is the word 'diary' better than the word 'blog'? probably not.
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here is where I was....
...sitting on a rock, dangling my feet in the icy water, reading Special Topics in Calamity Physics and napping in the sun, up at Elizabeth Lake in Yosemite, somewhere around 10,000 feet.
Even better, I had Heidi and Caroleen with me.
About the book: it's a good book�read it. And it's a good hike�take it. It's only two-ish miles each way, and the elevation gain isn't too challenging, so it doesn't rule out new hikers. I love the hikes you can take from Yosemite Valley, but what is so compelling about staying up in the higher Sierras at White Wolf is that you go on hikes and you really don't see other people, except for now and then. And the terrain is different, too. Sometimes you'll all of a sudden find yourself above the tree line, looking down, way down, on Half Dome and all his other domed cousins. And possibly even having a face-to-face with a marmot whose only intentions are focused on your lunch.
It's a completely different park up there in the higher sierras, one where, sure, you can't get a good meal like you can at the Ahwahnee or the Mountain Room at Yosemite Lodge (that is the roughest part about White Wolf, its horrendous horrendous food and the dearth of other choices), but down in Yosemite Valley there is really nothing like the view of Half Dome, the valley, and Vernal and Nevada Falls as seen from from North Dome (a long tiring but very rewarding hike), nor is there anything like the mettle-testing climb from May Lake to top of Mt. Hoffman (Yosemite's highest point) or the oxygen-depriving uphill hike to the crazy-cute high altitude Gaylor Lakes.
11:37 a.m. - September 06, 2008
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