As befits the differing "comfort levels" of our cars, we spent Wednesday night in accommodations with similar comfort levels. Philippe and Franchoise in the Z8 with butt-warmers stayed in a comfortable room at at the Tenaya Lodge. Mark and Andrea went up-market from their XK120 OTS with no top to one of the few rooms (with walls!) at Curry Village. Lloyd (E-type OTS with the top up, heat and A/C) and Jerry (E-type FHC) stayed in a heated tent-cabin at Curry Village. David with his E-type OTS and no top to speak of, stayed in an unheated tent-cabin at Housekeeping Camp. We were to meet up at 11am to leave for Tahoe. Until then, we had time to explore. This is what I did....
I woke about 2am, 3am, 4am, with little feeling in my toes. It was cold; very cold... Rather than suffer frostbite, I decided to get up and explore the valley as the sun rose.
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| Housekeeping camp tent cabin. 3 solid walls; a 4th canvas wall and canvas roof. No heat. 5am. Flash reflecting off bear-proof locker. |
The lack of heat in the cabin was compensated by it's location. I was right by the edge of the Merced River by the Yosemite Falls, and could step out and see the sun rise in an amazing place...
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| North Dome (L), Royal Arches (Center), Half Dome (R) over the Merced River as the sun rises |
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| The dogwoods are in bloom at this time of year throughout the valley - an amazing sight |
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| Yosemite Falls - over 3000 feet from the valley rim to the floor |
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| The lowest of the three stages of Yosemite Falls |
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| Half Dome as the sun rises |
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| The mist clears as the sun rises |
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| Amazing sights all around |
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| El Capitan |
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| Bridalveil Falls from the north side of the valley |
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| Bridalveil Falls up from its base - camera lens covered in fine mist |
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| View of Yosemite Falls whilst treating water in the middle of the Merced River! |
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| North Dome, Royal Acrhes and Half Dome again in full daylight |
Too soon, it was time to leave Yosemite Valley, so we set out on CA-120 towards Sonora.
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| A last view of Yosemite Valley and Bridalveil Falls as we head out on CA-120 |
Our next stop was at the Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown. When a railway buff creates the itinerary, you have got to expect at least one railway museum! We walked down into town and had an excellent lunch at the Willow Steakhouse. We then returned to the museum and took a self-guided tour.
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| Mark would be better qualified than I to caption this photo - 2 choo choos |
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| You won't find a 5/16" wrench here... |
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| Contrast this shoddily fitted split-pin to the immaculately fitted pins on the SR-71 from the NWOL |
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| In the machine shop, everything was driven by a network of belts. Safety guards are for wimps! |
We headed out from Jamestown around 4pm on CA-49. Our route to Lake Tahoe was to take us over Ebbetts Pass (CA-4 and CA-89) which had opened after the winter 2-3 weeks ago.
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| Still plenty of snow on the ground as we ascended Ebbett's Pass |
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| Mosquito Lake arond 8000'. Still frozen over, so no mosquitoes... |
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| Still climbing - there was a brief flurry of sleet before we reached the summit |
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| At the summit, an impromptu snowball fight broke out.. |
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| Summit of Ebbett's Pass |
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| Add caption |
The drive down from the summit on CA-4, CA-89, CA-88 was dramatic, and as the sun came out, very enjoyable. We finally rolled into Lake Tahoe around 7pm. For once, there were no catastrophes today, for which we were truly thankful. Mark and Andrea treated us to a wonderful dinner at the Riva Grill overlooking the lake before some of us fell asleep at the table... Time to recharge our batteries with a good night's sleep.
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