Half Dome from Washburn Point

We met up with my brother Rick and his wife Meg last night at a table outside the Ahwahnee Hotel for a drink. The weather was perfect...still warm even after the sun went down behind El Capitan, and had dinner at the cafe there.  Rick and Meg stayed at Curry Village in a tent cabin at Curry Village, almost a little city on its own with a store, an internet lounge, a dining hall and…wonder of wonders, a Peet's Coffee, so we walked over from the hotel and met them there

Over cappuccino and pastries we discussed the day's plans and decided to break our first rule (never take the car out of the Ahwahanee Hotel parking lot) and drive up to Glacier Point because the shuttle service doesn't go there.

This is a picture of Half Dome from Washburn Point, a place filled with memories for OilMan and me. As we pulled into the busy parking lot, we were both remembering the time we skied down the 11km road, and camped in this very parking lot. We were the only people there. It was magical.

There were lots of people there today, but it was not the madhouse of our Memorial Day weekend trip and we lingered awhile before walking to Glacier Point for the views straight down for 3,200 uninterrupted feet to the valley floor, the Ahwahnee Hotel, Curry Village and the Merced River. They used to drop burning logs down into the valley from this vantage point in spectacular 'firewalls', well remembered by Yosemite old-timers, but the spectacle was discontinued in 1968.

There is still some water in the Merced River, but the tributary creeks are dry, and this is the first time in my life I have been to Yosemite and there was NO water in Yosemite Falls, although apparently it was also dry until November last year. 

We continued the perfect combination of drinks and dinner at the hotel and breakfast Curry Village with drinks on the lawn outside the Great Lounge and dinner inside in the cafe.