This morning we left Bishop early to head north and deeper into the Sierra Nevada Mountan range. Our planned route would take us out to visit Mono Lake, then West to enter Yosemite National Park via the high altitude 10,000 ft) Tioga Pass. Then, after driving through the mountains, lakes and forest we would drop down and pass through Yosemite Village to stop by and marvel at Half Dome, and El Capitan before driving south along the 41 through Wawana and onto our next two night stop in Fish Camp. We were not disappointed after a bit of queue to get into the park, it was simply spectatcular. There was natural beauty everywhere you looked. Being so high it was a bit cooler, dropped down to the late 70's now the air was fresher with the constant scent of pine forest. Truly astounding! The only slight downside was our visit coincided with the US Labor Day weekend which meant the park was busy, and we had to queue to drive around the Village late evening since everyone wanted to catch the sunset in the park, but as Helen pointed out if you have to sit in a jam for a bit where on earth would be better with so much to see? She was right of course, we sat sat back and enjoyed the view from the car.
We eventually made it to Big Creek in B&B at around 8:45 pm in the dark, we had phoned the owner Pamela who left instructions for us on how to self check in and where to go for food if we were hungry. Helen had yet again come up trumps with accommodation, the B&B is so full of character, in a cabin style. Can't wait to explore some more in the morning.
Mono Lake.
Tioga Road and Mountain Pass. Usually closed all Winter.
Crystal Clear water.
Lembert Dome.
Climbers at Teneya Lake peak.
Tree roots grow in the stone fracture.
Just after I took this photo quite a way near the edge of Forms Follow Fracture point, I heard Helen shouting 'Mark, quick there's a Bear'. She sounded quite concerned, so I ran toward her, wearing sandals nearly scuffing the skin off my toes. I couldn't see anything at first, and with the adrenaline pumping was worried for her safety. Sure enough she pointed to a Bear about 150 feet below us in the forest looking up at us, since Helen had startled it. My immediate reaction was to wonder if there were more nearby so we quickly got back to the car. Unfortunately, with shaky hands I couldn't change the mode on my Camera fast enough to get a picture before it disappeared, but no doubt it was a Bear in the wild, and made our day !
Half Dome.
Our first view of El Capitan in the distance.
About a quarter up El Capitan full zoom captured this tent on ledge Helen had spotted.
At Sunset across the valley.
