Hiking Is My Sport

Going for a hike in the great outdoors is one of my favorite things to do. I think I'm pretty good at it too. I have a lot of energy and stamina and I am working on improving my stream crossing skills. We had to rock hop over a few on this trail which led us to the top of North Dome. What a view! From that perspective, Half Dome is "in your face" close up. The cars in the valley, 3,000 feet below, look tiny.

Another great trip!

El Capitan

El Capitan ("The Captain") is another great Yosemite feature. It's the largest single chunk of granite in the world. I once heard that if you quarried the whole thing (oh, please don't!), you could pave a road stretching from San Francisco to New York City. Surprisingly, even though we had Dad's binoculars (thanks Pam), we couldn't spot any climbers from the valley floor. Fortunately, we also didn't see any BASE jumpers (the practice is illegal in Yosemite). Those people are nuts!

Bridalveil Fall

Bridalveil Fall in Yosemite Valley is arguably the prettiest waterfall in California (I think so). It's certainly popular. Dad and I had to park far away and hike up to the viewing platform where we jostled for standing room with a big crowd of visitors. It was like being at Woodstock.

Speaking of Woodstock, we're very close to observing the 50th anniversary of that signature cultural event. It happened years before I was born, but my dad remembers hearing about it as a child. He describes his age cohort as being too young to go to Woodstock, too old for MTV.