Yosemite Valley
We woke up to high clouds covering the entire area. The sky was a dull gray and the deep, deep, blue skies that usually mark the Sierras were taking the day off.
We walked around our area of the Valley and checked out the food options. On previous trips when we stayed at Yosemite Lodge, food was the greatest challenge. It hasn't changed. In order to feed huge numbers of people, the food selections are extremely limited, and the food quality is "fair," at best. With Covid, the food choices are even more limited.
Yosemite Valley is in the midst of a huge prescribed burn while the humidity and moisture levels are still acceptable. That means the main valley floor is pretty ugly these days--even without the smoke from the fires. All the under-story has been burned, and the forest floor is blackened ash and burned trees. I know it's critical for the long-term health of the ecosystem here, but it's really ugly right now. They've also blocked off most of the turnouts to keep people out of the recently-burned areas. That has eliminated several of our favorite photographing locations.
In the early afternoon, we packed our lunches and set out for a picnic along the river. Half of Yosemite had the same idea. We found a new place to photograph along the river where the huge rock slide came through back in the 70's. There was even a picnic table below the trail and right next to the river. In places, the river was about three feet deep and reflected the valley walls, but in most places the river was only a few inches deep. We hiked upstream for about 1/4 mile looking for a better composition, but the drab sky prevented any hope of a good photograph. But, we did find a new place to photograph on future trips.
After we crossed the Merced River, we were very happy to see one of our favorite "secret" spots wasn't blocked off. We found this spot on one of our winter trips and loved the reflections of El Capitan in the Merced River. Today, there was a woman sitting in her lounge chair reading a book when we reached the river. We shot right next to the river, so the scale and height of El Capitan is striking. We walked upstream and found the tiny island we used to photograph from on our snow trips. It provides great angles up and downstream; as well as across the river, over the trees, and up to El Capitan. As if it wasn't amazing already, a family of ducks stopped for a break right across the river from us.
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Now, we were getting hungry, so we stopped at the Cathedral Picnic Area. Because it has a large beach on the river when the flow is low, it was packed. We were very lucky to even find a place to park. With temperatures in the 90's, it's become obvious that most of the tourists in the Valley have made the river beaches their first priority.
Since the skies were not going to clear and there wouldn't be any good images today, we drove around the Valley to Curry Village, the campgrounds, and the main Yosemite Village areas. The traffic pattern was a bit confusing because it was such a big change, but they had barriers up to ensure you could only follow the new traffic pattern. Nearly all the traffic is one-way now with most of the shortcuts eliminated. For example, Yosemite Lodge is about 3/4 mile from Yosemite Village and the Visitor Center. But to drive there, you have to drive 6 miles. You drive west down the Valley, cross the Merced River, drive east on the opposite side, drive to the Curry Village junction, and then finally park in the Visitor Center parking lot that is 3/4 mile from the lodge. Since the shuttle buses aren't running this year, it's a bit of a mess.
We decided to have a late dinner to cut the wait time, and walked over to the eatery at about 7:30. There was still a very long line, and there was nothing on the menu that warranted the wait. We settled for peanut butter and jelly in the room.
Today was a lost day.
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