December 2021 – My Joy

June 14th, 2021

Up, Up and Away:

Flying during a pandemic requires a mask, hand sanitizer, and disinfectant wipes:

Someone is a little nervous for this flight. . .

Did I mention that Patricia joined us again!

We had a great first flight into Charlotte, South Carolina. Onto our final flight to Reno, Nevada

**Beautiful sunset on this redeye flight.**

We got into Reno at midnight. We picked up our rental car and headed off to a hotel near the airport for some sleep.

June 15, 2021

On our way to California!

Absolutely beautiful scenery along the way:

As we climbed in elevation we came upon this:

**Snow!! And Patricia’s first time in snow!**

What do you think about snow Patricia?

We drove on and later came upon a nice place to stop for lunch:

**Mom and Dad were sure happy to be in this beautiful place on vacation!**

Lizzy was happy to explore:

Patricia was much warmer here than in the snow:

We then drove on to the location of our first planned hike ~ Angel Falls via Willow Creek Trail a 2.5 mile hike:

The creek ran near the trail for most of the hike:

It was an easy hike with only a few steep climbs:

It was a beautiful day for a beautiful hike!

Crossing over log bridges can be a little scary when we haven’t got our hiking groove in yet:

You got this Patricia!:

We took quite a few breaks to enjoy the scenery:

We made it to the waterfall:

Dad and Lizzy’s exploration expedition is underway:

We had a nice little hike and now it’s time to head off to our Airbnb in Ahwahnee, California:

**We will spend 8 days at this Airbnb. Bonus it has three bedrooms and a pool!**

June 16, 2021

Vacation Day Three: Yosemite National Park. Glacier Point then Illilouette Falls via Panarama Trail. 7.5 hiking miles.

We saw a bear before we even got on the trail!!

He was eating bugs out of a log in a wooded area right near the parking lot.

The bear knew there were people watching him, but was busy eating and wasn’t interested in us at all. The rangers quickly came over and had all the people move on. That was a very exciting start to our day!

**We finally made it to the trailhead for our obligatory “trailhead pic”.**

It was a little hazy at 8am at Glacier Point:

**The rock made a very nice, perhaps not comfortable, chair.**

The view was absolutely amazing!

**Rachel was sure enjoying this little piece of heaven on earth!**

**We were all so happy Patricia was able to join us on this trip!**

Trailhead#2 Illilouette Falls:

**It’s pretty much up hill from here girls.**

Views of Half Dome, Vernal Falls, Nevada Falls along most of the trail. Absolutely beautiful! It was however, very hazy outside:

Almost there Patricia!:

**We made it to the falls. Mom and Dad happy as can be!**

Lizzy did some exploring:

**The temperature outside got up to 96 degrees but the water was cold !**

**Rachel relaxed and enjoyed the view of the waterfall.**

June 17, 2021

Vacation Day Four: Yosemite National Park. Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls via Mist Trail. Descent on the John Muir Trail. 10.5 miles total and it got up to 100 degrees outside – California heat wave!

**The trailhead was a 1/2 mile from the parking lot.**

**These trail lengths were a bit off. We ended up hiking 10.5 miles!**

First rest stop (of many). Beautiful views the entire way!

Halfway there:

It was quite a climb to Vernal Falls!

Another big climb to the top of Vernal Falls:

We hiked on and made it to Nevada Falls!

This was a great place to enjoy the view and rest up foreven more hiking!

More awesome scenery on the way up to the top of Nevada Falls.

We made it to the top!

**Happy but getting tired and hot outside!**

Wow!

The views on the way down were awesome:

**Well worth the challenge of the hike and the 100 degree heat!**

June 18, 2021

Vacation Day Five: Yosemite National Park. El Capitan Base Trail. One awesome mile hike. 100 degrees heat by the end of our adventure!!

**Short trail to the base of El Capitan.**

Can you see the two climbers on the mountain!?

Binoculars helped:

Rest break on a spectacular tree:

We made it to El Capitan:

**The climb up and around was actually a little challenging. We took a break here. My view as I relaxed.**

The entire base was scrambling over rocks:

Lizzy went ahead of us and this is where we found her!!!

Rule: “Dad is with you when you climb!!”:

Our view from our next rest break!

**Patricia was not too interested in climbing up high.**

**Time to climb down and continue around the base of the mountain.**

Until there was another awesome climbing spot!

You can’t see the park police officer pulling us over… he missed a stop sign and he got in his lane around the curve.

**Oops . Luckily we just got a stern warning.**

June 19, 2021

Vacation Day Six: Chain Lakes Trail from Clark Range Trailhead ( 1/2 mile in -Yosemite National Park). 14 hiking miles!

We spotted this cayote eating breakfast on our drive to the trailhead at 6a.m..

The trailhead was actually outside of Yosemite National Park but the trail goes into the park after about a half a mile:

Although we lost the trail along the way we eventually made it into Yosemite and back on the trail:

There were a lot of tree blow downs across the trail and a ton of mosquitoes!

There were also a lot of wildflowers everywhere!

We lost count of how many trees were down over the trail!

We also had a few stream crossings:

Almost to the lakes:

We made it to the first lake!

Very nice. Although we had a very hard time battling the mosquitoes:

We hiked on and got to the second lake:

The water was cold!

A nice waterfall, wildflowers, and a Zen pose to match on the way to the last lake.

Lake number three!

Mom decided to relax and enjoy the view:

Dad and Rachel decided to go up to the snow patch across the lake!:

They brought some snow back:

Snowball fight!

It’s on!

On our way back down we stopped at the mini waterfall:

**We decided to filter some drinking water from the waterfall.**

That was quite an 14 mile adventure; especially since we thought it was only going to be a 7 mile hike!

June 20, 2021

Vacation Day Seven

Happy Father’s Day!

**A special breakfast made for the Dad of the house.**

We made Father’s Day cards before we left for vacation.

Rachel’s card to Dad was more comical this year:

Gift Time:

We all contributed money toward a new grill to be purchased when we gets back home (his is over 20 years old).

It’s Sunday so we went to church in Oakhurst, California.

**It was less than 15 minutes from our Airbnb.**

Lizzy’s ears have been hurting so we made a stop here after church.

Turns out to be sinus trouble and a mild swimmer’s ear.

**Drama Queen… We found out later that she had been going under water in the hot tub at the Airbnb. Guess she wont do that again!**

We decided to go on an easy short hike to go check out a really big Sequoya tree:

**They are tired before we even start the short hike.**

There is also an interpretive trail along the way.

An historical building had a tree through it:

The interpretive area was focused on the history of logging:

We made it to the sign for the Bull Buck tree!

The sign offers some measurements for Bull Buck Tree, recorded in 1975. At that time, Bull Buck Tree had a height 247.3 feet, a circumference at breast height (4 1/2 feet) of 84.2 feet, a volume of 29,090 cubic feet, a crown spread of 70.69 feet, and an estimated age of 2,700 years.

The girls finally made it to the tree:

On the way back we stopped for a Zen moment.

**Mom said the Tree pose felt rather applicable for the settin**g.

Laughing all the way back:

June 21, 2021

Vacation Day Eight: Yosemite National Park. Chilnualna Falls Trail. 11 miles.

Mountain Lions Oh My!

Waterfall #1:

**Small but nice** and very close to the start of the trail.

Waterfall #2

Wildflowers were also in abundance:

Waterfall #3:

Friends forever!

Beautiful vista along the trail:

**Mom was definitely loving this trail!**

Lizzy found a teeny tiny waterfall:

She couldn’t resist going under:

This hike is a steady uphill climb with awesome views:

We made it to the top of a waterfall:

Mom and Dad climbed up even higher while we relaxed down below.

**Mom’s feet while she looks down at us from above.**

Mom and dad found yet another waterfall!

This place was absolutely gorgeous!

**Mom and Dad said it was the best one on the hike!**

**They were both very happy they found it!!**

Wildflowers and butterflies galore as well!

One last look before they made their our way back down the mountain:

It was 96 degrees outside and despite the beauty they described we were not interested in climbing up to the waterfall they saw, so we all headed back down the trail:

We made it! Mom and Dad said they would do this 11 mile hike again any day!

**Not sure what the girls are doing here, but I think they were happy we made it down the mountain!**

June 22, 2021

Vacation Day Nine: Swinging Bridge Trail in Yosemite National Park. Red Rock Falls and Corlieu Falls via Lewis Creek National Scenic Trail. 5.5 hiking miles.

We got an early start and it was a little chilly at 6:30am:

It’s too cold to stand around let’s headed to the swinging bridge:

We ended up jogging up most of this trail to warm up:

We made it to the bridge. Jumping on swinging bridge was fun!

It was a beautiful place to start off the morning:

Mom had to jump too!

The water was very cold!

One last look at the view:

Trailhead #2 Lewis Creek National Scenic Trail:

“Here kitty kitty”:

Heading toward the waterfalls:

There were flowers all along the trail!!

Red Rock Falls:

A great place to relax!:

Joyful!

We explored the top of the falls:

Awesome friends:

Corlieu Falls:

Lizzy scouted out another waterfall down stream. Rachel and Patricia decided not to hike down to these falls. They rested up top

Mom and Dad are very happy she found this waterfall:

After a steep climb back up and we made our way right up to the base of Corlieu Falls.

It is amazing!!!

Mom was in her happy place:

One last look:

It was 94 degrees outside so we headed back.

Another A great adventure!

June 23, 2021

Vacation Day Ten: Yosemite National Park. Mount Watkins. 6.5 miles. We left the south side of Yosemite and drove a little over 2 hours to the North East side. We will be staying in Mammoth Lakes for the next five days. Quick stop at Lake Tenaya.

It was a little cooler this morning with a breeze and the sky was bright blue.

The views along this trail got better and better!

There were plenty of wildflowers too:

We received a phone call on the mountain! Patricia’s Dad:

Mountains everywhere!

Very big pinecones!

Beautiful

Half Dome:

Happy couple

Relaxing here (even with the chilly wind gusts) is easy.

Rachel’s favorite hike so far:

Awesome in every direction:

A perfect day!

A friend at the top of the mountain:

Patricia’s favorite hike as well:

Even better with friends!

A great adventure!

On our drive to our Airbnb in Mammoth Lakes we stopped at Lake Tenaya.

It was cold but a pretty view:

A nice place to stop:

Now off to our Airbnb in Mammoth Lakes.

June 24, 2021

Vacation Day Eleven: Devil’s Postpile, Rainbow Falls, Lower Falls, Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and Earthquake Fault. 6.5 hiking miles.

It was 48 degrees outside at 7am.

Beginning of the trail:

Devil’s Postpile:

The Postpile was formed around 100,000 years ago when a cooling lava flow cracked into multi-sided columns.

Very cool!

Love and trying to keep warm!

Now off to Rainbow Falls:

View along the trail:

Getting closer to the falls:

The top of Rainbow Falls:

Awesome Rainbow Falls:

The happy couple:

Rachel climbing down the rock stairs to the bottom:

A great place to relax:

Can you spot Lizzy?

Happy Mom:

Lizzy in her Zen pose on the rock:

We hiked on to Lower Falls:

Lizzy found her spot:

Can you see Rachel?

Dad and Lizzy climbed up the rocks to the top:

Now on to the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT):

A nice bridge:

View from the bridge:

**View from the other side of the bridge.**

Lizzy found her Christmas tree .

View along the PCT:

There were very few PCT Markers:

PCT Marker:

Devil’s Postpile from the PCT:

Now off to Earth Quake Fault:

Earth Quake Fault:

**Rachel and Patricia stayed in the car (?!?!)**

Very cool and a bit deep:

Time to explore:

Lizzy and Dad found something down there…

Snow!

Rachel and Patricia are in the car. Should we?

Yup! Snowball fight!!

That was an adventure filled day!

June 25, 2021

Vacation Day Twelve: Gem Lake Via Rush Creek Trail. 2,080 feet elevation gain in 3.4 miles relentlessly up and then 3.4 miles back down A 6.8 mile hike.

At the trailhead at 7am and it was 45 degrees!

**Patricia and Rachel are still hiding in the car.**

Low ground start to the hike:

There were wildflowers everywhere!:

Heading to high ground. Wildflowers lined the trail the whole way!

This was a steady (relentless) uphill mountain climb:

There was a cool cable car crossing:

Lake #1 was at a dam:

Agnew Lake at the Dam:

We continued on climbing higher past this lake:

We made it to Gem Lake!

Beautiful :

There were flat rocks everywhere. Perfect for skipping rocks!

Time to rest, relax and enjoy!

More rock skipping and relaxing:

We headed back down the mountain. Lizzy and Patricia explored around the Dam:

They made it back up and we quickly made our way back down the mountain:

This was a challenging hike but we did it by helping and encouraging each other along the way:

June 26, 2021

Vacation Day Thirteen. Yosemite National Park Gaylor Lakes Trail. Mono (Saline) Lake. 7 hiking miles.

7am Trailhead. 53 degrees:

Heading up the mountain:

Beautiful scenery along the way!

Snow!! Lizzy, Mom, and Dad took a detour to this snow pile:

Snowball fight!

Okay Mom your next:

Time to head down to Gaylor Lake:

Gorgeous!

Happy hiker!

There were cute ground hogs all over the meadow:

We continued hiking and made it to this lake:

More snow at this lake:

Snowball fight!

Happy couple

Heading up to an old mining site:

Old structure, perhaps housing for the miners:

Missing a roof to say the least:

Fireplace:

Door frame:

Another structure:

The mine :

We found another lake!

More snow!

Beautiful

Exploring the snow sculpture:

So cool!

3 pennies just sitting out here on this rock. Grandma in heaven always leaves pennies

Rachel and Patricia were mining for gems:

We found more at the mining site on the way back:

Lizzy, Mom and Dad decided to go exploring and Patricia and Rachel stayed back by the lake to relax. While exploring they found this awesome lake:

Granite Lake:

They said it was awesome!

We all got back together again and Patricia was wading in the cold lake!

Lizzy joined her!

Patricia stayed in a little longer:

One more look at the lake before we head back:

Lizzy and Patricia laughing all the way .

Awesome hike!

It was still a little early in the day so we decide to go to Mono Lake South Tufa Trail. This saline lake has tufa towers, which are mineral structures created when fresh-water springs bubble up through the alkaline waters of the lake.

Tufa tower formations:

Super salty water (more salt than the ocean).

Rachel said it felt like regular water:

Beautiful !

A great way to end the day!

June 27, 2021

Vacation Day Fourteen: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Crystal Lake via Crystal Craig Trailhead, Mammoth Consolidated Gold Mine. 3.5 miles.

**11am church at the Mammoth Lakes Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.**

**Short 3 mile hike up to Crystal Lake.**

**Steady uphill for 1 mile. Wide paths**

**Lizzy and I enjoyed this spot while Patricia called her father to show him the view. Sullivan and Rachel were still climbing u**

**Lizzy and Patricia went in to fetch a floating fish.**

**Rachel was really enjoying her swim.**

**Dad enjoying this beautiful spot on a beautiful day.**

**The girls beat us down the mountain. We enjoyed some alone time hiking down together.**

Next Stop: Mammoth Consolidated Gold Mine.

**Ruins of the Mammoth Consolidated Gold Mine, operated circa 1927-1933**

**We all found this old mining place interesting.**

Peeping in the outhouse . This old mining site was a nice warm up for the Bodie Ghost Town we plan to visit tomorrow on our way to Lake Tahoe. We will stay in Lake Tahoe for the last three nights of our vacation.

We all had a very nice easy day.

June 28th, 2021

Vacation Day Fifteen: Bodie Ghost Town and Lake Tahoe.

**Sheep on the way to Bodie Ghost Town.**

Not only is it illegal to take anything from Bodie, but legend has it that anyone who dares to take anything — even a rock — will be punished. “The curse of Bodie” promises bad luck, health problems and even mysterious accidents.

**A look inside the window of the first family home.**

Check out the picture on the wall in this home.

**What are these three girls doing? Any guesses**?

**The announcement was made and we all clapped for the three new Jr. Rangers!**

**Bye bye Bodie. We are taking absolutely nothing with us from here but pictures, Jr. Ranger Stuff, and memories.**

Off to Lake Tahoe

**The Airbnb had access to a private beach!**

**A beautiful evening at his little beach.**

**One last look before we head to the Airbnb.**

**Home sweet home for the next three nights in Lake Tahoe.**

June 29th, 2021

Vacation Day Sixteen: Meeks Bay Trailhead on Tahoe Yosemite Trail to Lake Genevieve and Lake Tahoe Private Beach. 9 miles.

**Mom and Dad got up early and went for a hike just the two of them. Us girls were very happy to sleep in and skip this one.**

**Beautiful morning 6:45am. Flat easy start to the trail**.

**Beautiful wildflowers along the trail.**

**This tiny waterfall was a nice find.**

**Mom and Dad hiked 4.5 miles to lake Genieve. Beautiful.**

**Wildflowers on the way back with plenty of butterflies**.

**Had to stop at the pinecone heart on the way back.**

**They hiked 9 miles. “It’s 10am time to see if the girls are awake “.**

Beach time! We went right to the Airbnb’s private beach just a few minutes drive away. Good thing, because all the other beach access sites are already full!

**Rachel is carrying Lizzy to the doc**k.

Dad got in today too. Although the water is quite chilly

**Mom finally made it out to the rock. The water is .**

A very nice day relaxing at lake Tahoe.

Later that evening. . .

This brown bear just walked right through our front yard! Rachel went out on the porch for some fresh air and came running back in yelling ” Mom, there’s a bear!!” Lizzy’s commentary was, “Everyone stop taking pictures and fear for your lives!”

June 30th, 2021

Vacation Day Seventeen: Glenn Alpine Creek Trail to Grass Lake. 7 miles.

**This chipmunk was the official greeter for the hike.**

Glenn Alpine Trailhead:

Grand Total Vacation Hiking Miles = 104

Soda Springs:

**Random Jenga along the way . This was at some sort of very, very small resort area by the spring that was closed.**

**Checking out the spring after an intense game of Jenga.**

**We spotted a waterfall in the distance. Mom and Dad tried to get to it, but there wasn’t a trail and it was a treacherous climb so they went back down and enjoyed some lunch by Grass Lake**.

**End pic (Patricia was hiding). 7 miles today.**

July 1st, 2021

Unexpected extended vacation. Flight cancelled. The airlines rebooked us on a 12:45am flight on Saturday. Not sure if we can negotiate in another hike (the girls are all hiked out).

We decided to go to the Nevada State Museum:

**This museum is in Carson City, the capital of Nevada. It was quite enjoyable. They had a good deal of information on mining and a nice geology section with a plethora of crystals.**

**Mom and Dad went on a little hike at Galena Creek Regional Park**.

**They explored a portion of this nature trail.**

Marilyn’s Pond:

They decided to head off trail, cross this little creek, and explore on their own:

**Love the sound of the water along the trail.**

Next stop Geiger Lookout:

**The views of the valley were very nice!**

**Overlooking Reno and the Sierras. We added another 1/4 mile hiking here.**

**We had been looking for Marmots the whole vacation and we finally saw them in the parking lot at the fast food restaurant!**

Last stop downtown Reno!

That was fun! Then we continued our walk around downtown:

End of vacation: grand Total hiking miles on this vacation = 104.5 miles!! This was an awesome vacation! We are so grateful we were able to travel despite the pandemic.