Saturday, December 30, 2017

Yosemite



Tenaya Lake

Soda Springs 

Ty's 10th birthday

On Ty's birthday we hiked around El Capitan.  A few weeks before we went there was a major rockslide there and someone was killed.  We were trying to hike up to the base of the rock face to see where the climbers start.  As we were hiking through the woods leading up to the rock, we heard what sounded like thunder.  Then we realized it was rock falling, so we all took off running out of the woods.  It was very scary but everyone was alright.





 These pictures are from the top of Sentinel Dome.  The guide book said that this was one of the easiest hikes in the park (not true, as it was all uphill.)  Dallas and I stopped to take a break and Justin and Ty went on up.  We couldn't see where they went since it was around a bend.  When Dallas and I got there I started to freak out a little because it was a very steep climb up this rock and there was no clear path marked out and no rails or anything.  I could just see Dallas slipping and sliding off the side.  So I made him sit with me and wait until some more people went up so we could follow them and see which way they went.  Once we got up there, I was expecting Justin to be freaked out (remembering how Moro Rock went for him.)  When I found him, he was up there just be-boppin' around with Ty, no problem at all.  Sheesh!


Hetch Hetchy







 More rock skipping





In Kings Canyon we visited hospital rock, where we saw these rocks with divets in them that the Native women used to use to grind acorns into flour.  In Yosemite we stopped to relax by the river and we were hanging out on this big rock, when Dallas noticed that it had those divets all over it, so he took advantage of the opportunity to grind some acorns.












Our tent cabin at Half Dome Village.  I was a little nervous about this, as it was getting cold at night.  Luckily, the heater cranked out a ton of heat.  We even had to turn the temperature down.  It was pretty nice!

Kings Canyon


Zumwalt Meadow 





While we were in Kings Canyon the boys developed an obsession with skipping rocks.  After that all they wanted to do was skip rocks the whole rest of the trip.




 


 One day we enjoyed lunch on this huge rock in the river and then we dozed for a while.









One of our favorite hikes that we took was to Bubb's Creek.  We saw this bear on the way to the trail head.  Dallas found this lizard on the trail.  We were so pleasantly surprised when we got to the creek.  It was one of the prettiest places on the trip.  A rock skipping heaven.









 Here was the view from our hotel, Cedar Grove.

The road that leads back to Kings Canyon is the most cheek-clenching road I've ever been on, if you know what I mean, but it is gorgeous!