Wherein Moominmama hikes in the John Muir Wilderness and joins a ceremony where Japanese Americans declare "Never Again is Now"... Driving into the eastern Sierras is like arriving on a different planet from the sand and sagebrush below. At 10,000 to 11,000 feet, the air has a chill, there's snow on the mountaintops, and everything smells of ponderosa pine and moist earth. Even the bird calls are different. After a week in the valley, the mountains were calling, and Moominmama drove up to hike in the John Muir Wilderness, choosing a three-mile trail up Mount Whitney to Lone Pine Lake. The days had been warm, but I wasn't sure how much snow I'd find on the trail. As it turned out, I got a good 2.5 miles before I had to put on microspikes to navigate the snow, which was firmly packed down. What spectacular views! And fascinating plant life. This is manzanita, a bush with tiny teardrop flowers that will eventually turn into berries. It is related to a bush I'd se...
In which Moominmama visits more geothermal features and learns how Nez Perce leader Chief Joseph led his people through Yellowstone as they fled the U.S. Army... With morning temperatures below freezing, the steam rising from Yellowstone's volcanic features makes for an otherworldly experience. At the Artists Paint Pots, the steam not only obscured parts of the boardwalk, it froze on the bushes nearby, creating brief winter wonderlands. Nature puts on a heck of an artistic display in and around the paint pots, which reveal a diversity of colors attributed to cyanobacteria, heat and volcanic chemistry. These phenomena are still being studied throughout the park. One of the most famous of these is the Grand Prismatic Spring, but the steam when I visited obscured the large multi-colored pool that Yellowstone is known for. The best I could do was this snapshot of the Opal Pool nearby, smaller but just as beautiful! Everywhere you turn are bright colors and boiling waters. Even the blan...
In which Moominmama reflects on the start of a new year and what it means to reach Year Five of a life on the road... Starting on my fifth year on the road, Moominmama wonders if it's an adventure anymore, or just a lifestyle. Somehow, "Moominmama's Lifestyle" just doesn't have the same ring! But the truth is that not everything is new and exciting! Having picked up the trailer in New Mexico and driven to Arizona, I'm enjoying a Sonoran Desert that's actually somewhat familiar. I enjoy being back among the grandfather saguaro cactus, unique to this particular desert. The Sonoran Desert, unlike others, is marked by two rainy seasons: the summer monsoons and winter rains. But as I've learned, last year there were no significant monsoon rains in the Phoenix area, deepening an already serious drought. This year, no flowers greeted my March arrival. The plants were dry and dormant, and the local park ranger was taking photos of stressed-out saguaros on my...
I take it you did NOT get wet from the trip!
ReplyDeleteNope, that would have been a mighty chilly dip!
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