Wendy, going domestic with laundry
Boarding the cattle tour bus!
Andy: Needed a rest day, so after some housekeeping (i.e. laundry) we decided to take the Yosemite Valley Floor Tour. This is the "cattle car" that tours around Yosemite Valley at 10 mph with a talking head at the front of the bus. So after plunking down our $20 for the 1pm bus, we promptly wasted no time in missing our bus! An hour later, we boarded the next bus and had an informative 2 hour ride around the park. We felt like we were on a Disneyland ride, but it was a nice way to waste 2 hours.
Some interesting facts we learned:
- How was Yosemite formed? Plate action uplifted the Sierra Nevada mountain range. This increased rainfall, which caused the Merced river to flow down the mountains and carve a typical V-shaped river canyon (unlike the current Yosemite Valley). .Meanwhile, deep under the surface of the earth, magna and other goodies were pushed up (but did not break the surface) and cooled to form granite below the surface. Then an ice age hit. A huge, moving glacier replaced the Merced River and carved the vertical walled, U-shaped canyon of Yosemite Valley, exposing the granite beneath the surface. In front of the glacier, was a huge pile (600 feet!) of debris called the moraine. The glaciers eventually receded and side creeks filled Yosemite Valley with water (the water was blocked by the moraine). So Yosemite Valley was once a giant lake. Sediment carried in by side creeks eventually filled in the lake and we were left with the famous, flat Yosemite Valley.
- 100 years ago Yosemite was mostly one large meadow, with very few pine trees. The early white settlers drained most of the marshes and meadows to make room for grazing land. This reduced the water table by 4 feet which allowed the various pine trees to take root. And in the last 100 years, the forest has covered most of the valley floor. So the forest here is very, very new.
That's all folks.
Wendy: The good news: we had a nice leisurely morning spent eating breakfast in bed, listening to the radio, and reading for several hours before leaving camp to do errands. The bad news: We're doing a big climb tomorrow (Lost Arrow Spire, see tomorrow's diary for details), which translates into a 5AM wakeup call. It will be a long day, but should be very fun, topped off by the Tyrolean Traverse 2500 feet off the ground to get off the Spire. I've tried to wimp out of the climb several times over the past few days, but then found out that our friend Ted (who will lead the climb) is bringing a professional photographer friend who will take pictures of us on the climb. Professional photos of us climbing a 400 foot granite free standing spire are worth the anxiety the climb causes...vanity wins again.
Wendy, going domestic with laundry |
Boarding the cattle tour bus! |