December 5, 2015 Yosemite, California

Today was not as sunny or as warm as yesterday, only high in the 40’s.

Welcome to Yosemite.  A little Christmas at the post office.

The  LeConte Memorial Lodge was the Sierra Club’s and Ansel Adams lived in it for awhile and photographed Yosemite. We hiked up the Mist Trail to the bridge, which is also the beginning of the John Muir Trail that ends 211 miles later at the top of Mt Whitney.

Sun on John on the John Muir Trail.

 

The view of Vernal Falls from the bridge. I guess in the spring it is much bigger and the Mist Trail goes up under it where you get wet from the mist and to the top of the falls. That part of it was closed because of ice on the trail this time of year. A heart shaped spring on the trail.

There are lots of huge rocks along the trail that are rock fall from the cliffs above.  A view of North Dome from the trail to Mirror Lake.

More huge rocks along the trail to Mirror lake. Part of the trail is cobble stoned.

I can see why they call it Mirror Lake. I love the striped rock in the middle and it’s reflection. Looking up at the front of Half Dome in the middle above.

 

Little bit of evening light on the cliffs. Another reflection on Mirror Lake, it is hard to tell the rocks in the lake from the reflection.

The rock dam across the end of the lake was washed out. We had to walk across some water to take the easier  wheel chair accessible trail back down. John just walked across in his chacos and shorts, but I had to take my boots off and hold my pants up to cross.  A steller’s jay, mossy wall along the Mirror lake trail, ice and snow  on the Merced river by the John Muir trail, and a buck. We also saw a coyote, but all I got a picture of was his hind end and we heard an owl hooting and echoing back and forth across the canyon.

    

Mossy trees, ice that had broken and refrozen-looks like stained glass, dotted moss, and big mossy rocks.