Yosemite April 2001

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It had snowed the weekend before, so we stopped along the way (several times) for a romp.

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Alina tries to build a snowman in two inches of snow...

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As the girls made perfect clear to Dad, they do NOT get to the snow very often!

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Alina being a snowman, having given up on completing hers.

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Tessala tasting the snow.

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At last, some deep stuff!

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Crystal Creek
The effect of the low clouds just at the mountain top was to make everything seem to disappear as it went up.

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Crystal Creek
As you can see, you can't see (the top).

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We stopped briefly on the way in for a picture or two. This is Bridal Veil Falls.

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Yosemite falls was just visible through the mist.

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The Melting of Winter
This is one of my all-time favorite shots.

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These must have been built some time before we got there, but we took the credit by taking a photo.

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We brought along the girls bikes, and I had my inline skates with me. The idea is that they would bike around the park, and I would roll behind them. The arrangement worked out even better than I thought it would.

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Playing near our campground.

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This is a high dynamic-range shot of the Merced river.

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It was a bit chilly first thing the next morning, but it warmed up quickly enough.

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Biking to the Indian Caves.

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Alina is a bit afraid of heights, but seems to love them, anyway. Look how far out Tessala goes -- just like her Dad. No sense at all!

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On our way to Lower Yosemite Falls.

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Alina makes a snow mouse.

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Another park visitor took this photo for us, and stood further away than I would have....

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Evaporation brought the temperature down around the falls enough that the snow remained on the ground for longer, and the girls were glad to see some more cold white stuff to play in.

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I think this bench was a remnant from an earlier trail that had been developed but torn down to return the area to a more natural state. It was odd to see it there.

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Half dome in a soft blanket of white.

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In our campground, there were some small streams running nearby. I thought this one looked particularly nice.

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Ah, the REAL reason to go camping -- toasting marshmallows for s'mores!

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The next day, we packed a picnic and headed up to Vernal Falls. The girls were getting along particularly well this trip, and they tend to be good traveling companions.

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A timed photo near Vernal Falls.

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Vernal Falls
I just love waterfalls, and this is one of my favorites.

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Another timed shot, taken by a cooperative rock.

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Tessala loves rock-hopping, and we all spent some time with the water rushing all around us.

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Tessala likes to pose, and I like to take pictures. We're very compatible that way.

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A favorite spot of the girls'.

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The Devil Squirrel
We believe this squirrel was sent to spy on us by a powerful group of trees on the other side of the river.

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We were also being followed by this deer, which pretended to graze when we spotted it.

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The campsites in Yosemite aren't really all that nice. They're a bit overused, and not much grows there, but it's better to save the nicer places for hiking, anyway.

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North Dome and the Great Arch. Arches are caused by water melting and freezing over hundreds of years, which eventually causes huge slabs of granite to come crashing down to the valley floor. Underneath this arch is an enormous pile of rubble from eons of this kind of erosion, and particularly unlucky visitors have been struck and even killed by rock falls.

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On our final day, we paid a last visit to Yosemite Falls.

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On a whim, we decided to climb up a crag in the rock face to the right of the falls.

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It was steep but doable, and felt safe because we had this big crack to work with. (Watch out for falling rocks, and remember your lucky toy tiger!)

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This is where we stopped and had a bite for lunch.

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Besides lunch, we were also rewarded with this spectacular view of the valley.

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Climbing back down. Alina was so funny, because she was kind of afraid, but she loved climbing all the same.

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Alina was really into some book she was reading, and kept asking if we could stop awhile so she could read some more. I was also reading "Harry Potter" to the girls on this trip, as I recall, and I was into it as much as they were!

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This was quite something. A waterfall that was so thin that it was jut blowing off the rock in a mist. Almost nothing of it managed to trickle down at the base -- it just sort of evaporated in the wind.

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Cathedral Peaks

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Bridal Veil Falls over the Merced River.

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El Capitan
That's one hunk of rock! Some of the most amazing sights in Yosemite are only visible from the road going in and out of the valley, and the girls and I weren't brave enough to take it on our bikes and inline skates, so we had to stop the car instead to take some pictures on the way out. (DAD!! Not AGAIN!!)

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