Party Time!

One of the nurses Granpa works with invited us to a party at their house in the desert.  It's an all-day come-n-go affair.  I'm always up for a party!



Her directions said to head north out of town on Route 66 for quite aways, turn right at a particular spot, cross the railroad tracks, and follow the dirt road and signs to their place.

Seems they have been having this annual picnic for a whole bunch of years and so they are very prepared.  She's a pretty good artist along with being a wonderful hostess!




The road is enticing all by itself.

We didn't expect a dirt road, and we didn't expect it to go on and on and on.  We are drawn high onto the mountain.  These roads are well maintained, and they're wide.  Each one must lead to at least one home - and these homes are "off the grid."  They have no power lines going to them, they have their own water wells or haul their water in.  The homes are heated with fireplaces and old style cast iron wood-burning stoves.  Up on the mountains of the high desert there's not much need for air conditioners even at the height of summer.  The neighbors all know each other - but leave each other alone.  They are far apart and essentially out of sight of each other.  All in all, I'm very jealous!

But the road keeps going...

All along the roadside are beautiful desert blooms.

I can just imagine what this will look like in a week or so when all of these burst open!  They seem so delicate for the harsh dry desert.  God has put flowers among the thorns of life!

What might these be?  I've never seen anything like them.
But the yellow ones I'm more familiar with.

The party is at the top of the mountain, and we finally get there.  I am so-o-o jealous of them living out here!

They have bounce houses and - believe it or not - a stage for kids to dance on, farm animals right and left...

There's not enough level ground on at the top of the mountain for baseball or other sports.  The young children begin trying to do a line dance, and pretty quickly the teenagers step in and show them how. No adults directing, just kids playing - like we used to!  What a cool place to live.

A Different Yucca Plant

A few days later, we decided to take a short trip through the desert and up the mountain toward Oatman to see what other desert plants might be blooming.  Actually, most bloom at night, but I believe Granpa will NEVER be persuaded to traipse around rattlesnake country in the dark...

We discovered a different kind of Yucca plant that can grow pretty tall:

Granpa gets some great pictures of it's blooming process:

These blossoms are as pretty as any I've had in my garden!

Not too bad for a scrubby ol' desert, eh?

We truly do love the desert and the mountain views.  I'm a rocky person myself.  Mountains covered in trees just don't seem to have as much character as stubborn ol' rocks!

Joshua Blossoms from Lake Isabella to Kingman

I suppose one of the reasons we have been so comfortable in Arizona is because it and the people are very much like Texas - more West Texas than East, but Texas nonetheless.  The livestock are all healthy and handsome.  Granpa loves catching a picture of several horses surrounded by the wonders of the Lord's hand.  The larger you can make this photo the better you understand the vast expanse that they live in.

We're moving down into Joshua Tree country.  The plants of the desert are beginning to believe it is the beginning of Spring and are "greening" up.

Even the Joshua trees are blooming!

We find blossoms in all stages of opening.  They are wonderful at any stage, but ...

...  as for fragrance? Not so much.

These guys may look like cactus, but they are trees.  They are used as such in front yards!  

But if you took a chainsaw to them you would see wood and tree rings.

Also, see one of our earlier posts from October, 2013 on Yucca plants - which is what Joshua trees really are:      http://www.thetravelerstwo.net/2013/10/were-off-to-california.html

The Roads Home

Hum-dee-dum.  How to get home from the Sequoia National Forest?  Snow is blocking roads in higher elevations, so we know we will be going down the mountain.  The Interstate will be the quickest road home -- but we don't have to be quick on this trip.

This is why I love the old-fashioned road atlas.  GPS gets you from point A to point B.  The road atlas gives us options!

Let's see.  Down from Sequoia National Park to Three Rivers. (That was an amazing drive!!)  From there to Exeter.  Now is the choice of the Interstate versus the way less traveled.

Okay, we'll go to Porterville. Golly, I wish we could go east from here into the Great Sequoia National Monument's Southern Unit...! Nope. Snowed in.

That, however, reminds me that we are close to where we went last year and discovered Isabella Lake.  It would be fun to go there again.  Wish we had the tent so we could camp, though it might be just a wee bit chilly!

After a bit of palavering with Granpa, we drop down from Porterville to Highway 155 and mosey on over to Kernville and Isabella Lake.  That means we bypass the Tule River Indian Tribe reservation, California Hot Springs, and White River - but that means we have some place new to go the next time we're in the area!

So, Isabella Lake it is...  Isn't it beautiful?!

Well, that is until Granpa puts me in the picture:

The whole drive is precisely why we get off of Interstates.

For more on Kernville and Isabella Lake, go to some of our posts from last year:

http://www.thetravelerstwo.net/2013/10/whiskey-flat-california.html

http://www.thetravelerstwo.net/2013/10/from-whiskey-flat-to-kernville.html

http://www.thetravelerstwo.net/2013/10/makin-movies.html

http://www.thetravelerstwo.net/2013/10/old-kernville-and-lake-isabella.html

http://www.thetravelerstwo.net/2013/10/new-kernville.html

http://www.thetravelerstwo.net/2013/10/the-sierra-nevada-mountains-of.html

And for information on the Giant Sequoias:

http://www.thetravelerstwo.net/2013/10/the-trail-of-100-giants.html

Sequoias!

There is no photograph that will ever show the height of these trees, that will ever represent the magnificence of the grove.




There is no question that this land should have been set aside for posterity.  If commercial logging companies had their way, they would have chopped down all of these beauties.  If the land developers and restaurateurs had their way, they would have tourist traps beside every inch of this place.




A few of the greatest of these survivors from initial encounters with the white man (native Americans never harmed the giants) have been given the names of great men.  Or they used to have those names.




When we were here a few years ago, (well, 2004, so I guess that was 10 years ago), one of the largest Sequoia trees here was named the General Grant, after Civil War Union General Ulysses S Grant who later became President of these United States.



On this day, however, in 2015, I notice that all reference to President Grant has been removed from the interpretive signs.  The tree is now known only as "Grant."  It is so sad how the leadership in America is slowly but surely erasing our history.  Why would the National Park do that?  President Coolidge in 1926 honored a giant tree by giving it a giant name.  It shouldn't be because America has a black President, because Grant was a Union General, fighting for, among other things, freedom from slavery for the black man.  I just don't know...  but I do know that I'm troubled by this tiny piece of evidence... (Evidence of what?  I don't know.)  I suppose they thought that no one would notice - or care, but I noticed, and I do care.

I shake off the troublesome feelings and try to enjoy our trip.  The snow is coming down in dry pellets, so I take shelter in a fallen tree.

And look!  We can walk all the way through to the other path!  (Love the snow pellets caught in the pic, too!)  Notice the icicles beginning to form from the top, right at the first support pole.

I am beginning to feel better.  Golly gracious it's cold!

These trees are as long lookin' laying on the ground as they are standing up!

Wow!  Those ice pellets are getting pretty thick and heavy!  We gotta go!

The fun begins - because we have not decided where we're going from here ... woohoo!!

Yosemite Snow

We're leaving Yosemite by a different route that we came in on.  This one will take us out through a tunnel and then higher into the mountains - which means we will need to break out the new snow chains Granpa bought.

Just before entering the tunnel there is a large turnout, and when we turn and look back into the valley we see an iconic Yosemite sight.

Granpa is thrilled with that, but it also happens to be snowing!  Bo-o-onus-s-s!!

If you could enlarge his picture you can see snowflakes resting on his shoulder.  This has become my favorite photo of him because he is happy right down to his toenails!











As we move on up the mountain we are greeted with snowy sights right and left - literally!

To the left we have scenery:

... and to the right we have deer!

When we come down out of the mountain, the scenery is just as beautiful.  We are in a valley filled with orange trees and pistachio nut trees and bloomin' almond trees.  Gorgeous.

John Muir

This guy should be bronzed.  The good news is that John Muir (1838 - 1914) is the reason the Environmentalist Movement exists.  I don't like the idea of some rare species of frog or gnat getting in the way of human habitation, however, I (no surprise to you) cherish America's National Parks, reserves, preserves, and monuments.  I like to think that even John Muir would see the balance in that.

On May 17, 1901, Muir brought President Teddy Roosevelt to Yosemite.  They tent-camped in here for three days. Muir allowed Yosemite itself to do the lobbying for the area to be managed by the federal Park Rangers.

As early as 1864 it was "protected" by none other than Abraham Lincoln (at the height of the Civil War!) when he effectively took the Yosemite area out of private hands and granted it to the state of California.  It was the very first time park land would be set aside by the federal government, and thus laid the legislative foundation for Yellowstone in 1872 to become the first National Park.

In 1869, John Muir built himself a cabin out of sugar maple logs at the base of this waterfall.  He lived here for two years, exploring the valley, mapping and researching day in and day out.  It truly was his home. (Lucky, lucky man!)  The plaque quotes him:  Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.  Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.


In 1890, Yosemite, by act of Congress, became a National Park, but it was still under the control of the state of California.  That wasn't working out so well, and it was Roosevelt that signed the legislation bringing Yosemite back under Federal jurisdiction.  (I surely didn't know it had had such a multifaceted past!)

Yosemite's Winter Animals

The snow pack and cold winds drive the animals out of the highlands and into Yosemite's canyon. That means we may have a better chance of seeing something cool.  There are always benefits to visiting during the off-season.

How about a raccoon moseying around the Visitor's Center totally ignoring all humans.  He's like Daniel Boone's coon skin cap on four legs.




  What else did we see.  How about a bobcat!

Trust me, this was at maximum zoom!  He was in the middle of this meadow.

Anything else wandering around the canyon?  Deer, of course. On our second day in Yosemite we got high enough to reach the snowfall - in fact, we had to put snow chains on.

But the deer were in no hurry. Granpa was taking photos through the rear window, the side mirrors, open windows ...

Not in a hurry, slowly easing down the roadside, past our windows, across the road, and then straight up the side of the rock wall like they were a bunch of goats!

Bucks don't start to grow antlers until their fifth year.  The antler growing cycle can last up to ten months.  (When that time frame starts and ends depends on whether the critter is a Yankee or a Southerner.) It usually starts in March or April.  By June or July growth really takes off - sometimes, if the feed and genetics are great, antlers can grow as much as 1/2" a day!  The antlers are grown to impress the ladies and to use as a weapon during the rut (mating season).  After the rut, bucks are all worn out from stress and not eating right - so the antlers fall off. That would be in January or February (give or take a tad).   Unfortunately, hunters aren't hunting for venison (deer meat) anymore. Today's hunters want just the antlers - and the more perfect the rack the better.  So genetics are no longer protected.  The hunters should be culling the deer with weird looking or puny looking antlers, leaving the most perfect specimens to reproduce and make even more perfect racks. With that in mind, I think "hunting" with a camera like Granpa does is a pretty good way to hunt.  The guy in this photo?  I think I'd leave him alive for years to come - and every year find a new buck growing to be even better than his daddy!

Right around the corner from these deer we find wild turkey.

But, here's my favorite animal...

The Waterfalls of Yosemite

The major waterfalls will probably have water year-round.  The minor waterfalls may or may not. The ephemerals are just that:  lasting a very short time, transitory, short-lived.

The best time to visit Yosemite if you're coming for the waterfalls?  Spring would be that time. There are over a dozen shown on this map - but with heavy snowfall and Spring rains there could be a whole lot more.  For those waterfalls not seen from the roadways, there are well-used hiking trails.