Week 3 ~ Sep 4th 2006
One of my clients used to mention that Lake Tahoe and Yosemite are the apples of a californian's eyes. He vividly described the beauty and diversity of these places that I had then decided to visit them when I get a chance. Now, Lake Tahoe was 5 hours from San Francisco and a day is not enough to cover whereas I found from the bay area guide that there are day tours to yosemite (though it is a 4 hour drive from San Francisco). So it is Yosemite on labour day then!
The Yosemite tour starts from B at 7:00 AM which meant that I had to get up by 5:00 and go through the motions. Sleep eluded me for a larger part due to the constant worry that I would be up late. Fortunately I was up by 5:00 and had reached Hyatt Regency by 6:45 AM. We were told the tour starts from hotel Hilton and I was quite happy with that. The last time I took Tower Tours, the tour had departed from their office in Ghiradelli square. There was a long queue to use the rest rooms which made one squirm. Fortunately the Hilton had bigger and cleaner rest rooms. I spotted a couple of indians waiting for the boarding call. One guy looked like a south indian but cannot say for sure. I engaged in a pep talk with the other guys but gave up after their reticence.
"Ganesan". The name echoed during the boarding name call. There were multiple calls for Ganesan but he was not to be found only to emerge later. The south indian guy was Ganesan. Cool! a co-tamilian travelling in the same bus. Once we were aboard (I took the last seat and Ganesan sat just across from me), I confronted Ganesan. He was working with HCL on a project assignment to Austin, Texas. He revealed that his name was Illaya Perumal but preferred to be called by his last name. He was visiting California for the long weekend. Perumal (as I started calling him) was seated near a genial Aussie tourist who kept engaging us throughout the tour. Our driver was a flamboyant african-american Wolfgang who had a trace of british accent (I guess). As usual I fell asleep as soon as we had crossed San Francisco.
On the way we passed the San Joaquin valley. Wolfgang explained to us that the San Joaquin valley was the costliest real estate in the whole of california. The reason being that the valley was fertile with almonds, raisins and peach farms. We saw row upon row of almond farms. Most of these farms were equipped with sprinklers that would water the almond trees (these trees are water guzzling). Wolfgang pointed out to levies on the way and explained the irrigation system prevalent in the San Joaquin valley. We had a stop over at a small town on the way for breakfast and coffee. On our way further we saw dried grass outgrowth all along the Yosemite highway which Wolfgang explained was the cause for many bush fires in california. A small bush fire when spread across can cause huge damage to the environment in this area as it is studded with miles upon miles of wild growth. We also saw parched grass scorched by the blazing fires. Wolfgang also pointed the fact that most of farms and ranches along the way had electric fences for security. We could also see remnants of a rail road along the hills. Wolfgang explained that the rail road tracks were laid during the gold rush days but are not operational now. As we approached Yosemite we saw the giant man made lake that was at the foothills. The lake was so big that it left us wondering how many years it would have taken to form them. The winding roads to Yosemite was scenic with parched wild grass all along. Wolfgang explained that there are 2 approach roads to Yosemite and the one we were travelling was opened to large motor coaches (nay tour buses) only last week after protracted lobbying. The roads were well maintained and one of the best, so mused Wolfgang. As we enterred the Yosemite national park, we were taken in by the redwoods all along. Wolfgang explained that these were not redwoods but deciduous conifers. There were quite a few stunted trees which we were told were affected by lightning strikes. Wolfgang mentioned that the stunted and broken trees were left to rot rather than use as timber to preserve the biological value chain (there were maggots and moths feeding on these trees). The redwoods grow to an average height of 80 feet and some grow taller than that. We also noticed a waterfall with "Tea spoonful" water (as put by Wolfgang). Our first stop was at the inspiration point where we stopped to take in the stunning views of the peaks. After helping Perumal click pics with his new high definition Sony handycam, we hurried out to the waiting bus. We reached the visitor centre around 1:30 PM and asked to get back by 4:00 PM. Wolfgang revealed that there is a free yosemite shuttle that goes around a few spots including the inspiration point and lasts for an hour. In addition, we were told there was a paid park ranger guided tour which lasts 2 hours, the details of which can be obtained at the visitor center. I decided to opt for the 2 hour tour. At the visitor center I was told that the next tour starts at 2:00 PM which meant that I can safely return to the bus in time. Perumal also wanted to take the 2 hour tour. Waiting for the guided tour in the lobby of the visitor center, I engaged in a chit chat with Perumal to learn that he was born and brought up in Delhi but working in Bangalore. He hated Bangalore and wanted to return to Delhi citing reasons like a lacklusture lifestyle and traffic.
Our tour was on a open topped carriage way. Myself and Perumal seated ourself in the front row right in front of our genial park ranger guide Sara Dunham. Our driver was Ben who was celebrating his birthday. We had to endure the blazing sun for the next 2 hours. Sara started the tour by quoting incidents from her life when she first learnt the beauty and diversity of Yosemite. Our first stop was Inspiration point again. Myself and Perumal skipped the photo-op as we had already seen the place. At this time, Ben bought a water container with plastic cups for us. The water was ice cold and we had bounty. Ben seemed to be a Mannah! On the way to our next stop we saw 3 brothers. The 3 brothers are 3 cliffs shaped like 3 fingers of the hand. We also passed the ELCAPITAN. The ELCAPITAN is the largest cliff in Yosemite and was very steep. Sara informed us that people who come to Yosemite camp and climb ELCAPITAN. The longest recorded climb was for 42 days. These days people climb ELCAPITAN in a day. I wondered how people could camp on a bare mountain cliff. Sara's response was that these cliffs had fissures which ran wide and deep that (it cannot be seen by naked eye from where we were) can be used for camping. We stopped on the way to take in the sight of some mountainers climbing one of the peaks. These guys appeared like a patch on the screen and it was difficult for us to spot them when Ben with his seasoned mountainering skills and years of experience as a ranger came out with a pair of binoculars to point the spot to us. We were exasperated to learn from Sara that it is especially hard to climb under a blazing sun. Sara then went on to explain the beauty of Yosemite in that the forest itself was born out of natural phenomenon like glaciers. Million of years ago during the ice age glaciers had piled upon each other to form a mountain pile. When these glaciers melted, they gave away to rocks which formed these cliffs. We were also told that there were differing opinions on the formation of the Yosemite cliffs. John Muir (the renowned conservationist) believed that they were formed by Earthquakes when the north american and pacific plates collided and energy released from them formed the cliffs.
We stopped at a stream for a photo-op. The stream had water flowing to ankle length. Sara informed that the stream was flush with water after the rains. Infact there is a signboard which mentions that the place was flooded upto 12 feet in december 1997. Another signboard says that there was snow upto 6 feet that filled the parkway last year. During the recess, myself and Perumal engaged in a chat with Sara. Sara was not a full time ranger. She was doing an intern for her summer holidays. She was doing her masters in Geology and had 2 years to graduate. She mentioned that she was from Alabama but had been coming to Yosemite ever since her childhood. She also mentioned that getting a full time job as a park ranger was difficult due to the competiton
We travelled along the redwood trails where Sara recounted the history of the native Indians and how they had conserved these redwoods. We were told that Indians resorted to a controlled fire which helped new growth (the redwood seeds cannot reach the surface due to the leaves which when shed form a protective layer all around the ground. When the inferno blazes, the leaves are burnt making way for the seeds to reach the ground). The park authorities resort to this method at times. We were also told the story about a guy in 1800s whose wife had died due to pneumonia and doctors had diagnosed him with the same disease. The doctors had given him an year to live. The guy had wanted to visit Yosemite but had been postponing the visit. Since he believed his end was near, he decided to undertake the visit finally. He came to Yosemite, established friendly relations with the native Indians and learnt their conservation skills. He went to live till the age of 93 years, his pneuomina mysteriously cured.
In the 1940s there was a restaurant atop one of the cliffs catering to the tourists. One day the owner wanted to dispose the charcoal that was used to burn his stove and resorted to sweeping them off the clif. The people who witnessed the event thought the idea of falling charcoal under a night sky so fascinating that the restaurant owner started the "Fly Fire" event which was the practice of pushing red hot charcoal down the cliff under the night sky. The event turned out to be so popular that people started thronging Yosemite just to witness "Fly Fire". But this practice was subsequently disallowed by the authorities as they felt it affected the biological diversity of the forest (To make the event, huge chunks of figs and wood had to be collected which meant disturbing the life of the organisms feeding on these)
We also saw the camping spots and various trails around Yosemite. Since it was a long weekend, there was quite a number of campers. Some of them had brought their bikes (cycles as we call them) for a ride around the trails. As the tour was ending near, Sara made a impassioned plea for understanding and preserving these natural resources in whatever forms we could contribute. Having bade a goodbye to Sara and wishing her all the success in graduating, we hurried to our bus
Once aboard, Wolfgang informed us he went for a swim and took a nap to beat the time. We started the descent back to San Francisco. On the way there was a huge traffic jam that extended for miles in the other side. We saw police cars with sirens flashing and smoke billowing. There were sounds of fire engines rushing past. Later at a stop for refreshing, we learnt from Wolfgang that a guy had accidentally started a fire when his vehicle broke down. Wolfgang was sure that the guy would be fined heftily as authorities clamped down on anyone who starts a bush fire but pitied him as the fire was not his fault. The aussie tourist who had given us good company revealed that he had come back from a tour of Grand Canyon and Las Vegas and egged us to visit Grand Canyon (He had taken a helicopter ride from las Vegas)
Since the Bay bridge was closed for the labour day weekend we took a detour via the San Mateo bridge and had to go around Dublin Pleasanton. (I saw the Regal cinema IMAX near the BART station. I wanted to visit the cinema one day). Perumal was the first to get down at Dublin and I wished him a safe trip back. By the time we arrived in San Francisco, it was already 9:00 PM. Wolfgang was gracious enough to drop me at Embarcadero BART. Overall the trip was great and I vowed to get back to Yosemite soon..
The Yosemite tour starts from B at 7:00 AM which meant that I had to get up by 5:00 and go through the motions. Sleep eluded me for a larger part due to the constant worry that I would be up late. Fortunately I was up by 5:00 and had reached Hyatt Regency by 6:45 AM. We were told the tour starts from hotel Hilton and I was quite happy with that. The last time I took Tower Tours, the tour had departed from their office in Ghiradelli square. There was a long queue to use the rest rooms which made one squirm. Fortunately the Hilton had bigger and cleaner rest rooms. I spotted a couple of indians waiting for the boarding call. One guy looked like a south indian but cannot say for sure. I engaged in a pep talk with the other guys but gave up after their reticence.
"Ganesan". The name echoed during the boarding name call. There were multiple calls for Ganesan but he was not to be found only to emerge later. The south indian guy was Ganesan. Cool! a co-tamilian travelling in the same bus. Once we were aboard (I took the last seat and Ganesan sat just across from me), I confronted Ganesan. He was working with HCL on a project assignment to Austin, Texas. He revealed that his name was Illaya Perumal but preferred to be called by his last name. He was visiting California for the long weekend. Perumal (as I started calling him) was seated near a genial Aussie tourist who kept engaging us throughout the tour. Our driver was a flamboyant african-american Wolfgang who had a trace of british accent (I guess). As usual I fell asleep as soon as we had crossed San Francisco.
On the way we passed the San Joaquin valley. Wolfgang explained to us that the San Joaquin valley was the costliest real estate in the whole of california. The reason being that the valley was fertile with almonds, raisins and peach farms. We saw row upon row of almond farms. Most of these farms were equipped with sprinklers that would water the almond trees (these trees are water guzzling). Wolfgang pointed out to levies on the way and explained the irrigation system prevalent in the San Joaquin valley. We had a stop over at a small town on the way for breakfast and coffee. On our way further we saw dried grass outgrowth all along the Yosemite highway which Wolfgang explained was the cause for many bush fires in california. A small bush fire when spread across can cause huge damage to the environment in this area as it is studded with miles upon miles of wild growth. We also saw parched grass scorched by the blazing fires. Wolfgang also pointed the fact that most of farms and ranches along the way had electric fences for security. We could also see remnants of a rail road along the hills. Wolfgang explained that the rail road tracks were laid during the gold rush days but are not operational now. As we approached Yosemite we saw the giant man made lake that was at the foothills. The lake was so big that it left us wondering how many years it would have taken to form them. The winding roads to Yosemite was scenic with parched wild grass all along. Wolfgang explained that there are 2 approach roads to Yosemite and the one we were travelling was opened to large motor coaches (nay tour buses) only last week after protracted lobbying. The roads were well maintained and one of the best, so mused Wolfgang. As we enterred the Yosemite national park, we were taken in by the redwoods all along. Wolfgang explained that these were not redwoods but deciduous conifers. There were quite a few stunted trees which we were told were affected by lightning strikes. Wolfgang mentioned that the stunted and broken trees were left to rot rather than use as timber to preserve the biological value chain (there were maggots and moths feeding on these trees). The redwoods grow to an average height of 80 feet and some grow taller than that. We also noticed a waterfall with "Tea spoonful" water (as put by Wolfgang). Our first stop was at the inspiration point where we stopped to take in the stunning views of the peaks. After helping Perumal click pics with his new high definition Sony handycam, we hurried out to the waiting bus. We reached the visitor centre around 1:30 PM and asked to get back by 4:00 PM. Wolfgang revealed that there is a free yosemite shuttle that goes around a few spots including the inspiration point and lasts for an hour. In addition, we were told there was a paid park ranger guided tour which lasts 2 hours, the details of which can be obtained at the visitor center. I decided to opt for the 2 hour tour. At the visitor center I was told that the next tour starts at 2:00 PM which meant that I can safely return to the bus in time. Perumal also wanted to take the 2 hour tour. Waiting for the guided tour in the lobby of the visitor center, I engaged in a chit chat with Perumal to learn that he was born and brought up in Delhi but working in Bangalore. He hated Bangalore and wanted to return to Delhi citing reasons like a lacklusture lifestyle and traffic.
Our tour was on a open topped carriage way. Myself and Perumal seated ourself in the front row right in front of our genial park ranger guide Sara Dunham. Our driver was Ben who was celebrating his birthday. We had to endure the blazing sun for the next 2 hours. Sara started the tour by quoting incidents from her life when she first learnt the beauty and diversity of Yosemite. Our first stop was Inspiration point again. Myself and Perumal skipped the photo-op as we had already seen the place. At this time, Ben bought a water container with plastic cups for us. The water was ice cold and we had bounty. Ben seemed to be a Mannah! On the way to our next stop we saw 3 brothers. The 3 brothers are 3 cliffs shaped like 3 fingers of the hand. We also passed the ELCAPITAN. The ELCAPITAN is the largest cliff in Yosemite and was very steep. Sara informed us that people who come to Yosemite camp and climb ELCAPITAN. The longest recorded climb was for 42 days. These days people climb ELCAPITAN in a day. I wondered how people could camp on a bare mountain cliff. Sara's response was that these cliffs had fissures which ran wide and deep that (it cannot be seen by naked eye from where we were) can be used for camping. We stopped on the way to take in the sight of some mountainers climbing one of the peaks. These guys appeared like a patch on the screen and it was difficult for us to spot them when Ben with his seasoned mountainering skills and years of experience as a ranger came out with a pair of binoculars to point the spot to us. We were exasperated to learn from Sara that it is especially hard to climb under a blazing sun. Sara then went on to explain the beauty of Yosemite in that the forest itself was born out of natural phenomenon like glaciers. Million of years ago during the ice age glaciers had piled upon each other to form a mountain pile. When these glaciers melted, they gave away to rocks which formed these cliffs. We were also told that there were differing opinions on the formation of the Yosemite cliffs. John Muir (the renowned conservationist) believed that they were formed by Earthquakes when the north american and pacific plates collided and energy released from them formed the cliffs.
We stopped at a stream for a photo-op. The stream had water flowing to ankle length. Sara informed that the stream was flush with water after the rains. Infact there is a signboard which mentions that the place was flooded upto 12 feet in december 1997. Another signboard says that there was snow upto 6 feet that filled the parkway last year. During the recess, myself and Perumal engaged in a chat with Sara. Sara was not a full time ranger. She was doing an intern for her summer holidays. She was doing her masters in Geology and had 2 years to graduate. She mentioned that she was from Alabama but had been coming to Yosemite ever since her childhood. She also mentioned that getting a full time job as a park ranger was difficult due to the competiton
We travelled along the redwood trails where Sara recounted the history of the native Indians and how they had conserved these redwoods. We were told that Indians resorted to a controlled fire which helped new growth (the redwood seeds cannot reach the surface due to the leaves which when shed form a protective layer all around the ground. When the inferno blazes, the leaves are burnt making way for the seeds to reach the ground). The park authorities resort to this method at times. We were also told the story about a guy in 1800s whose wife had died due to pneumonia and doctors had diagnosed him with the same disease. The doctors had given him an year to live. The guy had wanted to visit Yosemite but had been postponing the visit. Since he believed his end was near, he decided to undertake the visit finally. He came to Yosemite, established friendly relations with the native Indians and learnt their conservation skills. He went to live till the age of 93 years, his pneuomina mysteriously cured.
In the 1940s there was a restaurant atop one of the cliffs catering to the tourists. One day the owner wanted to dispose the charcoal that was used to burn his stove and resorted to sweeping them off the clif. The people who witnessed the event thought the idea of falling charcoal under a night sky so fascinating that the restaurant owner started the "Fly Fire" event which was the practice of pushing red hot charcoal down the cliff under the night sky. The event turned out to be so popular that people started thronging Yosemite just to witness "Fly Fire". But this practice was subsequently disallowed by the authorities as they felt it affected the biological diversity of the forest (To make the event, huge chunks of figs and wood had to be collected which meant disturbing the life of the organisms feeding on these)
We also saw the camping spots and various trails around Yosemite. Since it was a long weekend, there was quite a number of campers. Some of them had brought their bikes (cycles as we call them) for a ride around the trails. As the tour was ending near, Sara made a impassioned plea for understanding and preserving these natural resources in whatever forms we could contribute. Having bade a goodbye to Sara and wishing her all the success in graduating, we hurried to our bus
Once aboard, Wolfgang informed us he went for a swim and took a nap to beat the time. We started the descent back to San Francisco. On the way there was a huge traffic jam that extended for miles in the other side. We saw police cars with sirens flashing and smoke billowing. There were sounds of fire engines rushing past. Later at a stop for refreshing, we learnt from Wolfgang that a guy had accidentally started a fire when his vehicle broke down. Wolfgang was sure that the guy would be fined heftily as authorities clamped down on anyone who starts a bush fire but pitied him as the fire was not his fault. The aussie tourist who had given us good company revealed that he had come back from a tour of Grand Canyon and Las Vegas and egged us to visit Grand Canyon (He had taken a helicopter ride from las Vegas)
Since the Bay bridge was closed for the labour day weekend we took a detour via the San Mateo bridge and had to go around Dublin Pleasanton. (I saw the Regal cinema IMAX near the BART station. I wanted to visit the cinema one day). Perumal was the first to get down at Dublin and I wished him a safe trip back. By the time we arrived in San Francisco, it was already 9:00 PM. Wolfgang was gracious enough to drop me at Embarcadero BART. Overall the trip was great and I vowed to get back to Yosemite soon..
posted by Prakash at
8:42 PM
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