YOSEMITE - ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION - 1

This was a family trip to Yosemite National Park where we have had many adventures, camping, hiking, and photographing. I had first visited the park in 1962 on a whirlwind trip with my Uncle. He took me to all the basic photo stops in the park in about 24 hours!! George was introduced to Yosemite in 1965 as we traveled from Castine, Maine, to San Diego to start a new tour of duty for George.  My first visit was in the month of September, as was George’s. The Falls were flowing but not with the vigor of the Spring runoff.    

This year, we visited in early October, the fourth year of a severe drought here in California. It was quite noticeable. Several of the Falls were dry, and several had only a trickle. The Merced River was down quite a bit, with no white water visible.

 DRIVE TO FISH CAMP, CA

We drove to Fish Camp, located just South of the Wawona entrance to the park from San Diego in very warm weather. Thankfully the air conditioning worked well. The Los Angeles/Riverside Basin was quite busy but the traffic moved along at least 65 miles per hour. The hills around Tejon Pass were brown and dry. The San Joaquin Valley also was quite dry and hot. The grape orchards for raisins were covered in places so the fruit did not fry. We enjoyed the drive from Fresno as we headed into the foothills of the Sierras which though quite brown are still dotted with Live Oak Trees to break up the monotony.

After checking into our lodge, White Chief Mountain Lodge, we inquired about a place to go for a hike in the area. Eight hours in the car, which was comfortable, still required some exercise afterwards. We headed off to find a trail head for Lewis Creek. Lewis Creek runs close to CA-41. We found the trail to Corlieu Falls, which on a good day has a cascade of about 80 Feet. We hiked to it,

 

Corlieu Falls

 and then below the Falls to an arbitrary point where we turned around as it was getting quite late in the day. If we had gone North we would have come upon Red Rock Falls three miles up the trail. In any case we enjoyed the outing, but due to the ongoing drought there was little water at Corlieu Falls.

Corlieu Falls Detail

A TOUCH OF COLOR
We stopped at the Narrow Gauge Inn on our way back to our Lodge,   for dinner. Their Dining Room is very pleasant and not too noisy. We enjoyed a delicious Portobello mushroom sandwich which we shared.