Posted by Karen on 31-Jan-2010
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Lori and I went to Yosemite Valley to spend the weekend under the Full Wolf Moon, the biggest and brightest full moon of the year. From the Farmers’ Almanac:
Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. Thus, the name for January’s full Moon. Sometimes it was also referred to as the Old Moon, or the Moon After Yule. Some called it the Full Snow Moon, but most tribes applied that name to the next Moon.
On the way down Friday, we stopped at a vineyard and tried to capture the rows of bare grape vines and the precise line of trees behind it. We also stopped to look at a camping trailer I was interested in, so we didn’t arrive at Yosemite until slightly before sunset. We went up to Tunnel View to watch the sunset, which was fairly ordinary, but then the full moon started rising behind Half Dome and that was very extraordinary. For sleeping, we’d rented one of the Curry Village heated cabins and I must say, the heaters in those cabins are excellent.
Saturday morning, we walked over to the Happy Isles Bridge and photographed the Merced River and then we headed over to Yosemite Falls, Ahwahnee Meadow, Sentinel Bridge and just photographed away. We decided to spend sunset and moonrise on Sentinel Bridge, photographing Half Dome and the Merced River. We met a few other hardy souls out there with their cameras too and we all chatted and laughed away even though it was near freezing out there. We saw a little avalanche fall from Half Dome and I got a few pictures of it, which was kind of exciting. After the sun set, a huge cloud of fog settled over the horizon and even though it was the biggest and fullest moon of the year, we couldn’t see it rising, just the illumination of it behind the fog. Okay, time for pizza and warmth.
Sunday morning, we checked out the visitor center and the Indian Museum and met an old Indian woman weaving baskets in the traditional style. At Valley View, we met a couple of crows that were more than eager to pose for us, so of course we had to oblige them and take their photograph. As we headed for home, we stopped for one last waterfall on Cascade Creek, and then headed home after a really nice weekend.
Posted by Karen on 05-Jan-2010
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We have been socked in by fog for days and days now and everything is just a dreary gray. So, after going to Roseville to look at a trailer, I just kept driving right on out of town, just trying so desperately to get out of the fog for a bit. Finally, just past Auburn at 2,000 feet elevation… I’m out of the fog and free from the bleak gray for a few hours (hurray!). I explored a few side roads off the freeway and then found Yankee Jims Road, which is a nice 13 mile stretch of graded dirt road that takes you to Foresthill and that sounded like a nice way to spend some time out of the fog, so away I went. I only encountered a couple of other trucks, so it was just a nice pretty drive along the canyon and across the old 1930s Colfax-Foresthill suspension bridge. I stopped and enjoyed a waterfall along the way and then returned back to the grayness of the valley.
Posted by Karen on 04-Dec-2009
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Lori and I headed up to Grass Valley to enjoy their Cornish Christmas Fair, and we arrived a bit early so we decided to see what the the little historic town of Washington looks like. Washington is a old gold mining town that I thought might be a ghost town, but it’s alive and kicking. There are a couple hundred residents, but main street only consists of a few buildings. We spent some time at the Yuba River photographing it from the bridge and as the sun went down, we headed back to Grass Valley and enjoyed the festivities of the street fair. There were lots of vendors selling hand-made gifts, the most delicious smelling food being cooked and delightful music being played by young musicians. We grabbed some freshly roasted chestnuts and listened to the carolers and had a relaxing stroll through the fair.
Posted by Karen on 15-Oct-2009
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It’s been raining heavily for the last few days and today was supposed to be rain-free and warm, so what better day to head out for a hike? As Candace and I headed up to South Yuba River State Park to hike the Independence Trail, we remarked that for a “nice sunny day” it sure was foggy and wet out there and sure enough it started raining before we even started out. We donned the ponchos and headed on down the trail. A previous time I hiked this easy trail after a rain, we spotted California Newts all over the place and it was really cool, so I suggested we take the east side of the trail this time also, to maybe see some. Candace was the one to spot the first one as it was scurrying trying to get out of sight. The rain let up, but the fog still clung to the mountain sides and the raindrops on the plants gave us plenty of photo opportunities. We stopped for a bit so Candace could practice making “fairy” water, where moving water looks are ethereal. I’d left my big camera in the SUV with the rain, so no fairy water pictures for me this trip. This is actually a very cool hike when the trail is wet, all the colors just seem to pop.
Distance: approx. 4.5 miles
