Spectacular Yosemite Falls

Yosemite Falls were blasting yesterday, and the trees in the valley were blooming nicely. Here's a good shot of both phenomena.

Here's a nice shot of upper and lower Yosemite. The total height from the base of the lower falls to the top of the upper cascade is 2,425 feet; it's the largest waterfall in North America and the fifth tallest in the world! Believe it or not, one thing that keeps me from moving to Australia is Yosemite. There's nothing like it in the Antipodes and I would miss it severely if I moved down under.

The lizards made their first trip to Yosemite and enjoyed it thoroughly; though it's not a desert, the dry, sunny weather appealed to them more than the murky fog of Monterey.

Incidentially, blow up this picture and you'll see a sign indicating the high water of the massive flood of January 1997, which would have submerged the Solara! This was an amazing event; I worked it back in my days with the Bureau. The snow level soared to 10 thousand feet, and many inches of rain fell on top of a good sized snowpack. The result was incredible flooding, as indicated by the sign. Several campgrounds were washed away, as was highway 140 between El Portal and the park. That winter, we had copious rainfall in December and January; by the end of the latter month most of Northern and Central CA had received about as much moisture as normally falls in the entire July to June rainy season. But then...hardly any more rain fell from February thru June, and the season wound up around normal. The Yosemite floods, however, were anything but normal!