Yosemite in Winter

We live in a place with no snow.  If you're shoveling snow, that probably sounds like a great idea, but it's been raining for weeks and we needed a little winter wonderland.  So we headed for Yosemite...

It was like being in an Ansel Adams photo.  Compete with wildlife...

Our friends were in the Bracebridge Dinner, a medieval pageant and feast.   And the Ahwahnee was warm and cosy. 

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Tuolumne

A couple of years ago we took a bunch of friends to Tuolumne for Wally's birthday.  One friend took one look at his tent...

...and asked for one with an en suite bathroom.  Alas, not possible.  There aren't any.  But it is beautiful there.

Just spent almost two weeks hiking and fishing and enjoying the fresh air and sunshine.  Saw lots of wildlife:

Two legs and four.

Walking down the river we startled some deer...

Apparently they were not too startled, they weren't in any big hurry to leave. 

Scratch where it itches.  Good advice for man and beast.

Wonder if this is his way of letting us know what he thinks of us?

It's a magical place, and a part of my husband's history.  This was his 72nd summer there.  Thanks, sweetie.  Despite my aching hips (hard bed) and the odd shivering cold night, I wouldn't have missed it.  

Fall into Yosemite

It's fall in Yosemite. Morning mists rise from the golf course at Wawona,

deer feed in the meadows, unafraid. 

Either it's not hunting season or they know they're in a national park - the best national park. Wawona Hotel is a throwback: wide porches...

...and lovely cottages. 

Old fashioned, charming, recently updated. Get a room with a bath or share with really good friends. 

The Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias is close by...

... and you can't comprehend how enormous these trees are until you see people standing on a fallen tree.

The leaves will be at their best this weekend - the last of October. Go now, before the snow falls, while the dogwoods are still bright red and the poplars are shaking their gold onto the river. And it's not crowded. 

What are you waiting for?