Big Rocks

It takes a lot of guts to climb these big rocks. Yosemite is one of the top three "world class" climbing challenges in the world. It's not unusual to see climbers on the face of these monoliths or spending several days on some of them. They "hang" on the face and sleep overnight in primitive hammocks or tents.

The very best of the climbers "free climb". John Muir was know to do this. The modern day equipment makes this much easier now.

Our Hotel had some of the most beautiful views anywhere to be found. 

Yosemite Park

After wandering around the big city and the redwood trees a few days, we were ready for the "high country". I now realize why John Muir thought this was one of the most beautiful places on earth. This is the view first a person sees after driving through a highway tunnel into the valley.

This summer has been extraordinarily hot and it's taken a toll here this year. The entire state of California is under drought conditions. The last time I was here, water cascaded over the main ridges much like an entire swimming pool. It crashed and rumbled like a rocket taking off into space.

If not for a short shower upstream last night, there would be nothing cascading along this path today. Fortunately, we saw a small "trickle". It was to disappear this next day. I was shocked at this! We decided to do some hiking a few days later to a waterfall we knew would have a strong current. Little did we realize the tragedy that would await us.

Big Big Trees

The Sequoia tree grows differently, from other trees. They reach a certain height, and then begin to widen as they grow older. Sort of like getting fat and bunchy, like a rabbit. Some of them are centuries old. It's a humbling experience to walk among them. John Muir was known to climb some of them during a strong storm just to feel their strength as they swayed in the wind.

The biggest of all the Sequoia's is called the General Sherman Tree. It's VERY large and VERY wide. We walked down to this giant from a trail above it through the woods. Although this is a populated place, it's possible to see just about anything around here.

As we walked through the woods to the tree, we came upon a female black bear with two cubs. This is potentially a dangerous situation and concern for everyone. She avoided us and the cubs followed behind her down the hill through the woods. When we arrived at the big tree, she once more appeared with the two cub trailing behind. There are mountain lions is these woods also. Best to always keep an eye open...

The mother is difficult to see, but the two cubs are quite obvious. 

Cool Foggy Weather

Marilyn and I have always enjoyed walking, as a slow mode of travel. It forces a person to see the real things in a town. We had originally planned to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge but every evening, the fog just rolled across the city around 5pm and often was still around as late as 1pm.

We decided to cancel this attempt in order to see more in the immediate city. Here's what the Golden Gate Bridge always looked like in the early morning traffic.

Our trip was divided into different segments and we were soon headed to a different place where John Muir found true wilderness. I was looking forward to seeing nature up close and personal.

Go Car Tours

These might look like toys, but they're not. I first thought they might be fancy golf carts, or maybe bumper cars, but they are much more. These "Go Cars" are a three wheeled, two person carrier. They're an amusing GPS, self guided driving  machine. Rented by the hour, it's a unique experience.  

Here's what they look like in action. 

If you listen closely, you can hear the "pre programmed narrative"  of the stopping point in the background. Needless to say, they're illegal on bridges and freeways, but in town, they're quite functional.

Getting Around as a Tourist

The price of these machines keep dropping as economics kick in. I've never ridden one but they sure look like fun. I never saw anyone take a fall the entire time we were in San Francisco. I'm assuming all these folks were "first time riders". After a few hours on these machines, they were masters.

More Transportation

Moving along on the transportation theme, I've always thought it a little "nuts" to drive a car in a big city. These are "street cars" powered by overhead electrical cables. The really neat thing about these were the "variety". I saw gasoline at $4.30 a gallon and the parking fee at the hotel was $53 a night.

San Francisco has a variety of different modes for the savvy traveler. I saw hundreds of "Prius" taxi-cabs. I saw Segways, and some really neat motorcycles with GPS features that were VERY interesting to ride.

I saw so many Prius hybrids that I was beginning to think they were the "state car" of California. I'll post more information and pictures about these on the next entry.

Oh yes.....and bicycles were VERY big here too. I saw thousands of them. It was refreshing to see so many on the flat areas near the coast. All the streets had special "bike lanes" specifically for the riders.

Cable Cars in San Francisco

I've been to many places in the world and they all have their own "unique" characteristics. In San Francisco it's the transportation system that caught my eye. This city has the most "fun" mass transit of any I've ever visited in the world.

Marilyn and I soon figured out how to travel from one place to another very easily in this town. The "hills" demand it, and this is the perfect solution for those not used to them. The "incline" is amazing in this town. Although boarding one of these cable cars may take a few minutes, they're well worth the wait for a nice ride. It's especially fun to hang onto the "outside of the car" when moving up or down these steep hills.

We just couldn't get enough of them and rode them as often as possible. Here's another quick video of the fun.

Have you ever wondered what they do at the end of the line?  This is what happens when you get there and need to turn around and head back the other way.

San Francisco

My last trip to California was less than 10 years ago. At that time, the Midwest was lush with tall vast acres of green corn. Today I noticed big changes in those fields.. A record heat wave has scorched the land and created desolate brown splotches below us as I fly across the United States towards San Francisco. Below me, I see vast fields of natural gas wells as I fly above Colorado. A new technology called "fracking" has enabled mega corporations to profitably harvest this resource but it also emits a deadly methane gas which harms the environment. Before our trip is over, we will experience 109 degree heat on the train in Fresno. I wonder if this foretells the inevitable in my home state of West Virginia.

Our tour group consists of around 40 travelers this year. Most of them are retired professional people. One is a doctor, another is a practicing lawyer, and another is a school teacher. The rest appear to be former businessmen and women. There are also several former Foreign Service people on this trip.

Our tour revolves around the naturalist icon of John Muir and the giant redwood trees. John Muir was born in Scotland and raised under the Calvinist theology of his father. Upon entering the United States, he soon found himself in the midst of a horrible civil war and the possibility of forced enlistment in the armed forces. He quickly fled to Canada and lived there until the end of war.

Although self taught, he was an expert in Botany and Geology. He heard tales of giant redwood trees in the wild places near San Francisco and wanted to see them.  Our first sighting of these trees would be just outside the San Francisco city limits in a grove of coastal redwoods appropriately named John Muir woods. These trees are not the largest of the giant redwoods but are the tallest of the species. We got our first glimpse of them in the higher elevations above the town of Sausalito.

This is the second trip Marilyn and I have taken with the Tauck Company. Our first was to Scotland, Whales, and England. Their guides are the best in the business, their lodging is superb in both quality and location, and the coach service is outstanding. As an example, we are staying at the Weston hotel in Union Square; it's the shopping hub of this section of the city and Macy's is just across the street.