Winter Has Arrived

Winter has officially arrived in Yosemite . The official indicators of winter, at least for me, include 1) The Four-Mile Trail being closed because of avalanche danger, 2) Badger Pass opening, and 3) I now have to don a fleece jacket. Being from New England, I still don’t think the climate in Yosemite really qualifies as winter (not when you can ski in shorts)—it’s more like an extended autumn with snow. I recently rode the train from California to Boston, and my route on the Empire Builder took me through Washington, Montana, North Dakota—states that really look and feel cold! When we stopped in Fargo , North Dakota , it was -5F. Yesterday the temperature was over 60F at my home and I read a book on my deck in shorts.

My friend Mara (of the Tenaya Lake swim—see 8/27/2005) has proposed yet another adventure: skiing over Tioga Pass , through Tuolumne and to Yosemite Valley . I have always wanted to visit Tuolumne as it sleeps in the winter; I’ve envisioned a world of sublime quietude, where the silence almost echoes. I read the Tuolumne Rangers report religiously and with envy.

To train for this adventure, I’ve been trying to squeeze in two skiing treks a week. Glacier Point Road provides a wonderful and almost limitless place to glide through the snow (although in recent years as snowshoeing has become more popular, the groomed trails are getting trampled). Today, I skied out to the first good viewpoint of the Clark Range . I meet a nice couple from Sacramento celebrating their first wedding anniversary; they had been married at the Yosemite Chapel.

A Bully Day!

(Note: my goal is to reintroduce Teddy Roosevelt’s expression back into the common vernacular. When he journeyed to Yosemite and camped on Glacier Point with Join Muir, they awoke the next morning to snow. He is reported to have emerged from his tent and exclaimed “What a bully night!”)

Since the snow conditions still are not favorable for skiing, the hiking season continues. My good friends, Paul and Annette, and I decided to hike the Glacier Point and Panorama Trial loop, which is always fun after the road to Glacier Point has been closed for the winter. Paul bravely donned shorts at the beginning of the trail despite the 34 degree temperature, but I had to wait until after I had warmed up before removing my outer layer.
At the 6500 in elevation we encountered full coverage of snow, and much ice, which slowed our pace somewhat. We arrived at Glacier Point and had the place to ourselves. While eating lunch, we stared at the polished granite of Cloud’s Rest frosted in white and Florence Peak donning her expansive white apron.

On our descent, we paused at Illilouette Fall, and snapped some photos of the south face of Half Dome. The light of the waxing gibbous moon provided a beautiful light that highlighted Vernal and Nevada Falls as we descended down the Mist Trail in the semi-darkness. We then headed to the Mountain Room Restaurant for a well-earned meal!

After such a great late season hike, let it snow! I’m ready to don my cross country skis.

Budd Lake

I keep expecting every weekend to be my last when hiking in Tuolumne, but the weather has been splendid for fall excursions. Tioga Road remains open, perhaps trying to make amends for the delay in opening this spring. According to NPS statistics, the latest closing date in the last twenty years was December 11 in 1995. Perhaps we’ll break that record this year!

I journeyed to Budd Lake yesterday, taking the old Fisherman’s Trail along Budd Creek, and then I wandered through the beautiful basin that is surrounded by magnificent peaks: Cathedral, Unicorn, Cockscomb, and Echo Peaks.

Snow appeared at about 9,400 feet, but only on north facing slopes or in the shade. I traipsed though the snow, following animal tracks (one of my favorite pastimes—I did my thesis as an undergrad in Biological Anthropology on the science of animal tracking). After following a great set of coyote tracks, my wet feet began to register and I finally remembered I had on my summer hiking boots. Oh well. It was only a short hike back to the car.

Taft Point and Sentinel Dome

I took a quick hike this afternoon to Taft Point and Sentinel Dome. The day began with clear blue skies, and I enjoyed a clear view of El Capitan from the dizzying heights of Taft Point.

As I followed the trail along the ridge, I watched the clouds arrive, and at the top of Sentinel Dome, the fingers of the clouds reached down to greet me. My view revealed that El Capitan had been surrounded by the sky!

At the top, I met a friendly and enthusiastic group of park visitors, who certainly rate as the most geographically diverse group of friends I’ve ever encountered on the trail—they hailed from Russia, England, Scotland, and Texas. (I didn’t ask them at the time, but I do wonder how they agree on restaurant choices!) The gentleman from Scotland had even read my weblog! Their enjoyment of the park was evident, and even the clouds obscuring the view of Half Dome didn’t damper their spirits.

Yosemite Botanical Symposium

Our association hosted its first annual Yosemite Botanical Symposium this weekend, with Dr. Peter Raven as our keynote speaker. Dr. Raven, who was named by Time Magazine in 1999 as one of the “Heroes for the Planet,” currently serves as the director of the Missouri Botanical Garden and as the Engelmann Professor of Botany at Washington University.

His presentation on “Sustainability and Our Common Future” proved to be both educational and inspirational (and funny—who says scientist’s don’t possess a sense of humor!). Dr. Alison Colwell’s program on “Managing Yosemite’s Rare Plants” and Dr. Jan van Wagtendonk’s session on “Some History of Fire Ecology and Management in Yosemite” were also highlights. All and all, I felt oddly invigorated by the enthusiasm the presenters possessed for vegetation, and even though terms like eukaryote and heterophyllous were being used frequently, I did not find myself too lost in botanical ignorance.

Mono and Parker Passes

In the fifteen years I’ve been visiting Yosemite, I have never witnessed a more beautiful fall. Some combination of temperature and precipitation levels has produced an autumn show that is almost reminiscent of my native New England (but only almost).

For what may prove to be my last Tuolumne hike of the season, I ventured to Mono and Parker Passes and wandered around gazing at a landscape waiting to sleep for the winter. A light dusting of snow from the night before covered Koip Peak Pass, and I could see the steep trail zigzagging precipitously over the slopes. A thin, translucent layer of ice covered parts of Parker Pass Lake. And the shoulder of Mt. Lewis was a painting of yellow, red and brown hues. Fall had definitely arrived.

After my hike, I drove over Tioga Pass to see the aspens in their decorative yellow fall attire, and then reasoned that being so close to Lee Vining, it only made sense to make a trip to the Whoa Nellie Deli for an early dinner. Chef Matt Toomey commensurated with me about the Red Sox losing in the playoffs as I ate my fish tacos. I then headed over to the Latte Da Coffee Café and had Tessa make me a one last hot chocolate and a slice of the irresistible pumpkin spice cake for the road.

Let the snow arrive—I’ve made my proper farewells for the season!

Presentation on Climate Change

The National Park service in Yosemite organizes a wonderful monthly lecture series called “The Croaking Toad” where scientists present the results of their research. This month, Michael Dettinger of the US Geological Survey and Climate Research Division/ Scripps Institution of Oceanography visited the park and shared with us his models that predict the impact of global warming on the Sierra Nevada.

His provocative (and downright scary) theory asserts that the Sierra Nevada in general—and Yosemite specifically—are situated at ground zero for some of the possible consequences of increasing average temperatures. As most Californians know (or should know), the “snowmelt’s the thing” The water cycle, which we all learn in third grade, is pretty basic—snow falls in the Sierra Nevada in the winter and as the spring and summer progresses, it melts gradually, flows into the rivers, and ultimately into our water taps.

Mr. Dettinger’s data suggests that as temperatures rise, rain will replace snow in higher frequencies, and the snowmelt will peak in February instead of April. Why? Since Sierra Nevada weather is more moderate than many other colder regions in the US (where else can you ski in shorts?) even a slight 2-3 degree difference could mean the shift from snow to rain. As a result, in the future the rivers—and our taps—could run dry before spring even begins! We already have some convincing evidence to suggest that the peak snowmelt has been shifting to earlier in the year.

Twenty Lakes Basin

A second day in Tuolumne and the weather proved to be just as fair as yesterday. Fall also brings the comforting hues of yellow and browns. The aspens had just begun to don their yellow fall cloaks and I predict next weekend will be peak season. I wanted to climb North Peak today, but since I’d been feeling under the weather, I decided to take a less strenuous hike. Instead, I wandered around Twenty Lakes Basin and visited just about every lake I could find on my topographical map. I only encountered one other hiker the entire day—the benefits of late season treks!

Although I’ve hiked in Twenty Lakes Basin numerous times, I had yet to research the origins of the diverse names given to the lakes. Here’s some of what I found in Pete Browning’s very useful book, Yosemite Place Names.:

Saddlebag Lake: “undoubtedly named for its shape—two partly rounded ends with a narrowing middle.”

Wasco Lake: “Named by Al Gardisky in 1932 after the town in which a close friend of his lived.”
Z Lake: “Named in 1932 by Al Gardisky for its shape.”

Cascade Lake: “Named by Everett Spuller in 1932 ‘because of the cascade coming down from the glacierette from North Peak.’”

Steelhead Lake: Named by Al Gardisky in 1932 and refers to the steelhead trout he planted in the lake.

Shamrock Lake: Probably given its name by the USGS during its 1905-1909 survey; possesses three lobes like a shamrock.

Helen Lake: Named in 1932 by Al Gardisky for a ‘lady friend.’”

Twin Lakes: Once again named by Al.

Odell Lake: A friend of Al’s.

Hummingbird Lake: “Named in 1932 by Al Gardisky because at one time he saw many hummingbirds there.”

Obviously in 1932 it paid to be a friend of Al.

My favorite lake? Twin Lakes. Climbing over rough metamorphic rock, you suddenly descend into this private alcove of sunlit water surrounded by white bark pine trees.

Sunrise Lakes

As I usually avoid crowded areas, I had not yet hiked to Sunrise Lakes. This year afforded the perfect opportunity to enjoy these lakes in solitude as the High Sierra Camps have been closed all season and hiker traffic has been reduced. Although it was October, the warm weather felt more like August, and the cerulean blue, cloudless sky promised fine weather all day. The hike from Tenaya Lake is short—only about seven miles round-trip, and I lingered at each lake, walking the entire shoreline of each to get acquainted. At the last and largest of the lakes, I napped on the shore, luxuriating in my solitude and the quietude of my natural surroundings.

I spent the evening at the El Mono Motel (my favorite place to stay in Lee Vining). I had a wonderful dinner at the Whoa Nellie Deli, and was reassured by Chef Toomey that the Red Sox would win tomorrow. Back at the hotel, Tessa made me one of her spiced hot chocolates and I treated myself to a piece of their scrumptious pumpkin coffee cake.

Autumn Barbecue

Each October, the Yosemite Association holds a fall barbeque on the Ahwahnee Meadow, generously hosted by Delaware North Parks and Resort at Yosemite. The alpen glow on Half Dome provided the perfect backdrop for a fantastic evening.

At this event, we get a chance to thank our supporters for their generosity for the year. We highlighted our Student Intern program, on which our fundraising efforts have been focused for the past two years. The program, in cooperation with the newly opened University of California in Merced, gives diverse students a chance to work in the park for the summer and explore careers with the National Park Service. This year, the attendees got the chance to meet two of student interns supported by their donations: Carla Saldana and Dalinna Cha. Carla is from Atwater, speaks Spanish and English and understands Japanese, and she’ll be transferring to U.C. Merced in the fall of 2006 to major in psychology. Dalinna Cha is also from Atwater and she inherited her love of the high country from her parents, who lived in the mountains of Laos. Her campground program for the season was “Big Cats in Yosemite.” The Yosemite Association is very proud of being able to provide these opportunities for students. We still need more funds to keep the program running, so please donate if you can!

Three Great Lakes

Julie Miller and I teamed up to lead a trip for the association called “Three Great Lakes.” We took a wonderful group of Yosemite lovers to three of our favorite lakes in the Tuolumne Meadows area. Julie is a very knowledgeable and fun guide and her enthusiasm for the park is contagious. Our group included a local resident, a couple from the Bay Area, a couple from Southern California, and their lifelong friend from Israel. With such a diverse group, the topics of conversation along the trail proved to be wide-ranging, and I think I learned just as much as the participants!

Lake of the Domes, our destination for day one, hides behind a ridge of granite near Cathedral Peak. I would probably not be exaggerating to describe the lake as one of the prettiest in the Sierra. We ate our lunch on the ridge near the lake and enjoyed sweeping views of the surrounding peaks, including my favorite mountain, Mt. Conness. Much to my delight, the day was quite windy and the sky produced a series of lenticular clouds.

Day two we journeyed to Raisin Lake, a small lake located due east of May Lake. The next day, I had to travel to San Francisco for a conference on risk management (a startling contrast to touring Sierra lakes), but Julie reported that the group had a beautiful day in the Gaylor Lakes basin.

We’ll be offering Three Great Lakes in 2006 so check the Yosemite Outdoor Adventure catalog for dates!

Bennettville and Lakes

Before heading home after our members’ meeting, I always try to work in a hike. Despite my not being prepared for wind chill in the thirties, I decided to bear the cold and hike anyway. Frostbite is overrated.

I explored the lakes scattered around the region of the Sierra Crest from Mt. Conness to Gaylor Peak. As long as the wind didn’t blow (which was not often), I was relatively warm, but I didn’t mind the discomfort as the more spectacular the scenery got, the easier it was to dismiss the longing for gloves. My tour of the lakes included Shell, Fantail, Spuller, Maul, Green Treble and Alpine. At Maul Lake, under the watchful face of Mt. Conness, I watched Clark’s nutcrackers play, and a raptor soar overhead.

On my way back to the car, I stopped at the historic cabins of Bennettville, relics of the brief mining boom in this area.

Yosemite Association Members' Meeting

This year we celebrated our thirtieth members’ meeting and our President, Steve Medley’s, twentieth anniversary. We always hope for warm, sunny weather and Mother Nature granted at least half of our wish. Although the sun shone, a frigid wind developed that chilled most of us to the bone. In protest, I refused to change out of my shorts, but I certainly suffered for my stubbornness. Our keynote speaker, John Simpson discussed his new book Dam!: Water, Power, Politics and Preservation in Hetch Hetchy and Yosemite National Park, and another presenter, Garrett Burke, told of how he developed the design for the new California State Quarter.

For those of us who stayed the night in Tuolumne, we were treated to an icicle display the next morning. Since the temperature had dropped to an unseasonably cold 17F overnight, the water from the sprinkler system had frozen on the courtyard outside Tuolumne Lodge.

Tenaya Lake Swim

For six years I’ve been one of the faithful lap swimmers at the El Portal pool, swimming a mile a day in the summer months, as it’s one of the few sports that doesn’t hurt my back. This year my fellow lapster and intrepid swimmer Mara Dale suggested that we put this training to good use and swim the length of Tenaya Lake at the end of summer.

When she suggested the notion in June, it seemed like a great idea. As the end of August, approached, I began having some doubts. First, due to early exposure to Steven Spielberg and actually having been called out of the water on a Cape Cod beach due to a shark sighting, I have a rather large shark phobia. Despite the prevailing logic that sharks don’t inhabit Tenaya Lake, the whole “creatures ascending from the deep” fear is difficult to overcome.

A concern rooted a bit more in reality was the water temperature. When we swim laps in El Portal, we enjoy bath water-like temperatures of 75-80 degrees. Somehow, at almost 9,000 feet, I didn’t think we’d be so lucky. Brevity has characterized my countless swims in high mountain lakes—a quick dip after a hot hike. Usually the numbness in one’s legs forces a quick retreat. To swim a mile is not a quick endeavor—it would probably take us at least 45 minutes, with my fastest time being 38 minutes in the pool.

Despite the risks of shark attacks and hypothermia, I remained determined. Steve Medley, YA’s president (and also a devoted lap swimmer) loaned me a wetsuit to combat the cold. Mara secured a wetsuit as well, and also arranged for Ed Billington, Yosemite NPS, to accompany us in his kayak for safety. Shad Stites, my partner, agreed to act as our wetsuit handler. Linda Eade, NPS research librarian, and her husband Mike Osbourne, retired NPS employee and fellow lapster, would act as our cheering squad. The weekend before the swim, I hiked to the top of Tenaya Peak, and took some photographs of the lake. Although I observed no large fish from my vantage point, the possibility remained of us knocking into one of the submerged trees in the lake.

The day of the swim afforded us the best in Sierra weather: a wonderful sunny and cloudless day. Mara and I hiked from the eastern to the western shore to get warmed up. With some assistance from Ed and Shad, we donned our wetsuits. Then after a slight goggles-malfunction, we we’re off!

Ed paddled beside us keeping us on target and scouting for trees. We swam in unison, like synchronized swimmers, and glided through the dense blue water. As a swim, it was magical, and it allowed me to relax in a rhythm that one misses in a pool because of the regular turns. I had granite peaks surrounding me and a ghost forest below me (look for more on the ghostly trees of Tenaya Lake in an upcoming journal).

We finished in just under fifty minutes, hurried along by Mike on the shore yelling to us that we needed to hurry because he was hungry and wanted to get to the Mobil Station. Thanks to Ed’s able guidance, the swim went quite smoothly. Mara and I have now vowed to swim a new lake each year. Lake Eleanor or Saddlebag Lake are the possible candidates for 2006! And yes, we headed to the Whoa Nellie Deli and feasted on the delicious food. I even had the chocolate cake.

Tuolumne Triple

Three whole days in Tuolumne! I have written about all of these hikes before, so I’ll keep my entry brief. The Dana Plateau remains one of my favorite places on the planet. Wandering in Gaylor Lakes Basin is always a delight, and I decided to climb Tenaya Peak to scout out a route for our swim next week (see next entry).

Mt. Hoffmann

I decided to tag along on Michael Ross’ Mt. Hoffmann outdoor adventure as I jump at any chance to learn from such a wonderful naturalist. The group members made the outing very fun, even when we hurried down from the summit during a lightning storm. Mt. Hoffmann is in the geographic center of the park and affords wonderful 360 degree views of Yosemite.

Kuna Crest

The Kuna Crest stretches from Mammoth Peak to Kuna Peak and hides some of the loveliest lakes in the region. I began my trip on the Mono Pass trail, literally running though the swarms and swarms of mosquitoes. The wet winter brought us a great year for waterfalls and wildflowers, but the downside certainly is the thriving mosquito population. Once on the crest, (and away from the relentless bloodsuckers), I visited Spillway, Helen, Bingaman and Kuna Lakes. Winter still reigned at Kuna Lake, which was guarded by its glacier and still frozen in places.

Cloud Parade

The sky exhibited a beautiful mélange of clouds today. The indiscriminate showing was akin to a museum displaying an Albert Bierstadt painting next to a Jason Pollock canvas. From my position at Olmstead Point, I had a wonderful viewing spot of the varied art of the sky.

To the north, stretching from east to west, the sky birthed an array of stratus clouds; their lenticular, UFO-like shapes reminded me of my recent viewing of the movie, The War of the Worlds. I suppose Tuolumne would be the ideal place to be at the end of the world! Stratiform clouds are formed by wind; you can read about a stratus cloud unique to the Sierra Nevada, in my article “The Sierra Wave” at http://www.yosemite.org/naturenotes/SierraWave.htm

To the south, cirrus clouds decorated the blue sky—wispy fibers with veins filled with ice. In the midst of one cirrus cloud, a band of color shimmered-a phenomena known as an iridescence. Directly above me, a halo encircled the sun, another optical phenomenon. Both the halo and the iridescence are cousins to the rainbow, and are caused by the refraction and diffraction of light respectively. In their wonderful book, The Rainbow Bridge: Rainbows in Art, Myth, and Science, authors Raymond Lee and Alistair Fraser tell of the Arab mathematician and physicist Alhazen musing in the eleventh century that “Now among things…which have given much perplexity of thought, are the two effects known as the halo and the rainbow.”

And lastly, in the southwest, a lone cumulus congestus cloud crept over the horizon, trying to assert its dominance as it rose beside Half Dome.

Glen Aulin

Pop quiz. I hiked to Glen Aulin today because it provided one of the few trails in Tuolumne that:

a) wasn’t covered with snow

b) didn’t possess hip-height stream crossings

c) did not have mosquitoes

d) promised roaring waterfalls

And the answer…………….all but d) did not have mosquitoes are correct!

In the over fifteen years I’ve been hiking in the Sierras, I have never used bug repellent—until this year. Being a New Englander, the occasional mosquitoes one encounters in California is nothing to the swarms that descend upon the hapless hiker in the east (yes, I am exaggerating to a point). My father, when he visits, loves California’s “bug free environment” (his words). This year, the abundance of water has also provided a fruitful breeding ground for the bloodsuckers, and I have the battle scars to prove it.

I did get a reward for being feasted upon. The waterfall at Glen Aulin poured into the basin with such force that it caused a surf to hit the shore near the abandoned high sierra camp. The water has transformed the landscape this year, reminding its neighbors that it is not always gentle in it travels. The river has burst at the seams, pouring into meadows and over granite, using both as clay as it shapes its surroundings.

For those of you who may have read my article about Jim Snyder in the last issue of Yosemite, I waded through a boggy meadow to take a photograph of the arch he helped design and build over thirty years ago, the first true Roman arch constructed in the backcountry. It provides hikers with a dry path where the river typically overflows. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

“No one on the crew had actually built an arch, but this didn’t deter them in the least. Jim simply read books on nineteenth-century stonemasonry, assigned a mathematically talented crewmember to figure out the exact geometric patterns, and then they carved the granite by superimposing models over the rock. As Jim remembers, it was incredible when they assembled the arch and realized ‘that it had worked just like in the books. No cement was needed—it was just unbelievable.’”

Tioga Road Opens!

At long last-Tioga Road opens! For those of you who have not been following the “above-average snowpack in the Sierra” saga, the long, snowy winter, and wet, cool spring has made for a very late summer. Tioga Road just opened on Friday, June 24th, one of the latest openings on record (for a complete list of opening dates see http://www.nps.gov/yose/trip/tioga.htm#dates). As someone who spends most of my summer wandering around in the high country, I’ve been waiting anxiously for the road to open.

The landscape is magnificent! I felt like I received a sneak peak of winter in summer. Snow covers most of the surrounding peaks, and Tuolumne Meadows is suitable for a short canoe trip. My family, who were visiting from the east coast, accompanied me on the excursion, and my father and brother were brave enough to hike with me through the mounds of snow and rows of suncups up to Gaylor Lakes.