Speidel's Adventures: November 2012

Mono Lake, California, October 29, 2012

Right after we got back that first day from Yosemite, Richard, Terry's husband, was there at the RV park to meet us. We all decided to go to the local Mono Lake to see the strange structures coming out of the lake. This lake is highly salty, much like the Great Salt Lake.

It was getting near dark when we were there so we got some great shots of these tufas. They are a limestone rock which is formed when the calcium in the underwater springs combine with the carbonates in the lake water and make calcium carbonate. These rocks keep building on themselves.

It is a little like being on another planet! However, it is beautiful!

I think this is a Ruddy Duck.

I think this is a Tree Sparrow. He is perched on a sharp, thorny bush.

This desert bush was blooming.

There are blooming plants all over the desert. There is a certain beauty here.

The sun is now setting and throwing nice color and light on the lake.

Then a little after 6pm, the moon came up.

Now the moon reflects off Mono Lake. Does life get any better than this?

Yosemite National Park, Part 2

This is another shot of El Capitan, from a different view from the valley.

The road down to the valley was a little windy, to say the least, and had at least 3 tunnels. This one was long enough to have lights.

This was one of the few red leafed tree I saw. I miss that from the East!

These rocks look like someone stacked them there. They are just natural but amazing how they seem to be many separate oblong rocks.

I have to give this guy credit for cycling through these mountains! Wow!

We are on our way back to Lee Vinings and I got this new shot of Tenaya (Pronounced Ten I Yah) Lake.

This, I think, is Tenaya Lake, as we head back.

Much of the snow melted today in Tulume Meadows.

This area is where we saw the Cotote, thanks to Terry's sharp eyes!

This is Tioga Lake.

More of Tioga Lake.

This is Ellery Lake.

This is another view of Ellery Lake.

You can see that it still has ice on it.

Can you see where the road goes here? we are going down from Tioga Pass.

This is another shot of the road down, Rt 120.

When we were down in Lee Vining, as we got gas, I saw this cafe and loved the sign.

This shot of Aspens in fall regalia was shot from the gas station.

Yosemite Day 2, Glacier Point, Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012

The second day we had a dilemma. In order to go to Sequoia National Park, we could either drive our motorhome through this park or drive hundreds of miles out of the way. Guess what we decided to do....the cheap skates that we are? Yup, you guessed it. we decided to drive the tough Rt 120 all the way through the park and out the other on Rt 41. We went through 4 tunnels. We did this by Jim driving the motorhome part way and me driving the Jeep the same part. After Glacier Point we hooked the Jeep back up and Jim drove.

This is a stop after the last tunnel. After this we decided to park the motorhome & drive the Jeep out Glacier Point Road to Glacier Point, which we had missed yesterday. Wow, was that ever worth it! The views there are the best in the park.

This is Vernal Falls as seen by my great 200mm zoom. This falls is 317 feet high.

This is another view of all the granite mountains here.

Lots of people just come here and sit and stare at the enormity of it all. Of course this guy is having a very unhealthy smoke!

Jim is standing by Half Dome, 8842 ft, first climbed in 1885.

This view is to the left of where Jim is standing.

This falls is Nevada falls and drops 597 feet.

This is a close-up of Half Dome.

Jim is by Liberty Cap 7076 feet tall. It is to the right of Half Dome.

There are always some real characters in these parks. I did not get a good photo but there is a guy holding the Japanese umbrella and he had on a full length white robe. I see he also has what looks like a skateboard. I wish I had time to talk with him. These others are talking with him.