“Words were not given to man in order to conceal his thoughts.” — José Saramago
“My heart swings back and forth between the need for routine and the urge to run.” — Unknown
“I was thinking that if what distinguishes us as humans is our stupidity, what may redeem us is our grace.” — Earl Lovelace
“When people tell you how young you look, they are also telling you how old you are.” — Cary Grant
The National Parks are certainly one of America’s great treasures and I have taken advantage of visiting as many as possible while I am still able to trek the trails and see the sights.
One park that I really enjoyed despite the fact it rained every day we were there was the Grand Teton National Park. Even in the inclement weather, there was an abundance of beauty. We hiked in rain and mud and windy conditions; it was amazing.
This video captures the grandeur of the Grand Teton National Park. I hope you enjoy it and are as impressed with it as I was.
GRAND TETON 8K from More Than Just Parks on Vimeo.
A closer view of Nevada Falls as seen from Glacier Point
The Merced river and the waterfalls throughout the park were at near peak during our visit to Yosemite. This picture of Nevada Falls underscores nature’s power and beauty. Our lodge was close to Yosemite Valley Falls and we enjoyed the low, sleep-inducing roar throughout the night.
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.
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Meta Data – Day 24 YOY – Year of Yosemite
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Canon SX50 HS
“If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older.” — Tom Stoppard
“Politics is the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn’t happen.” — Winston Churchill
“There are two types of pains, one that hurts you and the other that changes you.” — Unknown
“Hypocrite – The man who murdered his parents, and then pleaded for mercy on the grounds that he was an orphan.” — Abraham Lincoln
Entering Yosemite National Park from the west, will bring visitors through the Arch Rock Gate.
The picture above shows the rock grouping that forms a nice arch through which cars entering the park from the west must drive. It is a bit tricky to find a place to park and take a picture, but as soon as visitors pass through the entry gate, there is a small parking lot on the right. Care must be taken as the road is narrow and traffic can be heavy at times.
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.
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Meta Data – Day 23 YOY – Year of Yosemite
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“The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.” — Vladimir Nabokov
“There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.” — Willa Cather
“Your memory is a monster; you forget—it doesn’t. It simply files things away. It keeps things for you, or hides things from you—and summons them to your recall with a will of its own. You think you have a memory; but it has you!” — John Irving
“Seven months ago I could give a single command and 541,000 people would immediately obey it; today I can’t get a plumber to come to my house.” — Norman Schwarzkopf
After nearly a decade of gracing our desert landscaping, several agaves started to shoot out their thick center stalk last year.
The “maturation”/growth of this spikey stalk takes nearly a year; and in the final months of the process, the mother plant starts to wither and will eventually die after sending out multiple “pups.”
The spikes often exceed 16 feet; and after several months in the hot sun are lightweight yet sturdy. Previous uses for these spikes have included our year-round holiday light pole (scroll all the way down) that continues to adorn our patio. Now we wanted to extend our agave craft to the creation of a trellis!
Internet research yielded no effective uses of these agave poles for a trellis; so an original prototype was designed! Our three spikes were each approximately 12 feet long; with varying thickness of about three to five inches in diameter.
After the appropriate cuts were made, two coats of fast-drying clear satin polyurethane was applied.
The thickest spikes were used to create the three 6’ vertical spikes/supports that were placed at equal spacing over a 5’ linear area (each end spike was approximately 30 inches from the center spike post).
The three vertical poles were carefully placed in 6” PVC piping submerged into the ground, with pea gravel used to fill in any gaps. Effort was made to assure that these poles were aligned carefully to facilitate the placement of the cross bars.
Lighter lengths of spike were used for the three horizontal (cross) bars and placed at equal intervals; with the bottom being 18 inches from the ground.
For additional support (and because the spikes have natural imperfect planes), the middle horizontal bar was placed to the opposite side of the top and bottom bars.
Carriage bolts of varying lengths (dependent upon the thickness of the two spikes used being secured) were employed….and holes were made with a cordless drill prior to ratcheting these bolts into place.
Now the challenge is to find a worthy resident for the trellis that will offer a bounty of flowers and yet get along with the other desert denizens!
NOTE – Hello Readers of JBRish! Those who are following my Year of Yosemite posts might recall that on July 7th I posted a different view of the structure below. You can see it HERE.
At that time I asked readers to take a guess regarding the nature of this structure near the the Majestic Yosemite Hotel. Well…do you want to take a guess? If you do take a guess, you can find out if you are correct by highlighting the space between the two lines of asterisks that follow. The answer will be revealed once highlighted.
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Another view of the stone structure referenced above
As I noted in the prior post, stone was plentiful in Yosemite and was used as a building material for buildings, bridges, curbs, etc. This stone structure that is situated in proximity to the the Majestic Yosemite Hotel (formerly the Ahwahnee) served as a carriage house or carriage stop years ago. In older pictures, a sign for the Ahwahnee Hotel can be seen hanging above it.
According to this story on the Internet, the sign was stolen just days before the Ahwahnee was to change its name.
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.
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Meta Data – Day 21 YOY – Year of Yosemite
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“Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing.” — Elie Wiesel
“There is nothing more likely to start disagreement among people or countries than an agreement.” — E. B. White
“People can have many different kinds of pleasure. The real one is that for which they will forsake the others.” — Marcel Proust
“Marriage is not just spiritual communion, it is also remembering to take out the trash.” — Joyce Brothers
