Donner Pass - Azalea Lake and Flora Lake

 

This is such a beautiful place, and on this day made more perfect by the high, thin clouds that provided some shade during the hike. They also played interestingly with the water.

This little keyhole tree was kind of fun. :)

The vistas after Flora Lake are spectacular, and when the weather is clear, Donner Lake can be seen from here.

From the far side of Flora Lake.

An old downed tree with its root system exposed, near the edge of Azalea Lake.

Caughlin Ranch & Whites Creek (from Timberline Drive) - Reno, NV

 

Caughlin Ranch and Whites Creek trailhead are both local to us in town, but have wonderful "getaway" type feelings. We use them when we have limited time, or are just not feeling like a longer drive.

This peak is only about 20 minutes walk from the parking area, but affords views of the whole of Washoe Valley as well as all of Reno. It's a great view for little effort.

Picnic Rock - near Truckee, CA

 

Picnic Rock is an area just a bit north of Truckee, California. It's a moderate hike, with some really interesting rock formations at the top that allow for (what else?) a picnic. They're largely flat, and while the hike is shaded, the rock formations are in full sun and lovely to lay around on. 

Yosemite Valley, Day 2 (Lower Falls, Cooks Meadow, May Lake)

Ron had a lucky camera day or two on this trip, and also did some experimenting with black and white photography. Ansel Adams had it right, the American West was made for that type of work.

Half Dome from Cooks Meadow. The tree in the right foreground was a beautiful subject all on its own, too.

 

Lora in front of what we think is Cathedral Spires. This area was bathed in glowing morning light on the way in to hike for the day, and it was too good not to stop and spend a few minutes.

In front of the Lower Falls, taken by another visitor. This time of year, Yosemite Falls is nearly dry, with only a bit of water trickling down...just enough to see the path the water takes, and realize how amazing it might be.

The interesting tree in Cooks Meadow.

Color version of the black and white shot of Half Dome from the bridge.

El Capitan looming large. The Merced River was also lower this time of year. If we had waited a couple of more weeks, we might have seen the leaves turning.

A high meadow pond along Tioga Road on the way back west across the park. This was a lovely place to take a break from driving.

Views on the way to May Lake.

May Lake was an amazing destination. It's accessed by an old worn asphalt single lane road off of Tioga Road near Olmstead Point. It's full of potholes and dips, but the parking area is nice and has bear containers for food. The hike itself is 1.25 miles up to the lake, not terribly strenuous, and it's absolutely beautiful for views. The water did a nice job as a reflective mirror for Mount Hoffman behind it.

Mount Hoffman from the May Lake Sierra Base Camp area.

This little tree...such a good tree. It provided a perfect stripe of shade from the sun while sitting on the water and taking in all of the views. One of the most peaceful places we've been able to stop by.