Kiwis and Fairy Bread

23 June 2025

Dear readers, everything you read is true: during the summer months one must arrive in Yosemite Valley early. And by early we mean no later than 10am. Any later and you will spend hours following visitors to their parking spaces in the hopes they are actually vacating it and not just stopping by to grab their lunch.

Today we cut this close, arriving at Yosemite Village at 10:30am. We had indeed set out earlier, but the route down into the valley takes us to the most iconic view in Yosemite: the towering rock of El Capitan on the left, the rounded peak of Half Dome in the center, and Yosemite Falls on the right. It is a spectacular, breath taking view. Mike captured it beautifully. Yes, it is real!

Fortunately, Mike was able to still find us a primo spot in the Yosemite Visitors Lot section A1 (the best parking lot!). Cars arriving just five minutes later, found none.

A friendly ranger advised us not to move the car today, but to use the free shuttle bus to get around. An equally friendly volunteer gave us a map and told us of her favorite spots in this section.

We chose the path to Yosemite Falls. This focal point of the valley drops over 2400 feet and is the tallest of all the spectacular waterfalls in the park.

We enjoyed walking up the path with other visitors, then sitting down on a shady rock to eat our packed lunch. A ground squirrel came out from under a log and begged for crumbs. She was very bold and very cute. Unlike the squirrels at home who live in trees, these squirrels have squat bodies and thin tails. They crawl more than hop, and rarely climb high into the trees (the flying squirrels do that. Wish we had seen one!). Signs of DO NOT FEED THE WILDLIFE abound. But squirrels can’t read. Mike tossed pinecones to shoo them away.

Yosemite is heaven for photographers, so Mike had booked us a four hour, three mile, guided walk titled In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams.

For those unfamiliar with him, Ansel Adams was a preeminent photographer of the 20th century. His most famous works were taken in Yosemite, where he and his wife Virginia lived and worked for much of their lives. He was a pioneer in landscape photography and his original prints, primarily in black and white, are now worth upwards of $50,000.

The class was lead by a young man who, oddly enough, reminded us of the actor Will Wheaton, child star of Star Trek The Next Generation. Just as geeky and passionate about his subject, he took us to spots that Ansel Adams had photographed. He talked a lot about the master’s technique of telling a story with his pictures, and encouraged each of us to find our own composition style.

At the base of Yosemite Falls the weather turned dark and cool. It began to rain. Thunder rumbled. When I suggested that perhaps we ought to seek shelter, I was brushed off as an “East Coaster” (again!) and was told that thunder rarely hit inside the valley. None of the tourists seemed too bothered either. So in the rain the class continued through meadows, down paths, across a bridge. I was so cold that when we unexpectedly found ourselves at our primo parking space, I gratefully grabbed my cloak out of the car. Ahhh, warmth.

It was an insightful few hours. I certainly framed my phone pics differently afterwards, and we both learned a lot about how this artist worked when photography was an early art form.

After the class Mike and I hopped on a crowded valley bus just to sit and get a feel for the place. Then home for a quick dinner and a solid sleep. That night I dreamt of squirrels all in black and white.