December 23. The winter moon, full and bright as day, is still riding high as Chomi and I set out for Yosemite National Park. Over time, I’ve become accustomed to making a day trip out of a visit to Yosemite National Park. Most visitors have not the time for an extended stay there or are older or not capable or interested in the physical activity of hiking or camping; in Chomi’s case, it was because Shanthala would be alone at home since she couldn’t accompany us. I like to leave by 6 AM for a return around 7 PM. My part time job allows me to make the trip on a weekday which cuts out the crowds in summer. The visit is only of the Yosemite Valley with a possible hike to Mirror Lake, time to wander about and explore the meadows and take lots of pictures. I also take them to Glacier Point in summer but venture only till Tunnel View point in winter. I prefer to go when snow on the ground in winter. Most visitors we’ve taken have not seen snow before in their lives and having Yosemite be the place where they experience snow for the first time intensifies the experience, catapulting it into one of life’s most memorable moments.
I’ve tended to take Rte 120 to the Big Oak Flat Entrance to the valley after initially going via Rte 140. I get to the park entrance in about three and a half hours or at most four, if we stop for a longer breakfast. Like a tour operator, I’ve worked everything out for maximum efficiency. Breakfast is at a Starbucks cafe in Oakdale, lunch is pizza at Curry Village or packed lunch at the picnic benches near Swinging Bridge, coffee just before we start back and a stop at Oakdale again if it’s an older crowd that can’t deal with a non-stop four hour drive. I found that going to Glacier Point (and Tunnel View) first saves time. I don’t usually stop at Bridal Veil Falls unless the folks are waterfall nuts.
In winter, the sun doesn’t rise until 7 or 7:30 in the morning and as we drove over the East Bay towards Livermore, we watched the sun first peek over the horizon, throwing its orange blaze out in a most distracting way. Anjani Thomas is crooning “Every night she comes to me, I cook for her, I pour her tea, She was in her thirties then, Made some money, Lived with men”. The song is perfect. The winter sun also casts a much more beautiful light than its summer sibling. Driving through the Central Valley is typically the most boring part of the drive, you’re either driving through farm lands or through barren, brown hills, all in an insufferable heat. Since the sun rises much later in winter, the gentle glow of sunrise still lights the landscape, rendering it in pastel colors that makes the lights in the farm houses look warm and inviting, the hills take on an attractive golden color and the brown earth look rich and life-giving. I watch the families come out, dressed in their Sunday church dress, heading for the morning mass, some walking quickly to the cars to escape the cold while others shuffle calmly on.
I had little sleep the previous night as I’m a late sleeper and so the coffee at Oakdale is a welcome break. Since I really need my coffee, I’m picky about stopping at any restaurant. Something about American coffee makes it bitter and tasteless in most places, so unlike coffee everywhere else including Canada. So, it has to be Starbucks for me as it is the only coffee I can be sure of in a strange town. The things we do to encourage large corporations and deter small family establishments.
The Starbucks store in Oakdale is like any other Starbucks store. On one of the walls is some writing. “Sip, sigh, stay, be”, it said. We made it nothing more than a pit stop, a place halfway between home and stunning granite. “What does the coffee feel like ?” the writing continued. “‘It feels like home’, he replied”. It didn’t feel like home to me. The store has no toaster to brown the bagels and so we eat some muffin and banana nut bread along with coffee. Since it’s just the two of us, breakfast is a quick affair and we’re out in fifteen.
The drive from Oakdale to Yosemite Park Entrance is beautiful today. The coffee has made me alert and I focus on the road while stealing quick glances at the attractive countryside. The storm the past week had dumped enough snow in Yosemite, I had found out. We were carrying snow chains as was mandated during a winter visit, but I hoped that I wouldn’t be asked to use them. I had made plans with Silvano to use their four wheel drive if chains were required. No chains were required, I was told at the entrance, but it was very slippery and icy and so was asked to go very slow. I do that, not going over 20-24 mph as we drive over a road icy and not entirely snow free.
Once we get past the high point of Rte 120 at about 6200 feet and start descending, the road starts to clear up. There’s hardly anybody on the road. Construction work along the initial part of the drive from Crane Flat has forced a one-lane road with traffic lights to ensure that traffic is moving in a single direction. This and the snow covered pullouts prevent us from stopping by the snow covered Merced river and snapping some pictures. That has to wait till later.
Chomi is like a kid in a candy store. His eyes wide open, a big foolish grin hanging from his face as he looks at his first snow. The snow has hardened and so is easy to walk over. When I brought his parents many years go, it was winter too, but the snow had freshly fallen and was still very powdery. His parents acted like little children, gathering the snow, tossing it in the air, walking in it and wanting to be in it as much as possible, despite the cold and their sensitivity to such temperatures. When we first stopped at the first lookout on Rte 120 from where El Capitan and Half Dome are visible, Chomi can hardly hold himself. He takes some pictures, but seems more interested in just being there, eventually surrendering all photography to me as he enjoys himself.
The first closeup view of El Capitan always ensures an enormous jaw drop and viewing the largest granite face in the world, the reaction is no different this time. It was also the first place to get into the snow, in the snow covered meadows that surround the base of El Cap. I’ve come to Yosemite so many times, but the magic of the place never fails to charm me.
This year, I came first early in spring when the spring melt was quite significant and all the waterfalls were roaring. I even saw Ribbon Falls for the first time in all my visits to the park. I also saw a bear and two cubs for the first time in Yosemite. When I visited with my parents later in the summer, the scenery was a little different again and I got to see a bear even more closely than before. I have come to Yosemite about four times before in winter, but the last time was about three years ago, the memory has waned a bit. I’m charmed all over again, as if it’s the first time. While I snap away, Chomi wanders away and eventually has to be called back with some rather frantic shouting.
We stop by at various places along the way, taking time to walk in the snow and just soak up the atmosphere. I spot a bird, looking cute and cuddly, ducking and walking in the water. After some research on the web, I determine that the bird is the American Dipper and is rather well loved and popular. It’s not hard to see why.
We have an early lunch to beat any crowds that might show up. The pizza at Curry Village is quite decent and we had one with banana peppers and onions. By now, more cars have started trickling in. Afternoons I feel so sleepy that I need another shot of caffeine to make the drive back safe. As I pay for the Frappuccino, the store clerk asks me if I was having it to stay alert on the drive back. I said yes. He then advises me to consume it at least a half hour before we start our drive back. He recounts his story of how he once switched to some other caffienated drink over coffee to stay awake, had fallen asleep at the wheel and wrecked his car though he managed to survive, nary a scratch. William Dement, the father of sleep medicine, talked about the dangers of driving when sleep deprived and says that its more common than DUI. The famous crash of Exxon tanker at Valdez in Alaska a few years ago was also caused by a sleepy captain. Having had difficulty obtaining good coffee along the way till Oakdale, I purchase the Starbucks Frappuccino that is sold in most places today.
We drive back to the entrance leisurely, stopping at every possible point to snap some pictures or admire the scenery. For the first time, I also notice two beautiful pieces of rock, that I later discover as the Cathedral Spires.
I find it hard to ask Chomi to hurry as he lingers, but time is fleeting and I want to be down at the base of the hills, past Groveland and as close to Oakdale as possible before dusk. I don’t like driving in the dark down narrow, winding roads. The snow has melted sufficiently from the roads and the snow clearing machines are also operational, making the drive back much more faster. As we drive back, more cars are heading into the park and Chomi remarks that he is glad to have enjoyed the park with so few people. Fleetwood Mac is singing “I didn’t believe the ways of magic, but I have a feeling its time to try”.
The drive back is uneventful. A full winter moon keeps us company again. We pull into the garage by 6:30 PM or so, to the closing strains of Mark Knopfler’s Boom Like That. Chomi is still wide-eyed.
