Scotty's Castle and the 100-year Flood

Sunday, October 18th, a storm passed over the northern end of Death Valley National Park.  The cell dumped almost three inches of water in the Scotty's Castle area.  That is more rain in one event than the park averages in a year.

Flooding and mudslides caused amazing amounts of damage to some of the buildings on the Castle grounds.  Mother Nature picked up a large portion of the road leading to the Castle and moved it somewhere else.  Miraculously, the Castle itself sustained minimal damage.  Talking with a ranger friend I've worked with the last three winters at the Castle (she's already out there for her season), she fully believes the visitor center and swimming pool saved the Castle.  The swimming pool, which was never finished and never filled, is now filled, though with mud.  This formerly glaring unfinished project turned out to be a blessing 85 years after construction stopped abruptly.  I will never look at that swimming pool the same.

For photos, I will direct you to the Death Valley National Park Facebook page.  Also, National Parks Traveler has an article and short video clip.  The rest of the park was also impacted, but not like Scotty's.  I almost cried when I saw the footage from the inside of the visitor center.  The link for the video is:

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2015/10/flooding-runs-counter-death-valleys-image-remakes-national-park-landscape

I was scheduled to return to Scotty's Castle in three weeks for a fourth winter season.  At this time, although the option was still available to return to Death Valley (to do what, I don't know), I have decided not to return.  Trust me when I say it was a hard decision.

What now?  That's still unknown.  I will be in Texas until further notice.  I have friends I haven't seen in a long time, new babies to meet, tap dance classes to attend, plenty of hours of piano playing to complete, and plenty of projects.  Road tripping, traveling, camping trips, piano playing, dancing, visiting, running, scrapbooking, crocheting, who knows....It's always an adventure, right?

North Dome and Indian Rock

My season is fast drawing to a close.  My list of hikes I still need to complete is exponentially longer than the weekends I have left to do them in but I'm going to try my best anyway.  I had Columbus Day off and headed to North Dome.  I surprisingly easy hike with awesome views of Yosemite Valley and surrounding vistas.

Part of my hike went through an area that had a fire come very close to it.  I was intrigued by the sudden pink hue from the fire retardant that was dropped in the area.  Thankfully for you, I'm only posting two of the *cough* pictures I took of pink stuff.

 After some slight trail confusion, I found my way to the top of North Dome and enjoyed having the top all to myself the whole time I was up there.  There are perks hiking early in the morning and during shoulder season.  A view of the valley looking west.  You can just barely make out the Merced River flowing down there and the smoke of a fire on the south side of the valley above Bridalveil Fall.

I realize I must post a lot of photos of Half Dome from different angles in my blog.  Please don't be critical of this; it's the most easily recognizable rock in the park.  (And it is not the most frequently photographed rock in the world.  Plymouth Rock, Rock of Gibraltar, tons of southern Utah, and even Dome of the Rock and Rockefeller Center all appear on a Google search before Half Dome does.  I'm simply boosting rock self-esteem.)

Panoramic video from the top.

 See, I really was there.

 Even with all my caving experience, I don't think I could fit through this.

 On my way down, I took a side trail to explore Indian Rock.  I ate my lunch up there and highly enjoyed this random rock formation.

 Under the arch.

 TEXAS!  Oh yeah!

 And Half Dome again.  You can tell there was an elevation change from North Dome, yes?

All in all, a lovely day.  I love this park!  It's going to be hard to leave in a few weeks.

Bear Sighting

There are lots of things people want to do or see when they visit Yosemite: hike Half Dome, visit at waterfall, and see a bear, to name a few.  One thing I really wanted when I first started last summer, was the latter, to see a bear.  Oh man.  Last summer a mother and two cubs walked by me.  The sighting lasted a total of maybe five seconds.  I was thrilled.  I was jumping up and down and yelling at my coworker, "a bear, a bear!"  Did I have my camera for this oh so brief encounter?  Nope.  And those three were the only bears I saw in a little over six months.

This summer, my desire to see a bear increased.  On a hike, I startled a bear and saw its hind-quarters.  Not satisfied.  While driving, I saw a bear cub, absolutely adorable, playing by the side of the road.  But I was driving and couldn't stop and didn't have my camera anyway.  Then again, driving, a bear ran across the road in front of me.  While I've had more sightings, nothing where I felt I could really watch and enjoy and observe and photograph the animal.

A few weeks I go I went for a run.  As I ran by the vegetation office, I saw a bear trap.  There were people congregated and pointing.  A bear!  Not wanting to lose daylight, I ran my fastest bit-over-three miles ever, grabbed my camera, and came back and spent a glorious 20 minutes watching a 6 year old female eat acorns in a tree.

 Yes, these are horribly blurry.  I know I need to work on my photography skills.  You'll have to simply trust that it's a bear.  She even had the bear hind leg swagger I absolutely love.

I was able to get five seconds of video when she decided to climb out of the tree.  Again, yes, I know it's sideways; I'm obviously challenged in more than one way.

It was a wonderful event and I feel satisfied in checking off "see a bear" on my list of summer goals.

And the sunset from my front porch that night wasn't so bad either.