We made the drive up the eastern side of the Sierras (past Mt. Whitney-highest peak in the lower 48) up to Lee Vining area and Mono Lake. Mono lake is almost 1 million years old and has these spires, or “tufa” rising up out of them. Its high salinity make it home to a special kind of bug larvae that attracts a special kind of bird to the lake. It was quite an eerie scene, and we would have spent longer, but we were ready to head into Yosemite.
We entered on the eastern side of the park via Tioga Pass. The eastern part of the part if Toulumine Meadows, a sub-alpine meadow at elv. 9000 feet or so. It’s a much less crowded part of the park, and so very beautiful; imagine crystal blue streams running through meadows with wildflowers and snow-capped mountains in the background and you have the Meadows. We hiked up to Lemebert Dome for a good view of the area. My heart was racing; I forgot we were at such high elevations and that hiking would require extra effort! There are lots of domes in the park caused by a plate subduction, heating, upwelling, rapid cooling, then breaking, causing most to have one gently-rounded side and one to have a steep face.
For being the less-crazy park of the park, the Meadows were still teeming with people and it was difficult to find parking; I’m worried about the valley tomorrow. We then drove along the pass to a couple of overlooks. Before we knew it, it was 6pm and we had a decision to make; drive back to the hotel for an early night so we can have an EARLY (5am) start tomorrow, or stick around a little longer. We chose the former, given that we were behind on posts and sleep thanks to DeVa. Staying in the park is IMPOSSIBLE unless you book many, many months in advance. I found a campsite, but after reading about SERIOUS bear issues (aka they’re not afraid of people and break into cars regularly), we bagged the camping idea
On the way into town (Modesto, CA), I found a place called “Bob’s take and Bake” – they make a pizza that you put in the oven. It got fantastic reviews on Yelp.com, so I figured we’d try it, given that we were staying at a SpringHill Suites. If it was anything like the TownePlace suites we stayed in earlier, it’d have a kitchen, right? Wrong! We get here only to find a teeny tiny microfridge in the room. Ooops. Not to worry! If I microwave the pizza long enough, it’ll cook like an oven, right? Well, actually it kinda worked, but it was kind of humorous trying to shove an entire pizza into a microwave for 20+ minutes of cooking. The whole floor smells like pizza now and I know they’re jealous bc it was actually really fantastic pizza.
To avoid the crowds, we’re waking up super early to get to Yosemite before the daily mass of 20,000 people descends upon Yosemite Valley. Wish us luck! Please send calming “serenity now” thoughts our way, otherwise, I might go Jersey on some poor, unsuspecting “touron”. (Jk, that’s why I’m having JD drive).
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