Up relatively early for a walk
down and
up Merced River Canyon between the
mists of the rising
sun and
Indian Flat.
After gift -openings and -shop purchases,
Harriet and I meander off to El
Portal and beyond to the
Arch Rock entrance of
Yosemite where a roughly
two thousand foot elevational change and
granite make for
striking
differences,
welcomed in by
El Capitan and
Bridalveil Falls (or "Fall" depending on the map source).
Up Valley, with all the classic sights including Sentinel Rock,
Yosemite Falls, and
Half Dome, to the
never-see-sun-in-winter Curry Ice Rink, past
deer,
snowmen, and
Stoneman Meadow unto the
the head of Tenaya Canyon at the Stables and back, with
more views.
Lunch at the
Ahwahnee
Bar is followed by a stroll around to
the Dining Room (with its Kandinsky-alluding
Maitre'd -- in response to an "abstract" question) and the
Great Hall's
duo pianos,
nookish fireplace, and
Mural,
Solarium,
and Winter Club Rooms.
After a second brisk Ahwahnee Meadows walk to recollect the car, we reverse course past
El Capitan,
Cathedral Spires and
Rocks, and
Bridalveil to the
El Portal and
Big Oak Flat Roads, with one more
Valley View before the deep snows of
Crane Flat, as the miles unfold parallel to
Tuolumne Canyon and Jawbone Ridge.
At Priest Station, the
elevation and
sun give out, orb and car plummeting opposite the
Old Grade.
Light and slope fade
near the cliffs of
Yosemite
Junction,
with the multiply-setting-Little-Prince sol finally giving it up
for the evening.
