Wildlife – Small Wanders

20 Jul 2022: Tioga Road

After two-days in Yosemite Valley, we spent our third day on Yosemite’s Tioga Road. The drive takes you to higher elevations than Yosemite Valley so it’s much cooler. The only challenges were the 20-30min road construction delays at places along the road. These significantly slowed our progress exploring this part of Yosemite. But this area is much less crowded and a lot cooler so definitely a nice change from the past two days & worth the trouble.
Olmsted Point is a must-stop along the Tioga Road. It’s a viewpoint with a spacious parking lot, docents (the day we stopped), and an easy trail. A short hike will take you to breath-taking views of Tenaya Valley & the northside of Halfdome.

Tenaya Lake

A mile down the road from Olmstead Point is Sunrise Lakes Trailhead & Tenaya Lake, Yosemite National Park’s largest lake. Unlike Mirror Lake, Tenaya Lake water level was not low and refreshingly cold. A 0.35mi hike from the parking lot took us to a rocky beach where we waded & enjoyed the beautiful lake-view. A great place for a packed lunch picnic.

Tuolumne Meadows – Soda Springs

The hike to Soda Springs is an easy hike through Tuolumne Meadows over the Tuolumne River. The Soda Springs ‘cabin’ is an opened-roof square surrounding small, rust-colored carbonated springs. There is a field of carbonate bog surrounding the multiple springs and cabin. There is also the Parsons Memorial Lodge nearby with information and history of the area. A fun easy hike through the meadow with panoramic views of the surrounding mountains. Marmots live under the Tuolumne River bridge and Flycatcher birds nest in the tree by the lodge.

18-19 2022: Yosemite Valley

by JamesJuly 17, 2022April 16, 2024California / Campgrounds / Day Trips / Hikes / National Parks / RVing / Sightseeing / Travel / Travel Trailer / Trips / Wildlife / Yosemite

The iconic Yosemite Valley is always a great place to visit. With national park visitation so popular, we are glad they’ve implemented the 3-day pass ($2) requirement. Fortunately, we were able to take advantage of our July pass somewhat last-minute, booking our campsites just a month before traveling.

July can be hot in Yosemite with 95-100°F mid-day temperatures. Starting hikes early, picking shaded trails, and bringing plenty of water and sunscreen can help make the experience enjoyable. The free shuttle buses stop frequently but many riders do not comply with the mandatory mask mandate. So we chose to drive & bike to the trails and lodge for lunch. Parking becomes scarce by noon so biking around Yosemite Valley, once you find a parking spot, is an ideal way to see the place.

Because of the heat, we picked shorter hikes – Day 1: Mirror Lake, which we mostly biked to, was pretty low but Half Dome was reflecting in the pools.

and Day 2: Mist Trail to Vernal Falls, a somewhat challenging 4mi hike because of the 1279ft elevation gain and 600+ often slippery steps. Like Angel’s Landing in Zion, this is a must-do especially during summer since many waterfalls are low flowing. This was one of the few falls in late July to have a decent flow. In Spring, this waterfall is normally much fuller with mist showering the trail & hikers. Here is the website that tells you what the flow rate is: Should I Hike the Mist Trail Today? (yosemitehikes.com)
This one is worth the hard upward effort but, like Angels Landing, crowded by noon.

Snorkeling Hawaii Apr-May 2022

by JamesMay 1, 2022April 16, 2024Day Trips / Hawaii / Sightseeing / Travel / Trips / Wildlife

During our stay in Maui and Kauai 23 Apr – 03 May 2022, when not hiking or in the pool, we enjoyed the beach and ocean to stay cool. The ocean in Hawaii is always inviting, clearer & warmer then southern California.
Just north of our Kaanapali Hotel is a popular snorkeling & cliff-jumping spot, Black Rock Beach. Turtles are common and visibility is better in this partially protected cove. In April, the Trade Winds can blow pretty hard especially in the afternoon, stirring up the waves and water so clarity goes down.
We also took the Teralani snorkeling charter to get to some of the best snorkeling areas, the secluded Honolua and Namalu Bays. These areas are beach-accessible but snorkeling off a catamaran is way easier & it’s an awesome, scenic sail to get there. Not to mention food and open-bar.

19 Feb 2022: Finally Bighorn Sheep

by JamesFebruary 19, 2022April 16, 2024Anza-Borrego State Park / California / Campgrounds / Camping / State Parks / Wildlife

11am – an hour before departure from Borrego Palm Canyon Campground: on our way back to campsite 105, we drove to the day-use parking lot to turn-around. A Ranger directing traffic for Palm Canyon Trail parking had me pull into a parking spot and before I could tell him “I’m just turning around”. He pointed out the Bighorn Sheep near the road. We were finally able to see & photograph a pair of young male Bighorns. They were less than 100yards from our new campsite – if we were still at site 97, we probably would have missed them. They were not disturbed by the dozen hikers in the Palm Canyon parking lot & trailhead. In fact, they crossed the trail & were unconcerned with our presence. I brought my 200-500mm Nikon zoom lens this trip just for this reason. It was a bright enough morning that I was able to hand-hold this long lens. Here are some of my favorites taken just 30mins before we were to leave for 29Palms/Joshua Tree.

After Anza-Borrego, we headed to Twentynine Palms/Joshua Tree, a 2.5hr drive. I was on Cloud-9. Our Anza-Borrego stay was fun but this morning’s Bighorn Sheep encounter made it extra special. Some regulars at Anza say they see them all the time. I’m just glad we did before we left.