News from the Field: Day 11--Yosemite Park

A truly exciting day today. We visited--most of us for the first time--one of the great wonders of the world--Yosemite National Park. We got an early start, and drove the serpentine road from Mono Basin up to 10,000-foot Tioga Pass (just opened this week!), reaching the park entrance by 8:30. We started the field day with an early hike up Lembert Dome, an extraordinary expanse of Sierra Nevada granite with spectacular views of the Sierra peaks. On to Lake Tenaya for a glorious lunch (and swim!) in the sun, surrounded by Sierra snowfields, and a brief stop at Olmstead Point for a first view of Half Dome and Yosemite Valley. We decided to take the long, winding drive past Tuolome Meadows down to Yosemite Valley--and what a treat! We saw the great wonders of the park--El Capitan, Bridal Veil Falls, Cathedral Rocks, Yosemite Falls, and the Royal Arches--and of course, the Yosemite Village gift shop. Didn't get back to SNARL until 8:30, but another great meal awaited us--and a birthday cake for Mariel, who turned 21 today!

May 28th

*A drowsy start of the day--8:30 AM and we're already at Lembert Dome*
*The magnificent granite massif of Lembert Dome, shaped by glacial polishing and erosion.*
*Tom McFarland, Adam Schau, and John Schuman take some notes at the base of Lembert Dome*
*The women brace themselves for the big climb up to the summit...*
*And they start on up the steep granite face...*
*The birthday girl, Mariel Berger, starts her year off right!*
*On the way up, we examine beautiful examples of dikes cross-cutting the granite massif*
*And textbook examples of glacial polish and striations*
*What a joy--everyone makes it to the summit!*
*The group makes some notes on glacial landforms, with Cathedral Summit in the background.*
*Michael basks in the alpine sun at the Dome's summit...*
*And John relaxes with Caroline Pew and Neal Solon.*
*Now for the long walk down!*
*John and Michael get in a little disagreement on proper use of glacial terminology*
*Michael and Laura Dunn 'stroll' down the face of Lembert Dome...*
*The group finds another great lunch spot, at Tenaya Lake*
*Neal Solon and Brian Moore enjoy the 'brisk' water at Lake Tenaya*
*And Neal 'accidentally' tumbles into the icy water!*
*While underwater, Neal discovers gold dust in the sand--and shows an example to Megan Fonde*
*Our two swimmers, Adam Schau and Leslie Schaffer, get the idea, and go for an icy swim*
*Brrrrr!*
*Not to be outdone, Laura Dunn gets into the water!*
*John discusses glacial erosion at Olmstead point, with Half Dome and Yosemite Valley in the background*
*Our first view as we enter the Yosemite Valley--El Capitan!*
*The group watches the rock climbers in amazement*
*But look what's behind them--Cathedral Rocks!*
*John relaxes for a moment in Capitan Meadow*
*An extraordinary example of a hanging valley--Bridal Veil Falls*
*A beautiful view of Half Dome--a granite massif sliced in two by glacial erosion*
*On to another hanging valley, Yosemite Falls...*
*The group poses by the base of Lower Yosemite Falls. Can you guess which 13 haven't been practicing their gymnastics?*
*All that splashing water makes Adam a little thirsty--so he decides to stoke up for the next part of the day!*
*We discover a few furry friends en route to the Yosemite Village*
*After a long day, we start the long drive back to the eastern Sierras--but before we leave the park, we're treated to a beautiful sunset over Half Dome*
*After a great dinner, a surprise awaits Mariel*
*And the birthday party begins!*
*View Adam's description of the Yosemite Falls [1.76 MB]*	Click here