The guide talked about the movie “Free Solo” which was an award-winning documentary about one individual who made the climb to the top with minimal equipment (shoes and chalk), no ropes and no safety harnesses. The guide went on to talk about the various forms or rock climbing and what equipment is used.

I have a fear of heights, I feel uncomfortable looking at people standing on a ledge, if my hotel balcony doesn’t have sturdy railing, I won’t go out on the balcony, the glass skywalk in the Grand Canyon is not on my list of places to visit.

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Yosemite 2021 – Yosemite Valley

Posted on October 19, 2021 by JimG

Monday, October 18, 2021

Our next stop was the Yosemite Valley.  The trip into the valley was nothing short of breathtaking.   As we approached it, I couldn’t believe the view that I was getting from my side of the car.  It continued to get better and better.

We spent the rest of the day in Yosemite Valley since the road to Glacier Point was closed.   I was OK with that, every direction I looked at, it was unique and different.  It is not one of those places that you see once and mark it off the list of places that you have seen. The clouds rolled by, the light changed and it kept illuminating different things such as the color of the rocks, the shape of them, the waterfalls that seemed to be invisible and then suddenly illuminated.

After spotting what our guide called the lower falls, he suggested we hiked over to it.  I was happy that it was a flat hike as my calves were still feeling the burn from the 400 feet downhill and uphill hike earlier.   On the way, there was a lot of commenting about seeing a bear next to the falls.  We did see the bear at a distance for a few seconds but nothing to get a good picture.

We stopped for lunch at the Ahwahnee hotel which is inside the park.  It is a gorgeous hotel built in 1927. After we had lunch the guide told me that it was this hotel that was the inspiration behind the Stanly Kubrick’s set used in “The Shinning”.

As I looked around, I could see it, but me thinking that I know my Hollywood history thought that everyone knows that the inspiration came from The Stanley Hotel in Colorado.  It was after the tour that I realized, the original inspiration behind the novel was The Stanley Hotel, but the inspiration for the sets used in the movie was inspired by The Ahwahnee. and if you google it, you will clearly see it.   Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures, nor did I ride the elvators!

 

 

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Yosemite 2021 – Tuolumne Giant Sequoias

Posted on October 18, 2021 by JimG

The hike to the giant sequoias in Tuolumne Monday, October 18, 2021

I have wanted to go to Yosemite for a very long time but every time that I started to plan this adventure, I would become overwhelmed; the park is over 1000 square miles, there are five different entrances, should I stay in one of the park’s lodges or should I stay outside of it?   I would end up realizing that this was going to require more research and would set it aside.

I finally decided to dive in and go.  The drive from Los Angeles to Oakhurst took about 5 hours but we took our time and stopped for lunch along the way.   We arrived mid-afternoon, found a place to eat, turned in early.  I knew that the tour started sixty miles north of where I was staying and according to Google maps, it would take close to two hours to drive to get there.

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