My Yosemite adventure… part 11… sunrise…

Posted on September 5, 2018 by pouringmyartout

 

This is why I tend to get up super early on my adventures…

a 1

I got to watch the sun come up over Yosemite.

a 1 a

I took this first series of photos after driving partway back out of the park. (The first one is out of the correct order, but I liked it best).

a 2

The sun, just peeking over the cliffs beside Half Dome.

a 3

I drove up to this viewpoint multiple times over two days, once again benefiting from the park being empty of people due to the wildfires burning around it.

a 4

I wanted to see the same views at different times of the day.

a 5

And it was worth getting up obscenely early two days in a row.

a 6

This viewpoint is on one of the roads climbing the valley walls, leading into and out of the park. As you can see, the roads going East and Southeast were still not open. The fires were still burning there. This is as far as you can go now. But I wasn’t leaving yet.

a 7

You could smell the smoke, but the air was more clear the second days I was there.

a 8

Because the valley is so deep, the floor is still in shadow for a while after the sun begins to rise above the valley walls.

a 9

But this is the time of day when I got so close to the deer in an earlier post.

a 10

And when I saw that crazy bear for the second time, climbing down from that tree.

a 11

The park was even more empty of humans this early.

a 12

I felt like I was alone there.

a 14

It was awesome.

a 15

Okay, that one might have been taken as the sun set the night before. That is the downside of not posting all these in chronological order.

a 17

But either way.

a 18

This is the magic of Yosemite.

a 19

A very special place on this planet.

a 20

And one you should definitely visit, if you ever have the chance.

 

 

Posted in My travels, Stories of my life | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My Yosemite adventure… part 10… yes, they have a big, fancy hotel there, because rich people need to see nature too…

Posted on September 5, 2018 by pouringmyartout

a 1

I know, it sounds crazy. The same rich people who want to dump coal sluicing waste directly into streams and cut down all the forests to build towers still want to see a tree now and then.

a 2

I mean, they want to see the trees from a comfortable vantage point, and not get dirty while they drink their brandy, but still. In short, they want to see nature from the comfort of a majestic hotel. And Yosemite has one.

a 3

See, it says so, right on the little displays of expensive souvenirs lining the entrance way.

a 4

I did not stay here. You saw where I stayed. I didn’t even ask how much it costs to stay here.

a 5

But I did wander around in the hotel… which used to be called the Ahwahnee lodge. Ahwahnee is a local Native American word meaning: ‘Who built this huge monstrosity in our sacred valley, oh right, the people who stole it from us’.

a 6

The hotel, like the park itself, was almost vacant. I guess rich people don’t like wildfire smoke any more than poor people do.

a 7

It breaks my heart when I think off all those cancelled reservations, and those people being forced to spend time in the Bahamas or Hawaii or Paris, or wherever rich people go when Yosemite is less than ideal.

a 8

I do hope that their alternate vacation plans weren’t ruined by a hurricane, volcano, or snooty French waiter!

a 9

I’m sure they will bounce back.

a 10

But they did miss all this.

a 11

They might have sent their butlers out to take some splendid photos of the blooming thistles…

a 12

Or the splendid wildflowers.

a 13

And they missed the chance to have their limo drivers take them to views like this.

a 14

I wonder if their butlers would have gone to the trouble of walking out in the meadows?

a 15

Or gone looking for a hidden spring of fresh, cool water.

a 16

See, now I am feeling bad for rich people with lazy butlers.

a 17

I am just softhearted.

a 18

I care too much. Which is why I tried to be a good butler for all of you.

a 19

I braved the smoke, and did not shirk my duty.

a 20

You’re welcome.

 

Posted in My travels, Stories of my life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

My Yosemite adventure… part 9… Bridalveil Falls…

Posted on September 4, 2018 by pouringmyartout

a 1

Another series of photos to highlight how being in Yosemite right after the wildfires had closed the park, and therefore made it virtually free of pesky humanity, allowed me, over two days, to take pictures of interesting things from an unprecedented amount of viewpoints.

a 2

Now, bear in mind that this is the end of summer. Bridalveil falls is a lot more exciting during the rainy seasons.

a 3

When the falls are really running, they raise this incredible mist all around them that gives them their name.

a 4

That being said, they were still beautiful, and I got pictures from above, below, and either side.

a 5

And from various distances, and in the changing light of different parts of the day.

a 6

This was possible only because the park had just reopened, and all the roads to the East and Southeast were still closed because of the fires.

a 7

At no other time would it be possible, in the summer rush of tourists to the park, to get so many views of anything in just two days. Not even full days, really. I had to drive there, and drive back home the next day.

a 8

Being able to drive all around the valley floor multiple times, and park wherever I wanted to park, and hike wherever I wanted to hike was incredible.

a 9

Hey, I do it all for you.

a 10

I even risked my life, scrambling over slimy boulders, past signs that said they really suggested you not scramble over the slippery boulders.

a 11

I climbed through these jumbled piles of sloughed-off granite to get you some shots from directly below the falls.

a 12

I know, right?

a 13

That is dedication.

a 14

But that is why I call these ‘adventures’ and not ‘outings’.

a 15

They require effort… and getting up really early.

a 16

And I do all that.

a 17

Because I care.

a 18

And because I am a little crazy.

a 19

And mostly…

a 20

Because I have crack squirrels living inside my head.

Posted in My travels, Stories of my life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My Yosemite adventure… part 8… El Capitan…

Posted on September 3, 2018 by pouringmyartout

a 1

I know, this is just going to be photos of one of the famous granite formations in Yosemite.

a 2

I am doing this for a reason.

a 3

Because the park had been closed due to all the wildfires burning in California, and had just reopened, and was virtually empty of human beings, I was allowed unrestricted access to drive anywhere, park anywhere, walk anywhere.

a 4

This is unprecedented. The park is usually packed with tourists. You can’t move around. You just find a place to park, and then take the shuttle buses around the valley floor.

a 5

So if you get off the bus to take some photos, you have to wait for another bus. This all takes time.

a 6

You also end up waiting in line for food… or restrooms. This also slows you down.

a 7

Even walking the hiking trails and wandering the meadows leaves you feeling a little crowded.

a 8

This time, this magical time, I had a backstage pass.

a 9

I had the golden ticket to the chocolate factory.

a 10

So I could look at anything I wanted to from any viewpoint.

a 11

Perhaps more importantly, I could afford to look at the same views at different times of the day, over two days, as the light changed as the sun moved across the sky.

a 12

For an adventurer and photographer, this was pretty special.

a 13

Now, maybe you don’t care enough to want to see 20 pictures of one big rock.

a 14

Maybe you have been to Yosemite, and don’t need to see it again.

a 15

Or maybe you just want me to get back to the weird stuff I normally… ha… do around here. Can you do weird stuff normally???

a 16

Either way, I don’t only do this blog for you. I am reliving a wondrous couple of days.

a 17

There are still burnt trees in the park from old fires.

a 18

So anyway, just bear with me.

 

.a 20

This will all be over soon enough

Posted in My travels, Stories of my life | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

For the birds… part 3… the final chapter…

Posted on September 2, 2018 by pouringmyartout

a 1

Okay, these are the last of the photos of birds that I took, sitting in one spot, over a ten-day-period, in my mom’s back yard, when I drove up to the Bay Area to visit her for her 95th birthday.

a 2

Hummingbirds are not actually colorful. They just have reflective scales on their feathers that catch certain parts of the color spectrum.

a 3

That is why you do not always see the colors.

a 4

The sun has to catch the feathers just right.

a 5

That is a horrible picture. I took that one to help make a correct identification on this next photo…

a 6

We did decide that it is a Rufus Sided- or Spotted- Towhee.

a 7

They are shy and move around a lot. Not easy to get a good photo of.

a 8

We are pretty sure this is a young Finch of some sort. Young birds do not always have the full set of characteristics yet, and can be hard to identify.

a 9

Also, most female birds are not as colorful as the males. So young females add a special challenge to identification.

a 10

I do love the little Chickadees. I like the way this one is leaning to the side.

a 11

But aren’t they cute?

a 12

I can’t remember the name of this bird. My mom knows them all. I am just an occasional bird watcher.

a 13

I could look it up in my bird book, or call my mom, if anybody really cares.

a 14

I know that is a Nuthatch. If you ever need reminding that birds descend from dinosaurs, just look at that little guy’s feet… and claws.

a 15

They use those for climbing up trees, and going down head first.

a 16

Goodbye, little Titmouse.

a 17

And the big Towhee.

a 18

These last few shots, of crows in a dead peppercorn tree, are not really part of the rest of the pictures. I had to move out of the chair and step a few feet away, to the stairs leading down from the backyard.

a 19

But, with the crazy sky- smoke from the California wildfires mixed with cloud and fog- these do have a real Halloween vibe to them.

a 20

And they are pictures of birds.

a 21

So I threw them in. Okay, I just have to finish off the Yosemite adventure pictures, and we can get back to the usual weirdness around here.

 

Posted in dogs and other animals | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

For the birds… part 2… with no words about the birds, because I put the words with the birds in the first post…

Posted on September 2, 2018 by pouringmyartout

a 1

a 2

a 3

a 4

a 5

a 6

a 7

a 8

a 9

a 10

a 11

a 12

a 13

a 14

a 15

a 16

a 17

a 18

a 19

a 20

Posted in dogs and other animals | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

For the birds… part 1…

Posted on September 1, 2018 by pouringmyartout

a 1

My mom is a bird watcher. While I was visiting her for her 95th birthday, we spent some quality time together watching the birds in her garden. That is a Hummingbird.

a 2

It turned into a game, to see how many really good photos of birds I could get. That is a Nuthatch.

a 3

I have three posts of photos. They aren’t all of different birds. There are repeats. It was only two weeks, and these are the birds that were in that part of the Bay Area at that time of year. I think that is a Rufus Sided Towhee, also known as the Spotted Towhee.

a 4

A young Chickadee.

a 5

I just wanted to see, if I sat very still in the garden with my telephoto lens, if I could get some excellent bird photos, like this one, of a young Scrub Jay.

a 6

My mom sat with me occasionally.  The smoke in the air from all the fires was giving her a cough, so she often sat inside, watching out the kitchen windows with her binoculars.

a 7

I also ran down to the store to get some bird food for the feeder. There are two young Finches, chowing down.

a 8

The Finch on the right turned his head, and his buddy was replaced with this little yellow bird, that even my mom could not identify. It might be another kind of Finch.

a 9

I like this photo. The one Finch is waiting his turn. His friends are watching him. But his wings are flapping so fast, they look almost invisible, and the other two birds seem to be amazed by how he is just levitating.

a 10

A Towhee… and a grapefruit.

a 11

I think the Nuthatches are adorable little birds.

a 12

A Finch fluffing herself up for a preening.

a 13

Just for some context, there is the chair I would sit in. The challenge was to only take the bird photos from that one spot. I was pretty close to the birds, and had to move slowly to keep from scaring them. But after a few days, a lot of them just ignored me. Birds are a lot like people in that way.

a 14

That is the view standing behind the chair.

a 15

And that is my mom’s garden.

a 16

A Towhee checking out the… uh… garden monkeys?

a 17

He does not seem impressed.

a 18

A Titmouse. These are cute, tiny birds. They have little crests on their heads, but I don’t know if I ever got a good photo of one with the crest raised.

a 19

Okay, I might do the next bird post with no words. So I hope you read the words in this post.

a 20

See you later!

 

 

 

Posted in dogs and other animals | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

My Yosemite adventure… part 7… how I ended up spending the night there, where I stayed, and how I used my extra time taking even more photos for you!!!

Posted on August 31, 2018 by pouringmyartout

a 1

When I was up in the Bay Area visiting my mom for her 95th birthday, I wasn’t actually planning on a trip to Yosemite. And when I did decide to go, it was just a spontaneous idea for a day trip. Then my wife called while I was in the park. Since the place was deserted because of all the fires burning around it, she suggested I stay an extra day.

a 2

I looked around. I wasn’t going to pay hundreds of dollars for luxury accommodations. I was only going to get up early to take some sunrise pictures and poke around a little more. I ended up staying here, in the housekeeper cabins. Low cost… for Yosemite, I mean. This is where all the young people who work cleaning out the other cabins on their summer breaks stay.

a 3

Luxurious… no.

a 4

But this was the view from my front door… or canvas flap.

a 5

If I zoom in, you can see my almost-private beach by the river.

a 6

Oh yeah.

a 7

And there is the squishy mud. I think I already posted a picture of my size-fifteen feet as I sunk my toes into that gooey deliciousness.

a 8

Seriously, a white sand beach.

a 9

And here is a view from the same beach that evening, right after I saw that crazy bear… for the first time. Half Dome is glowing in the setting sun.

a 10

And the best thing about staying over was that, instead of a long drive in the dark, I had a chance to see that bear again. And got to spend another half day roaming around.

a 11

And I got to see the sunrise over the park.

a 12

And take more photos of the same views, but with different lighting. El Captitan looked majestic in the early morning.

a 13

And the park was even more deserted that early in the morning.

a 14

Nobody else was up yet.

a 15

It was amazing.

a 16

The sun, still trying to get above the cliffs.

a 17

The stillness was overwhelming.

a 18

I felt very in touch with nature.

a 19

And I got to not only see the bear again, but get almost close enough to pet those deer that I already showed you in an earlier post.

a 20

Okay, see you soon.

Posted in My travels, Pictures of me, Stories of my life, sunsets | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Raccoons and squirrels and wasps, oh my!!!

Posted on August 30, 2018 by pouringmyartout

a 1

Well, I am back in San Diego from visiting my mom in the Bay Area for her 95th birthday. But I still have a lot of photos from my trip to share.

a 2

I caught a raccoon stealing the cat food again. I love the way their eyes turn orange in the flash.

a 3

Wait, now his eyes are green.

a 4

Okay, that’s better.

a 6

I got a few shots of this squirrel eating birdseed that the birds tossed on the ground. I have a lot of good bird pictures too, so wait for that.

a 7

No, this is not one of the crack squirrels that live inside my head.

a 8

He was much too calm to be one of them.

a 9

While I was sitting in my mom’s garden waiting for birds to show up for their photo shoots, I tried to use the telephoto lens to take some pictures of the wasps.

a 10

They aren’t great photos.

a 11

But these little suckers move fast.

Posted in dogs and other animals | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hey, I bet nobody else you know got up at four this morning and drove for miles just to walk out onto the Golden Gate Bridge to get you some photos… the final chapter…

Posted on August 29, 2018 by pouringmyartout

a 1

Well, this will wrap up my little San Francisco adventure series of posts. Which is good, because in a few hours I am leaving my mom’s house to drive back to San Diego… and reality. So what better place to deny reality for a few more moments than this place…

a 2

Yes, after the beach cleanup, Big Johnny, William and Eva and I drove over to Haight Ashbury, where people denied reality for most of the 1960’s and 1970’s. We had Asian Fusion food.

a 3

I gave Willie his birthday presents. I think he liked them.

a 4

I think we all liked them.

a 5

Some of you may remember this part of San Francisco from another visit to the Bay Area, where I went with the same people to a 1960’s-themed art exhibit, and then, Big Johnny and I went on an epic bar crawl in this very neighborhood.

a 6

‘The Haight’, as the cool locals call it, is a little touristy now.

a 7

And yet it still retains some of its unique character.

a 8

And nowhere does unique character better than the Bay Area.

a 9

Just sayin’.

a 11

Once again, I will be missing this part of the world. My time draws near.

a 12

A long boring drive through the Central Valley, LA traffic… back to my job and chores.

a 13

I will be back at Christmas.

a 14

And there is always my mom’s 96th birthday, next year.

a 15

Okay, see you soon, little godson Willie!

a 16

Oh… right… yes, and your parents too.

a 17

I actually went back to my mom’s house a different way, crossing the Golden Gate bridge,  and swinging around towards the Richmond bridge instead of taking the Oakland Bay bridge back. I knew you wanted one more view of the bridge. Ha!

a 18

Look, it’s Alcatraz, and the Oakland Bay bridge way beyond it. I see blue skies. The weird mix of fog, cloud and smoke from all the wildfires finally parted. And don’t be sad. I still have a bunch of Yosemite pictures to post after I get home. Also, some animal photos, and some pretty good sunset shots.

a 19

And then we can get back to… whatever it is I usually do around here. Bye, San Francisco!

Posted in My travels, Stories of my life, Willie! | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment