Winter Activities in the Yosemite Valley

Snow dusting on Yosemite Falls. Photo by C.G.

The Yosemite National Park may not be high on the family fun radar for winter but it has way more to offer than a trip to the visitor center and drinks at the Ahwanee - however much we love them. It's an ironic contradiction that when the park dons its snow white cloak, snow enthusiasts flock to Tahoe and leave the Yosemite valley alone. The lowest visitor numbers are recorded in January and February each year. I say - their loss, your gain! After snow storms dust the Yosemite Valley with a fresh layer of white powder, the valley truly resembles the winter wonderland photographed by Ansel Adams. It's classic, it's picturesque, and it features the most jaw-dropping background for an ice skating afternoon al fresco. Here are activities to enjoy the Yosemite Valley with your family.

Sledding fun. Photo by C.G.

Sledding in the Meadows
Even a few inches of snow are enough to get the loudest giggles out of any child. Low tech and carbon-friendly, sledding is one of the first snow activities our girls enjoyed in the meadows. Now, the valley doesn't feature any major slopes to go downhill but you'll find a few bumps to justify a short thrill - and miles of flat terrain to pull your little ones as a good cardio exercise.

Details
On that trip, we were staying staying at the Yosemite Lodge and just needed to step outside and walk less than a half mile to find fun sledding spots by the river. However there is a free sledding site at Big Oak Flat Road on Hwy. 120 all winter.

Tubing is great for all ages. Photo by Frog Mom

Tubing at Badger Pass
If you're looking for an exciting sliding adventure, try the Badger Pass Ski Area where a tubing area is entirely dedicated to younger kids. Rent a tube for a couple hours, hop on board and slide away!

Since there is no minimum age for tubing, you can pretty much schlep your little ones as soon as they are snow-ready - meaning that they will keep all their winter gear on with a smile.

Details
Cost: $15/person, 2 hour sessions at 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m, through April. (209) 372-8444. htpp://yosemitepark.com. For current Northern California snow tubing conditions and information, check the Daily Snow Report for Badger Pass.

Snowmen and Snow Angels
Talk about "leave no trace behind" - have I got the ideal activity! Building snowmen takes a little time but kids can't get enough provided you give them a hand. If you want them to be perfect, don't forget to pick up sticks for the arms and rocks for the eyes. As much as carrots are fun for noses, I'm afraid they would not be allowed in a national park. It might be considered feeding the wildlife! Nobody wants a ranger warning for a snowman.

As for snow angels, children are really the best at that sport. Who else would take such pleasure out of lying in the snow and waving arms and legs around? Any area works for both activities but the best time is the warmest afternoon after a fresh snowfall.

Yosemite ice skating rink. Photo by Yosemite National Park

Ice-Skating at Curry Village
I have this love/hate relationship with Curry Village because it is the biggest resort of the valley but I'll grant them that: they know how to entertain their guests.

Since the 1930s, Curry Village has managed an ice skating rink right under Half Dome and Glacier Point and what a lovely tradition that is. The only time we tried to go there it was closed because of warm temps so I suggest you call ahead and check.

Details

Badger Pass ski area. Photo by Yosemite National Park

From mid-November until early March, the Curry Village Ice Rink is open daily for several 2.5-hour skating sessions, conditions permitting. Call (209) 372-8319 for more information.

Skiing at Badger Pass
Friendly, small, no lines - Badger Pass is Yosemite National Park's ski resort and at 7,200 feet of elevation, it gets the same snow conditions as Bear Valley. Don't expect double black diamond runs but it's a great family experience. Sign up the kids at the ski school and hit the slopes! The added plus? Since you'll most likely be staying in the valley - unless you snow camp - you can simply take the shuttle bus from the valley to Badger Pass and leave your car behind. No parking hassle = happy skiers.

Details
You can find all about the downhill ski conditions here and all about the cross country ski here. The ski school program for 4 to 6 year olds is called the Badger Pup Program.

Hike to the Yosemite Falls
If this sounds like "been there, done that in the spring", reconsider with a fresh coating of snow. When I took my parents to the Yosemite Park in December, we were conveniently staying at the Yosemite Lodge at the Falls and were right on the short trail to the falls.

Walking under the majestic trees and watching snow dust the trees and reveal their bare skeleton in fluffy white was magical.

Snowshoe on the trails
Whether you join a full moon snowshoe walk or a nature snowshoewalk at Crane Flat, guided snowshoe walks are a fun way to discover the park and learn about the winter world.

Details
You can rent snowshoes at the Cross-Country Center as long as the Badger Pass resort is open and until march 9, 2012 at the Curry Village ice rink.

Crazy Winter Deals
Staying in the Yosemite Valley in the winter allows you to take advantage of some great winter deals but two particularly crazy deals stand out. As I said, it's the quietest months of the year and room prices drop significantly. For the adventurous, here goes:

• Temp-RATE-ture offer at Curry Village: it's crazy cheap but there's a reason. You stay in an unheated tent cabin! Let me repeat the interesting part: unheated. Bring your best long johns and sleeping bags folks, you're going to need them. The rate for an unheated tent cabin is based on the previous night’s low, in degrees Fahrenheit each night, with a maximum cost of $39 plus taxes and stuff. Check the monthly average temps and do your math - you could paid to stay in the Yosemite Valley! But then again, you could catch the century's biggest cold. Offer good until march 17, 2012. Blackout dates apply, including President's Day week.
• All You Can Heat Offer: for the squeamish amongst us. Same offer as above except you stay in a heated tent cabin. That's $20 extra for a chance not to get a nasty winter disease. Don't smile too fast though. I hear you'll still need your sleeping bag.

What else do you like to do in the winter in the Yosemite Valley?

Intro to Nature Journaling with Kids

Nature journaling. Photo by Frog Mom

Impressionists had it all figured out. Dressed in casual country chic (straw hat de rigueur even if it snowed), they walked to a nice spot in the woods, strived hard to look moody and set up their easel. Then they drunk bucket-loads of absinthe, got their palette out and painted a museum piece in large brush strokes. That was nature journaling at its finest with a good case of delirium tremens to boot. Except with children, carrying easels and drinking absinthe might not be your best ticket to a fun day out.

Nature Journaling by Scott
Vanderlip

The G-rated version of a Manet landscape starts with a sketchbook, a travel watercolor set and pencils. Oh, and the great outdoors - it wouldn't be called nature journaling otherwise. Here's the recipe.

Backstory

I was introduced to nature journaling by my friend Scott Vanderlip who wrote a short guide to nature journaling. In 8 pages, he answers questions a newbie can have on the topic, from what it is to how to do it, why, getting started, sample journal pages and references. 

In the hills above Pinecrest on a late December day, Scott and his teenage daughter took us out for a morning of exploration with nature journaling in mind. None of us had ever done it and my girls were shy about it. My husband was even more so and I, well I'm not much of an artist. Turns out, that's a moot point.

Hiking above Pinecrest. Photo by Frog Mom

"There is no right or wrong way to nature journal," writes Scott, "you can use drawing, painting, text, maps, poetry, taped in picked flowers (even bugs), leaves, leaf rubbings, or whatever mediums and ways you can think up to record your observations. The only measure of success should be that you feel you have captured and recorded the observations you wished to capture in your journal, without worrying about creating a 'pretty picture.'"

Based on Scott's guide, here is a list of essentials.

Ingredients

• Fine tip 5mm mechanical pencil like the BIC Matic Grip - or a HB lead pencil for contours
• Travel size watercolor set from Winsor and Newton or a Koi Watercolors Pocketfield Sketch Box - the Koi set has a nifty device called the refillable water brush that stores water while on the road, a hit with my girls
• A watercolor sketchbook like the Strathmore Watercolor Paper or a bound journal (8 by 5") like this Moleskine Watercolour Notebook
• A white cotton sock cut in the middle to resemble a sleeve - to wipe off the brush between colors
• A small bottle of water - to refill the water brush
• Icing on the cake: Crayola Watercolor Pencils - for kids who like to mess around with their page

Methodology

Though it didn't really matter where we sat, we looked for rocks that we use as stools. Logs would have worked too but there were none. If we were going to stay there a while, might as well make ourselves comfortable. 

The kids started first, less inhibited than us adults. Initially I was standing there as an observer but when I saw my 6-year old and 8-year taken by the exercise, I felt foolish for not trying. I couldn't think of the worst thing that could result from nature journaling except for a wasted hour and time was in ample supply that morning so I dug in.

Blank page. The blank page was intimidating but when everyone bent their heads over their journals, the artist block went away and we all got into the groove. Pulling my own journal out of my backpack, I opted to capture the landscape in front of me. My girls did the same, focusing on the shape and color of the sugar pines around us.

Sugar pine cone. Photo by Frog Mom

If you've never seen the pinecone of a sugar pine, it's ginormous and I asked my 1st grader to hold one in her hands so you could get an idea of the size. Ain't that something?

They're all over the sierras so you're bound to see one at some point but when you do, resist the urge to play with the amber-color balls of sap hanging to the cone. The sap is extremely sticky - and fragrant - and it took me a full day to get it off my skin!

Changing colors. Photo by C.G.

Back to nature journaling. First off, you fill the container of your water brush and wear the cut-off sock as a glove on the non-painting hand. Squeeze the brush lightly so water wets it. Then dip the brush in the solid water color blocks and start painting. The kids were not patient enough to draw the contours with a pencil first but if you wanted finer details, you might want to do that first.

To change colors, my girls simply expressed water from the brush until it dripped enough for the previous color to fade away, rubbed it on the sock - aha! so that's what it was for - and dipped the brush in a different color. They didn't have any problem doing it.

Scott Vanderlip and Frog Mom. Photo by Scott's daughter

Since Scott had brought two different watercolor sets, we were able to experiment with both and between the Winsor and Newton and the Koi sets, the Koi clearly won our hearts. Better colors for outdoors experimenting, more choice (the Winsor and Newton didn't have any black and with so many rocks around us, that was an issue), cool water brush.

Blue flower out of the blue. Photo by Frog Mom

The trick, particularly for the younger set, was to learn how much water was enough and how much water was too much. That's why it's important you pick watercolor paper as opposed to construction or regular sketch paper. Watercolor paper is designed to absorb water moisture and you won't have paper mache right away.

The kids were done in 20 minutes, which was much longer than I expected. Usually at home when they're drawing, a piece of paper doesn't last more than 5 minutes unless they are in a deep drawing mood. A few tears were shed over mixed colors and page flooding but overall they were satisfied about the outcome.

Pine forest. Photo by Frog Mom

"Can I do another one?" asked my 3rd grader. Of course, I said, and she went on to draw a beautiful blue flower while her young sister took a stab at painting a pumpkin - go figure. Sitting in a pine forest in the dead winter, neither blue wildflowers nor bright orange pumpkins were to be found around us. Hmm. It made me wonder.

Is it possible that they painted the landscape around us to make us happy but that what they really wanted to paint was something completely different?

My nature journal. Photo by Frog Mom

Whatever it was, they completed 3 paintings each but the most detailed - and in my perspective the finest - was the first landscape of our surroundings. My girls can draw a plant on a blank page but they have a hard time situating it in a fictional landscape. It'll remain a stand-alone plant on a blank page.

Hence the plus of nature journaling. Your model is in front of you, as intricate or simple as you want to render it, and it won't walk away.

Back from the Sierras, I've ordered two pocket watercolor sets so we can add them to our hiking essentials. We're more likely to use them if they are already in our backpack and they'll be a fun addition to our basic sketchbook and pencil.

Resources

Nature journal in the making. Photo by Frog Mom

• The Magnifying Glass - Online Nature Journaling Blog: Nature Journal with Twig Binding Tutorial (awesome resource for crafty parents)
• Smithsonian Education: Introduction to the Nature Journal (for the ambitious ones)
• Sierra Club: downloadable Nature Journal template (for budding naturalists)
• Clare Walker Leslie and Charles E. Roth - Keeping a Nature Journal (for advanced tutorial)
• Family Fun: Back to Nature/A beginner's field journal from Family Fun by Kristi Dahl (simple and to the point)
• California State Parks: Nature Journal Observation Sheet (more like a log)

Malakoff Diggins: From Gold Mine to Ghost Town

Ranger Debbie at Malakoff Diggins. Photo by Frog Mom

"We were a wagon and horse town until the 1930s," said Debbie the ranger at Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park, in the gold town of North Bloomfield formerly known as Humbug. Little more than the Main Street buildings remains at North Bloomfield but what it lacks in quantity, it makes up in authenticity. After a morning hike of the diggins under a scorching sun, we enjoyed a tour of the town by Debbie who brought to life the 1870s gold mining days with colorful anecdotes. Without Debbie, nobody would have guessed that the saloon accepted three forms of payment for its beer and hard liquor: hard currency, gold nuggets and gold dust. Hence the scale below the mirror at old Kings Saloon. "I love tours like that," confided my 6-year old, "It's so much fun." We even had our Indiana Jones moment after Debbie told us where we could find a 600-foot long old drainage tunnel and walk through it. Now that was the highlight for our junior explorers.

The diggins. Photo by C.G.

Diggins Loop Hike
Before we discovered the town, our family hiked the 3.2 mile loop around the diggins. Not only is the old mining pit incredibly scenic in a Bryce Canyon sort of way, but it is also surrounded with pine forests on the hills and criss-crossed with willow jungles and cattail marshes at the bottom. It's a complex plant habitat that my girls enjoyed plowing through, especially in the willow "jungles."

Shortly after we started in the shaded pine forest, we noticed an unusual smell around us. It was the unmistakable scent of cooked artichoke. Puzzled we looked around and couldn't figure out what plant it could be. Finally we narrowed it down to a low lying fern whose leaves were very sticky - if not stinky, depending on who you asked.

Sierra mountain misery. Photo by C.G.

When we later showed a picture to Debbie, she was positive. "It's Sierra Mountain Misery," she said, a plant whose leaves become oily and sticky during the summer months and thus highly flammable. Combined with pine needles in dry months, they're a true fire hazard that causes headaches to forest managers. Such a tiny little thing, so inconspicuous and yet.

We went down the hills to enter the dry world of the mining pit. Known locally as "the diggins," the pit is a 300-foot pit that was created by high pressure hydraulic mining from the 1870s to the early 1900s. Originally 600 feet deep and 1.5 mile wide, it was planned to be five times as large. Winter rains filled 300-foot high of gravel and hydraulic mining stopped before the whole project could be completed.

Monitor. Photo by C.G.

Gold mining in river beds required the presence of water to wash away debris and find gold. The mine at Malakoff Diggins happened to be smack in the ancient bed of the Yuba river before the Sierras were uplifted - a dry diggins.

The river was long gone when the first gold nuggets were found in 1849 and water was diverted from the sierras to wash away the gravel beds from the hills. We found one of the water guns - also known as monitors - along our hike. Quite the beast!

Bushwhacking in willow jungles. Photo by C.G.

Standing in the sun was too hot - temps in the mid 90s - so we left the water gun and followed the yellow wooden posts marking the trail on the pit floor. Don't know if we would have found our way without them. It's a maze down there and visibility is limited because of the vegetation. It's so thick that it creates micro-environments like the willow jungle portions where our girls got a kick at pretending to hack away at the "tropical" plants. They certainly couldn't see 10 feet ahead.

Fortunately us adults could see above and never got sidetracked for long. Yes we did err here and there but in the end, we found our bearings and the way out of the pit.

Coming back to the car was a huge relief to our little ones as the heat was getting at them.

Tour of North Bloomfield

The snow wagon. Photo by C.G

Debbie the ranger was our guide, a wonderful woman who could tell you stories of 1878 like she had been there. Interestingly enough, most of the information she shared with us, the California state parks heard from Charlie Gus, a native of North Bloomfield who was born in 1878 in the heyday of the hydraulic mining, grew up to operate all the pieces of equipment, stayed after the townsfolk dwindled down to 9 families and died of old age in the village.

First thing you did when you arrived in town was hit the stables because traveling from Grass Valley took 18 hours and the horses were tired. In the stables we admired a hay press, a few freight wagons, the little buggy that served as the town's "taxi" and the snow wagon/sled that got you out of town when you were snowed in.

With 6 to 8 feet of packed snow every winter, the people of North Bloomfield spent their autumns canning, preparing, storing and making sure they'd have enough to last until spring.

The arsenal of the pharmacist. Photo by C.G.

From the stables we went on the Kings Saloon where cheating was not allowed. "This is a square house" reads the sign at the back of the narrow room where miners spent their day's wages on cheap local beer in glass bottles or more expensive imported beer in ceramic bottles. We sat around round tables with decks of cards invited a poker game or two but sadly we didn't have time for that. On to the pharmacy, the jewel of the park

Set up in 1874 by a dentist turned pharmacist called Adrian Smith, the pharmacy smells of saw dust and metal and its neat shelves are lined with bottles of herbal elixirs, medicines, potions and dried shrooms. For the kids, the real draw lies in the kiddie corner where Mr Smith sold books, toys and sheet music.

The town's general store. Photo by Frog Mom

Inside the general store, the kids had a blast identifying all sorts of heavy crank-up or wheel-operated machines, as well as spotting each single item hanging from the pale green ceiling. The metal bath tubs had their share of success, as well as the striped socks display and the old typing machine i the back of the store.

We finished the tour by a visit of a private residence, the house of Rush Dix Skidmore, a German baker turned saloon operator, stables owner and philanthropist. He was the proud father to two boys and three girls who were the best dressed in school. Check out the pleat maker in the kitchen and empathize with their poor mother who sweated hours away on her girls skirts before sending them off to school. That concluded our tour but before we left, we stopped at the visitor center to enquire about the Hiller Tunnel.

Going in Hiller Tunnel. Photo by Frog Mom

Hiller Tunnel
During our morning hike, we found the crumbled entrance to the Hiller Tunnel from the Diggins Trail but didn't go further than a few feet in - not knowing the condition of the tunnel. In the afternoon, Debbie confirmed that we could walk the whole length of the 600-foot long tunnel and that it was easy to access from the road. "Make sure you wear proper walking shoes," added Debbie, "It's very slippery in there with the water draining from the creek." We didn't need more to get us going and 15 minutes later, we were in front of the tunnel entrance with walking poles and headlamps. Drip, drop, water dribbled from the ceiling and stalactites were forming overhead. My husband and I couldn't help humming the Indiana Jones theme because hey, it's a pitch dark tunnel and for all we know there might be bats and hidden treasures!

Hiller Tunnel. Photo by C.G.

"That's adventure," kept repeating our two girls. Yes, real adventure, especially where we lost sight of the day's light in the tunnel. What a perfect ending to Malakoff Diggins. When you explore the tunnel, don't forget that tunnels are cold (wear an extra layer), this one is wet throughout (waterproof shoes better) and good flashlights or headlamps are compulsory.

One last note: you should know that Malakoff Diggins is on the list of state parks to be closed. The rangers forecast that a caretaker will take up residence in the town but nobody will be able to access the buildings, not even the thousands of school kids who enjoyed a day of living history for their California studies every year. Before you go, call and check the status. The gold mine town that was never a ghost town is about to become one.

Practical details

• Getting there: Malakoff Diggins is 26 miles north east of Nevada City, 3.5 hours drive from San Francisco.
• Directions: this page has everything to get you there, summer and winter.
• Contact info: phone: (530) 265-2740 email: malakoff@parks.ca.gov
• Lodging: the park operates a campground a cabins but if they are closed, the closest lodging is in Nevada City. Plenty of hotels and motels, as well as vacation rentals through vrbo.com or airbnb.com.
• Eating: bring your own everything! There are no food outlets in North Bloomfield - you might starve. Stock up in Nevada City before you go. Back in Nevada City, the kids will love you if you offer them frozen yogurt at Crazy Cow Yogurt or hand-made ice cream at Treats. For more hearty and savory fare, Sopa Thai Cuisine has good Thai food but slow service (moderate), New Moon Cafe offers new Californian cuisine (expensive), Ike's Quarter Cafe has an outside patio where you can eat burgers and sandwiches (budget), and Las Katarinas serves no-thrills Mexican food in funky little booths (budget).

Autumn Trails in the Yosemite Valley



Yosemite Falls seen from the Merced River trails



Catching the tail end of the fall in the Yosemite Valley is a wild weather roll of the dice. You can enjoy California's warm indian summer and winter's rains in a couple days, just before snow storms pound the Sierras. That's what we got and exactly why I love that time of the year - it's so unpredictable! When I planned this trip back in September for my family (husband, kids 5 and 7) and my mother, I wasn't sure whether the valley would be snowed in or not. In terms of lodging, that could change a lot of things for everybody's comfort. I came up with a practical compromise: my husband and I would stay at the Upper Pines campground and my mother and my girls would stay at the Ahwahnee Hotel. Guess who got the best of the valley?



Morning reflection of trees in the Merced River



We left the Bay Area at 2pm and arrived at the entrance of the valley at twillight on Friday. As we drove between thick stands of alders, bigleaf maples and black oaks, darkness engulfed the road and our hopes of pitching our tent in daylight too. Pitching in the dark is not fun. You don't see the tiny rock that will poke through the sleeping mat between your shoulder blades at 3am, you don't know if you're setting up on level terrain and won't slide at night, and you want to make sure you're far enough from the neighbors but still on your site. As it turned out, our campsite was so crappy and narrow anyway that we had just enough space for the tent (#106 for the record). Fifteen minutes later, the tent was up and we dropped off the rest of the family at their "rustic" five-star cottage. We enjoyed the cozy walk-in fireplaces of the beautiful Ahwanee Hotel before returning to mother nature at the campground.

Hey, we had new neighbors! Huh, a frat party of sorts. So much for quiet hours. The next morning, we knew everything about the frat party's wild nights, their boring day jobs and dancing skills. We felt enlightened in their ways and made it a duty to enlighten them in ours. See, I'm an early bird. We opened and shut the doors of the bear box as much and as loudly as was needed to recover our morning tea and toiletries. There, no sleeping in kiddos! Small revenge but sweet nonetheless.



Morning fog on the meadows east of Yosemite Village



We drove over to the Ahwahnee and caught the tranquil reflection of the trees on the Merced River. It was as perfect as a Vermeer painting and we jumped out of the car to capture the image before a jumping trout created ripples. Nearer the Yosemite Village, a fuzzy fog fleeted above the Indian Canyon Creek meadows while a shy sun and clear skies announced a glorious morning. The stars were well aligned for a great day out.

In terms of activities, we were limited by my mother's recent hip surgery. Still recovering, she couldn't walk more a mile, maybe 1.5 mile, over flat terrain. That ruled out any upwards rocky trails or steps but opened up vast scenic possibilities. We parked at the Yosemite Lodge at the Falls and rented bicycles there - even for my mother but that was short-lived since she hadn't ridden in 30 years. She cursed, I insisted; she insisted, I returned her bike.



Biking in the Yosemite Valley



After a quick look at the trail map, we opted for the easiest trail  across the lodge, along the river on a paved path towards the swinging bridge. It is my favorite discovery trail as you follow a tree-lined winding path until views open up on Leidig Meadow, and keep on to the Swinging Bridge where a little sandy cove offers a perfect splash spot for kids (and ducks).



Autumn foliage on maple trees 



The fall colors were amazing. Every step was as potential photo op for non-believers in the gospel of autumn foliage in California. Seriously, why do people gloat about the East coast without checking their Sierra backyards? If you want to know where to find fall colors in California, check out a website called Fall Color in California. You will find visitor reports of fall colors with exact locations, dates and photos. I read there a report about a magnificent bigleaf maple tree by the chapel in the Yosemite Valley so this was our destination today. 

When we arrived at the meadows, we were greeted by a nice line-up of rear-ends photographing the valley with more pro equipment than I've seen since Lady Di got married. OK, barely. If anything, this confirmed that it was definitely a good weekend to be around. We admired the view and found a comfortable stump for my mother to sit on while the girls rushed to the river to build sand castles. Once I even found an arrowhead along the edge.



Yellow leaves raining on Merced River by Swinging Bridge

 Imperceptibly, outside temps had dropped and skies darkened. Vivid gusts of wind shook the trees and much to our delight, they shook the trees until tempests of yellow leaves literally rained on the river in slow motion. Light and unaware of the weather change, the leaves blew with the pre-rain puffs and blanketed the shores of the river in golden hues of yellow. It was absolutely gorgeous and we couldn't get enough of it.



Yosemite Chapel seen from Upper Yosemite Falls trail



However it was clear that rain would be upon us fairly soon so while my mother rested by the bridge, our little family hopped on bikes to go find the Yosemite chapel. With its tall frame, wooden beams and shingle roof, the oldest structure of the valley could be a distant cousin of Scandinavian stave churches. Quaint and surrounded by tall granite walls, it is the site of many wedding ceremonies. 

Yes the bigleaf maple tree was there but we had seen more impressive ones by the Yosemite Falls so we turned around and rode back to the Yosemite Lodge. By then it was about 2pm and our girls were in dire neeed of quiet time. My left them with my mother to rest in their bedroom and took off with my husband. I wanted to see the valley from above to admire the colors of the fall and the only trail I kew for that was Upper Yosemite Falls trail.



Columbia Rock, Upper Yosemite Falls trail



This iconic Yosemite Valley hiking trail is also one of the oldest (it was built from 1873 to 1877) trails and rises 2,700 feet over 3.6 miles. With our late start, we knew that we wouldn't get to the top if we wanted to make it back down before dark. However we aimed for half of the trail, figuring we'd be way above the treeline with nice views of the valley. Our expectations were not disappointed.

In Tom Stienstra's words, this hike is a demanding climb. You bet! Both on the way up and down, we passed people holding their crooked backs or panting against rocks. Granted, some were poorly outfitted with flips-flops but most had good running shoes - which still doesn't beat real hiking boots. The trail is comparable to a never-ending staircase with flat respites on loose gravel.



Top of Yosemite Falls from the trail



During the first 1.2 miles, it's switchback after switchback until you surface on a hard slab at Columbia Rock. By the railing above the vertiginous drop (you're 1,200 vertical feet above the valley), it's a good idea to take a picture just to show you were there. We obliged, followed a flat stretch  and kept on until the trail dipped to a portion with views on the face of Upper Yosemite Falls. There are no words to describe this monstrous beauty except that you feel ridiculously small and vulnerable.



Rainbow on Half Dome



From the trail, we could follow the setting sun's shadows stretching farther in the valley and dark heavy clouds progressing in our direction. We still had an hour of daylight so turned around but of course, what we thought would happen happened. It started raining. Not hard, mind you, but a healthy soak nonetheless and it felt incredibly refreshing. Clever me, I was in short-sleeves and had left all other layers in the car. Since we had almost ran up the trail, I was still warm enough that I didn't get cold at all.

My husband was giddy with excitement for a different reason. He changed the lens on his camera and kept peeking left to catch a rainbow if any should appear. At a turn of the trail, the most beautiful surprise of the day awaited us: a giant rainbow sliced Half Dome in the middle, diving straight down to the valley's trails. We could see exactly where the pot of gold was burried. Hallelujah! 

Family hike from Rainbow Falls to Devils Postpile at Mammoth Lakes

Devils Postpile National Monument is a great family destination combining geological wonders, easy trails and scenic falls in the Eastern Sierras. Plus, if you hustle up, you get to pick a special cookie at Schat's Bakery or a gelato downtown after the hike. Kids, what's not to like?

First, the basics. To get there, drive over and through the Yosemite's high country (or Tahoe if Highway 120 is closed), drive south past Mono Lake and west towards Mammoth Lakes. We camped over June Lake at Oh! Ridge (no kidding) campground, a beautiful spot with breathtaking views. The June Lake/SilverLake/Mammoth Lakes area has tons of other lodging options.

We reached Devils Postpile after a long and snaky road down a valley, with the mighty Minarets towering above. The last time we were there in July 2004, our oldest daughter was 9 months old and Agnew Meadows where we camped was infested with mosquitoes. By going there in October this year, we beat the mosquitoes thanks to cold nights and were able to introduce our kids and friends to this magical place. The great thing about Devils Postpile is that the hiking is really easy - almost no elevation gain, just about 3.7 miles and the most beautiful trails.

We started at the Rainbow Falls trailhead and picknicked on a table before hitting the trail. In early October we were hoping for fall colors but the alders were just shy of turning golden and most slopes were still silver green with sagebrush. The part we crossed to get to the falls was a tree cemetery, surrealistic testimony to a 1992 forest fire dubbed the Rainbow Fire that swept through the entire area. As a result, empty tree shells and calcinated stumps dot the slopes until the river and it does feel like walking through a museum.

Around 0.7 mile, the trail merges with the trail to Devils Postpile along the middle fork of the San Joaquin river. Now we were in typical eastern sierras scenery: red firs, quaking aspens, black cottonwood, and sapphire blue waters. Whichever way you slice it, the eastern sierras are still my absolute favorite mountains.

The falls were 0.6 mile further, a raging water sight dropping a vertical 100 feet in the river. If you go there in the afternoon, watch for a rainbow spectrum created by the sun on the fine water particles floating in the air. We were amazed that the falls were so full, after the long and dry summer. We expected a trickle and got treated to a a full-on show. Pretty neat. There is a tiny trail with steps leading to the base of the falls if you really want to get wet but we decided to stay on the viewing platform where it's dry.

From there, our party of 8 separated into two groups. A first group with the two youngest kids walked back to the car to drive to the ranger station and hike the 0.4 mile to the Devils Postpile. I went with our friend Michael and the two older kids on the trail to Devils Postpile, a pleasant 2.4 mile walk.

We took a bottle of water with us and hit it. Whereas my 7-year old dragged her feet, the other boy used the trail as a paratrooper training course, jumping on trees, going off trail and running every slope. Now that's a happy hiker!

We stumbled upon a giant fallen tree and Michael, quite the daredevil, ran to inch his way to the extremity hanging over the trail. Look it, he made it! Then he told his son join him and junior paratrooper came. Then, ah then he told his son to stay put and ran down to take a photo. That's when a couple of hikers walked by us and rolled their eyes in disapproval because "only crazy parents would send their kids up a big tree for a photo op." Obviously I sent my girl too and did the same. In the end, nobody broke any legs and we carried on with our hiking business. Don't think we were careless parents though. We were wise enough to tell the kids that if they should fall, they had better shoot for the base of the tree where the ground was softer and higher so as to make the best of a bad situation.

After walking along the gorgeous San Joaquin river, we finally reached Devils Postpile and took the trail to the top of the volcanic phenomenon. Admiring it from the top truly has a different flavor from viewing it from down below (which 90% of people do, since the trail from the ranger station arrives at the base of Devils Postpile).

The top looks like a neat arrangement of hexagons, which are in fact the top of the columns polished by glacial ice. This basalt formation resulted from a volcanic eruption whee the lava cooled, contracted and cracked, forming vertical and hexagonal columns. From the base, it looks like a slanted wall with a slew of broken columns that fell with the passage of time. From the edge of the roof, it's hard to take in the exact dimension of the columns but the chaos at the base is pretty impressive.

We snapped a few more shots, walked down to the base, met the young'uns and walked back to the cars. We were ecstatic that the weather had been so nice when two days earlier the area had been slammed by a snow storm. More on that on the next Frog Mom post...

  

The Great Sierra Mine: A Ghost Town in Yosemite's High Country

In 1859, George W. "Doc" Chase, a wayward dentist from Mariposa, arrived from the diggins in the Eastern Sierras, looking for a rich vein of silver. Making his way at high altitude, he followed a rugged trail along the high ridges of the Yosemite's high country, admired the icy silver waters of Ellery Lake, and scrambled his way up a crest near the western end of Tioga Lake.

There, he pulled his pick and shovel from his rucksack and worked at it, finding a promising lode. The next year he returned, dug some more and scratched a message in a tin can with the finest results of his excavations. He left it under a rock. That was as much as Chase did to stake his claim to The Sheepherder. His life went on and the can got all rusty.

For more than a decade, the tin can lay at the foot of Gaylor Peak where it had been placed and forgotten. In 1874, a young sheepherder going by the name of William Brusky stumbled about Chase's flattened can, his pick and his shovel. He unearthed a promising vein of silver. Word got around.

The Tioga Pass mining fever was born and that's how Tioga Pass, the eastern entrance to the Yosemite National Park, got its name from a mine. The Tioga Mine was a full-flown mining town, complete with an assay office, blacksmith shop, storehouse, boarding houses, workshops and cabins.

Though we did not push to the Tioga Mine, last week we took a trip back in time by hiking up to Gaylor Lakes from Tioga Pass and going to the remains of the Great Sierra Mine.

The trail starts right at the Tioga Pass at the elevation of 9,800', next to the rangers' kiosk. No sooner had we parked at the tiny lot that we realized our backpack full of food for the day was back at the Tuolumne Meadows campground! I drove fast and came back with our lunch and snacks, glad that a bear hadn't found it before me. The hike could start.

Having walked this path five years ago, we knew that the hardest part would be to get our girls over the hill. Gaylor Lakes trail starts with a steep 600' elevation gain over half a mile and from the ridge, is a breeze down to the lower lake where we planned to have lunch.

Lower Gaylor Lake is a stunning sierra lake, stretching along the plateau like a never-ending pool whose southern edge drops in the valley with  alpine peaks in the distance. It is simply gorgeous and the clear waters are a call to swim. However our goal was much higher that day so I waited. 

Refueled, we followed the lake's edges to walk up the feeder creek to its snowmelt source, Upper Gaylor Lake. Mosquitoes were few and far between at the windy top but very hungry closer to the bottom so we hastened our pace to reach the second lake.

Two families were picknicking at the lake - an unthinkable crowd by High Sierras standards - so rather than stopping for a break we just went on. We could already see the stone cabin that marks the ridge and the first of a few scattered buildings of the great Sierra Mine.

Finally we reached the top just below 11,000' and enjoyed the views before going "mine-hunting." The walls of the ridge cabin still stand pretty tall, showing the fireplace without any doubt but the wood and stone roof has collapsed, leaving a hazardous timber chaos inside the walls.

Our girls had fun waving at us from the window opening that still has a wooden frame but the novelty quickly wore off and we went away to explore the mountainsides.

Interestingly the trail we followed is called at Gaylor Lakes Trail but it goes all the way up to the mine at the place that seems to be called Tioga Hill. After the mine, no more trail. It's easy to get lost in this highly mineral world where to the non-geologist, rocks mostly look like rocks.

Trees have long disappeared and grasses are the only plants that grow at this altitude. Wildflowers enjoy their four months without snow at their fullest, coloring the rocky soils with vibrant patches of yellows, blues and pinks.

In the middle of all this, we saw a plump shape scamper away from a rock pile nearby. Yellow-bellied marmot! I grabbed my camera and chased the rambunctious rodent that kept escaping my best efforts. Finally I came to a boulder and looked down. The marmot was right below me, half brewing its next move. I was glad when I was able to shoot this close-up portrait.

Coming back to my family, I saw my husband pull back my girls by their pants. They found a mine shaft and were obviously standing too close to the edge. All vertical, these mine shafts were probably entered with a rope system and blown by dynamite.

They are now boarded up but the holes remain, transforming this ridge in a mining Swiss cheese. In the hour we stayed up there I counted four different shafts and we didn't go very far.

As we were about to turn around, my husband remembered we hiked to a third lake five years ago. Our eldest protested but she didn't have much choice so we moved on, now fraying our way on rocky slopes as we went.

Looking at the USGS map for the Tioga Pass Quadrant, I learned the name of that third lake or rather, I learned the name of the two peaks that tower above the snow lakes that melt in the summer. Prospects is marked twice on my map, referring once again to the mining history of the area.

At that point the girls had earned their ice cream back at the Tuolumne meadows store and I wanted to swim so we turned around and walked back. I stripped down to my swimsuit at the base of Upper Gaylor Lake and crossed it with a brisk breast stroke. It's an easy quarter miler whose main challenge lies as the cold water (high 40s?) and the thin air that you get at 10,600'. Next time I won't forget my swimming goggles - I'm not used to covering more than a few yards in breast stroke anymore.

This swimming episode concluded a beautiful hike and we hung out by the edge of the lake, now crowded only by us, until the ice cream call was unberable.

Now, if you want to discover more ghost towns in Northern California, check out Ghost Town Explorers, a well-documented website with photos of remote and not-so-remote ghost towns and a special Eastern Sierras page. And to learn more about the history of Yosemite's high country, check out Gene Rose's book "Yosemite's Tioga Country", a must-have for Yosemite lovers. I pulled out my historical information from that book, recommended by a ranger on our last visit.

Details of the hike: 4.5-5 miles. Elev. gain: 1,200'. Map: see below.