yosemite: getting there is half the fun

[twoeleven]

this trip, brother denial and i headed up tioga road towards tuolumne meadows, the less visited part of yosemite. the drive is long but scenic and enjoyable. we stopped a couple of times to take pictures:







tenaya lake is just visible a little left of the center of the image. we went there next. (we went there twice, actually, once driving into the park, and once after hiking to may lake, but i'm not seeing a reason to post two sets of pictures for it.)






across the road from the lake i spotted a tree clinging to a cliffside:



i rather liked how it looked.


we visited may lake a few days later.

ho-hum, another scenic alpine lake:



(you can thank apple for the sloping shoreline; their panorama assembler proves to leave much to be desired. it's convenient but stupid.)

increasing close-ups of the eroding peaks on the other side of the lake:





an actual wildlife module:



i've technically been in may lake:



the water was freezing cold, but there were other people wading in it, and a few swimming in it. had we known, we would have brough bathing suits.

but it was the leaving may lake that was half the fun. getting to the lake, we were facing up the trail; there's not much to see going up. going down, however...















there's more where those came from, and all the photos from the trip will be sorted and will live here.