After traveling south to visit family near San Diego we have moved up to Joshua Tree National Park. We are surrounded by huge Joshua trees which look a lot like tree versions of Yucca. This is the view from the front door. This little guy was hopping around us right after we set up. He seemed to have no fear at all.
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We are relaxing today at the Mojave River Forks Regional Park. The campground is simple but great for relaxing. At the campground it is very dark and we need a flashlight to see where we are stepping. I thought we would have better views of stars but the light from LA and San Bernardino glows up over the mountains along with some light from the nearby town. It is very quiet. We are the only camper in our loop and there are only 3 others in the entire campground. We have a great view out our front door. The park has several wild donkeys. We found the bees in the area were working hard. We are at 2,589 feet but the mountains around us are between 8,000 and almost 10,000 feet. The sunset was amazing. In just one second, the sun disappeared behind the mountains and it changed to look like this.
Since the last post, we have been traveling south in the state down from the mountains and along the center of the state. Even at this park we have cell service. Even in a remote location and surrounded by mountains. Who knew?
Time Lapse from the Glacier Point view of Yosemite.
This is a group of video clips of our hike on the Mist trail and up to Glacier Point.
Today we were not up for another long hike so we will be driving to the top of Glacier Point. First a quick stop at Bridal Veil falls. On our drive to Glacier Point we stopped at an overlook before we passed through the longest tunnel in the park. Can you imagine taking a wagon all the way into Yosemite? While we were enjoying the view the Thunderbirds flew over in formation. As we drove up we passed through some of the areas that were burned in the most recent fires. Several of the larger trees still smoking. The tops had burned off and fell away but smoke was coming from the top of the trunk. It looks just like a chimney. The road up was steep and sometimes very narrow especially in the curves of switchbacks. There are full size tour busses that bring tourists to the top. I have no idea how that works because it was difficult to make the turns in a truck without using part of the other lane. There were two areas for lookouts. The first faced east to the far end of the park. The other faced north and the valley but still had views to the east. The second lookout was Glacier Point. The point has both views of the valley far below and the rest of the park toward Half Dome. Even on a Monday we had to look deeper in the parking area to find a spot. When I zoomed in to the top of Half Dome people could be seen who had hiked the mountain. People were everywhere. Some ignored the rules and took some very big risks. Darwin Awards may have been earned. We left before anyone vanished over the edge. The park earns every accolade ever said about it. The views are amazing, stunning, beautiful,.... We had a wonderful time.
I will work on the videos to post in a couple of days. |
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January 2024
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