Yosemite

9/13/10 We have camped the last four nights in Yosemite Park, two nights at Crane Flats near Yosemite Valley and two nights at Tuolumne Meadows in the high country (8,600’). Yesterday we climbed Lembert Dome, an 850’ dome of granite which marks one edge of the Meadow. The trail started through a conifer forest, circling the base of the dome and climbing steeply. Daryle and I hike more slowly than we did 20 years ago. That is a gift in itself. With all our huffing and puffing on the climb we stop to observe more around us. There was much to see…

Bear cafeterias were everywhere – logs from fallen trees which the bears have ripped into with their claws in search of grubs to eat. Their food search speeds the breakdown of fallen logs, leaving detritus to be returned to the soil.

The understory of the woods was open, and for the most part, very dry. Occasionally we came across a patch of vibrant green understory, grasses and small ferns, supported in their growth by some source of moisture, often not seen. One such area harbored a single purple aster, nested in a clump of grass like a perfect gem stone in her emerald velvet show case.

Old and dead trees still standing, interspersed with the living ones, displayed their beauty in the swirl of growth lines around their trunks. No straight lines but contours which wrap around the lines of past upward growth. The trees stand, bark gone exposing gray weathering wood, shapes and twirls, planes worn or rotted away, homes to birds and insects… they grab the eye and bathe it with glorious shape and color. There too were trees which have succumbed to fire in the past but still stand, shards of charred trunk punctuating the green canopy of living trees. At a distance we see the red spike of a standing, decaying tree, vibrant in the sun.

Our hike levels out as we come around the back side of the granite dome and find the last section of forest trail before moving out onto the rock to climb to the summit. Directional signs cut out of steel plates, now rustyed to blend with the environment, point our way. I am very aware that we are walking in John Muir land, the place where his efforts to protect Yosemite Park began.

Breaking out of the forest path and climbing the gradual back side of Lembert Dome, one is treated to a panoramic view of the mountains and valleys of the high Sierras. We have joined a ranger led walk. His love for this land is infectious. Talking about the geology, pointing out peak after peak in a 360 degree disertation on the impact of continental plates colliding, subduction of the Pacific Plate and rising of the continental plate, formation of metamorphic rock and its extrusion as magma; the subsequent shaping of the surface by glaciers… and the history of native people living on the land, European settlers ‘discovering it’, and its protection as a park. His words and passion for the park were compelling but more so was the gift of sitting on top… sun warm and wind crisp… and seeing forever in this beautiful land.

We leave Yosemite today, going out over the Tioga Pass towards Nevada. It is hard to leave such a beautiful place behind, but the journey needs to continue… and besides, we have eaten most of the food in the cupboards and worn all our clean sox! Time to find a wishy-washy and grocery and stock up for the next adventure.

One last observation… the night sky has been so very dark that when I wake and look out the window by the bed, the stars are a riot which overwhelms the sky with their light. They can be seen the whole way down to the horizon, shining thru the trees around us. The quiet of the night is the matrix on which star light explodes.

All is right with this world. For the generations of people and animals yet to come, this land is a treasure which must be held dear.