Purple ZR-1 Road Trip to Yellowstone and the Pacific Northwest

[HIZNHRZ]

Originally Posted by QB93Z

We continued south on US-101 and enjoyed seeing all of the giant redwood trees. We even drove thru a Redwood:

Originally Posted by QB93Z

It is very hard to describe or photograph the magnificence of the giant redwood trees. It was like a special privilege to be in the presence of these trees...

Walked, ran, and drove through what looks like the same tree in the same park more than 15 years ago. Well said Jim and you hit the nail on the head. The magnificence of the Redwoods is hard to describe and it does feel like a privilege to be in their presence. Thanks for the beautiful pictures. Drive safe and enjoy...

[QB93Z]

On Monday morning we left Oakland and drove to east to Yosemite National Park. Since we left early in the morning, the sunrise became a pain as I drove into the sun:




The good news was that the traffic was much heavier going into Oakland/ SF:




The drive east was through some very prosperous looking fruit groves. We reached Yosemite with no problems and stopped to take our picture at the entrance sign. We met a nice family from Ocean City, Maryland. They had flown to SF and were planning to visit the parks we had just come from.



We are staying at the Yosemite Lodge at the Falls. A nice facilty with a nice view. Unfortunately, the WiFi is poor, so I will be posting slowly.

to be continued...

[QB93Z]

As we continued into Yosemite NP on CA-120, we were greeted with a beautiful vista of the valley floor:




We took a drive along the Yosemite Valley floor and stopped for a walk on the rocks of the Merced River:




Lyndi snapped this interesting pic of me driving the PurpleZ under a rock overhang:




Here is a morning picture of El Capitan in the center and Half Dome on the right side, (rear):




Another shot of Half Dome:




Since we always try to get photos of the wildlife, we were pleased to get this squirrel. They are a little smaller than the squirrels we have in Maryland, and have a unique color pattern:




to be continued...

[QB93Z]

After a day of sightseeing and hiking, we adjourned to the bar for some dinner and a few beers. The service was great, the food was excellent, and one of the squirrels snuck in and made a quick circle of the lounge looking for tidbits:




We walked back to our lodge and I posed next to the large California Cedar that was right next to our patio:




Jim

[QB93Z]

We had tried to drive to Glacier Point on the south side of the valley but could not get there because of the crowds. The road to the Point was closed to private vehicles until some cars came down, and a ride on the shuttle bus was a long wait. So on Tuesday morning, we got underway early and drove to the Glacier Point before the crowds. On the way to the mountain, we met this deer grazing along the road side. He was not at all concerned by us watching him:




We were rewarded for our early drive by having the over-look at Glacier Point almost to ourselves. Behind Lyndi is the north wall of Yosemite Valley:




Here is an early morning view of Half Dome just after sunrise:




In this view you can see the Upper Yosemite Falls and the Lower Yosemite Falls and the area where our lodge is to the left of center. This time of year, in the drought conditions California is experiencing, the Yosemite Falls dry up. During our visit, there was a very tiny flow from the Upper Falls:




Here is another photo of Half Dome with more sun, and the smoke haze has cleared some:



to be continued....

[QB93Z]

Before we left Glacier Point, we saw this Mountain Bluebird on a branch nearby:




Glacier Point is not very far from the Yosemite Lodge area of the valley, but the route to get there is about 30 miles:




Here is another picture of El Capitan from the valley floor:




While driving in the Park, we saw two signs warning of the danger of traffic to the bears. We found out later that each sign was placed at the location of actual car-bear collisions, and some were fatal:




During the previous evening and on Tuesday, we had heard a lot of helicopter traffic along the top of the north wall of the valley. We were informed that there was a small forest fire at the top of the Upper Falls. Lyndi got this shot of the helo bringing in a "bucket" of water to help cool down hot spots:



Jim

[RICKYRJ1]

Hi Jim, thanks for the updates/pics. My boys are following your trip and enjoy the pics very much.

[QB93Z]

We left Yosemite Valley on Wednesday morning and drove across the northern part of Yosemite on CA-120, the Tioga Road, and exited to the east gate. For visitors who come and leave by the western access roads to the park are missing some interesting and beautiful parts of the of Yosemite.

At Olmstead Point, we got a nice view of Half Dome and the Yosemite Valley from the east side. The morning sun showed another facet of the unique peak:




Farther along the Tioga Road, we found Tenaya Lake among the pines:




We stopped at a smooth rock peak on the north side of the road and had fun climbing up for photos. The the rock has a very polished surface from years of glacial erosion:






The Tioga Pass crests at the Park exit gate at 9,945 feet. It is the highest pass across the Sierra Nevada Mountains:




The down hill portion of the Tioga Pass was a nice drive:




to be continued....

[QB93Z]

On the Eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the terrain is different than Central California. The moist air off the Pacific Ocean drops the moisture as rain and snow as it rises over the mountains, so Nevada is very arid. We stopped at Mono Lake, (pronounced 'mow-no') to see the special features along the lake shore line.



Mono Lake has no out flow. The only water loss results from evaporation so the salinity of the lake is 10 times "saltier" than the ocean. The combination of the high salinity and the presence of thermal springs created mineral deposits in remarkable shapes:




Continuing north on US-395, we crossed into Nevada and found an interesting eagle sculpture made of metal:






We continued on to Reno, Nevada. This was the first visit to Reno for both Lyndi and I so we took a quick tour and decided to visit the Atlantis Casino and Resort:



The Atlantis was very nice. Although we didn't place any bets, we did enjoy relaxing in the lounge over the highway.



Jim

[QB93Z]

On Thursday, we started the east-bound portion of our trip:




I-80 runs in long straight sections across the dry, hilly areas of northern Nevada:






Lyndi an opportunity to get a reflection image of the PurpleZ at 85 MPH:




The bonus for the day for me was that I-80 in Nevada parallels the southern Pacific Railroad tracks, so we saw many trains through out the day:



to be continued....