Most of the park, due to expected flooding, from Friday to Wednesday.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/04/...erra-snowpack/
Most of the park, due to expected flooding, from Friday to Wednesday.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/04/...erra-snowpack/
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
I left my campsite near Hwy 49 at 4 in the morning a week ago and dropped down into the Valley at 6:00 trying to beat the snowstorm buildup on 120. Glad I had 4WD. Perfect timing. Perhaps the last gasp of winter-like scenery. Got out of Dodge just after noon, right around the time the crowds were starting to leave the coffee shop or their accommodations, and when the tour buses were managing to get in from the El Portal direction. But by then the magical light was breaking up anyway. Met some nice people, but got tired of telling them there was no bear in the scene. When an overweight teenage bear finally did show up, a patrol ranger went right after it with a paintball gun to keep it scared away. There are no meadows in Yosemite Valley at the moment, just swamps and ponds, and maybe a bit of a lake as more snow thaws.
I was a lot more interested in the hill country down below anyway. Amazing to see redbud in full bloom two months later than normal. And I also camped in the San Joaquin canyon as well as the lower Kings. Gosh - nice to have no lights in view at night except the stars, and no neighborhood music except the sound of crickets, frogs, bird, coyotes, and abundant waterfalls. Also spent a night in the back hills of the Carrizo Plain. Not a huge superbloom like last time, but a very beautiful one at the southern end and along the backroads up in the hills. What highway carnage everywhere, however. The Haslett Basin road above Pine Flat Res is completely closed due to slides. Multiple landslides had to be cleared from the paved road around the lake itself. Redinger Dam was spilling so much water that in the morning the rising mist looked like white forest fire smoke. And the San Joaquin River actually looks like a big river again in the Central Valley. Wish it would wash away those new subdivisions around Blight on the Crest. Otherwise, a beautiful week. Did some 8x10 shooting, but mostly 6X9.
Just got back from Yosemite Valley today (over-night in a rest stop just shy of Red Bluff). Nine nights in the Valley. Dang nice weather in the Valley all week. I was out photographing and looking for places to take the students when Drew dropped off a package for me at the Gallery....thanks Drew for braving the valleyvisitors. Much appreciated!
Warmed up after Drew left with a small jumps in the Merced flow. Would have loved to stayed for the higher water, but got other places to be. Last weekend was busy with Earth Day and free admission to the Parks. We had all-day Saturday in the darkroom so we did not have to brave the crowds at all. Took the eBike on a couple of good rides (w/ 5x7) early in the week before the workshop, and a couple times to get the legs moving after a day of teaching. Made it thru the Wawona Tunnel even. Fun ride back down the the Valley.
Before heading out of the Park, I spent most of yesterday afternoon at the confluence of Tamarack and Cascade Creeks. Finished with a 5x7 of a small pine and Tamarack Creek. The light was changing and it required several long naps to wait for the best light. Here is a digital shot after the sun finally went behind the trees and it was time to pack up and head back up the hill.
"Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China
Sounds like you guys had a blast!
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
I loaded a 6X9 neg in the enlarger yesterday; might print it, and a couple of others, this afternoon. Haven't developed any of the trip 8x10 negs yet, but those were mostly high-detail color images awaiting me doing some sheet cutting from my big roll of Fujiflex, and all taken outside the Park. My way of getting from Point A to Point B is always by the most narrow convoluted quiet roads possible. And with all the storm damage to roads in both the mountains and San Joaquin Valley, there were even more roundabout detours than ordinarily. At least I got a bit of momentary relief from my homesickness for the hills while it's still Paradise. Within a few weeks it will be hot as hell. But the high country is going to take quite awhile to thaw out. Gosh - the view of the Great Western Divide from the SJ Valley floor this time of year, and all that snow! There's still snow even atop the Tehachapis.
Last edited by Drew Wiley; 26-Apr-2023 at 11:17.
Vaughn I was wondering if you and Jim ran your carbon print workshop? How'd it go? Thinking about you guys and very sorry that I could not attend.
We managed to sneak it in before the waters rose. We'll be doing it next year, same place, same dates...give a day or two and if the river don't rise...
A full workshop, lots of great prints made. Quite a mix of participants who worked together well.
Horsetail Falls on my way out of the Park...
"Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China
Neat. I did Horsetail with the 300EDIF tele for my P67 and using TMax when there was still some delicate ice pattern back in the shade there, early AM. Haven't developed that roll yet. I had accents of light only very briefly when the sun broke through the snow clouds and mist only 10 sec or so at a time. Glad I had along the right gear to work quickly. Seeing that huge tele and large tripod, a few cars stopped and squinted in the distance hoping to see the bear.
One asked, if there was no bear, why was I taking a picture? Go raid their picnic box, Yogi.
John, we got the workshop in and it was beautiful. Great weather, students, light and food. Such rewarding work. Looking forward to it next year.Originally Posted by John Layton
The local news last nite showed water beginning to rise clear across the north side road. I recognized the spot as where I had parked around 6:30AM for a shot I actually printed yesterday. That's a rise of maybe 3 more feet above the meadow, which was already full of ponds; and an even stronger snowmelt rate was anticipated with the higher temps this Thurs-Fri. Guess we all had fortuitous timing. It's cool here at the coast, but allegedly up to 90 just over the hill. The month of May might be pretty dicey concerning snowmelt conditions in Yos Vallley. The big reservoirs like Don Pedro, Millerton and Pine Flat are spilling heavily to keep them about 1/3 empty, anticipating the much greater water volumes once things seriously heat up; but it's going to be dicey, and residents of the Delta and around the old Tulare lakebed are getting anxious, since some of the levees didn't hold during the winter storms.
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