Yosemite Commute
August 4, 2014
Okay, annual go-to-Yosemite trip. Oh yay, oh yay!
New thing this year, Peter has his license and got to drive. He actually shared the wheel, but here he is on the uppity-downity part of the commute… that wonderful stretch along Hwy 4 between Stockton and Copperopolis.
Oh how I love this road (especially sitting in the back seat, taking drive-bys, and messing with the settings on my iPhone):
Now on the little connector road between Hwy 4 and Hwy 120 — the O’Byrnes Ferry Road – this is Lake Tulloch:
Then on to Hwy 120, past Groveland and a late lunch at PJ’s, and finally on our way to the park:
First signs of the fire damage… could almost be a fall shot… but it’s definitely not:
At last, entering Yosemite at the northern-most of the two west gates:
More evidence of fire damage:
And smoke still visible:
In nine days in Tuolumne Meadows, we saw little to no smoke… there were a couple times– when at the top of domes or peaks–we saw the smoke from some small fires that broke out for short periods, but nothing from the big ones that shut down portions of the park in the week before our arrival.
We got some rain, however, which was very welcomed! Here’s a shot as we are passing Tenaya Lake just before Tuolumne Meadows. Yay, almost there!
Arrived at about 6:45pm, time enough to unload all our stuff into cabin #5 and make our 7:15 dinner reservation in the lodge.
Happy.