From Los Angeles to Yosemite (almost...)

We said goodbye to Sunny and Rupali (Mrs. Sobti!) on Friday morning. We'll miss you, Sunny and Rupali! Thank you, Rekha Auntie, for hosting the Gumby van in your driveway during our stay in LA. Also, thanks to Doug and Kathy for suggesting wonderful routes to follow all the way to Arizona. We really enjoyed the drive to Yosemite, and we're looking forward to all the others.

We followed Route 14 past Edwards Air Force base, and we were lucky enough to see one fighter jet streaking overhead. We also saw a hillside covered with windmills of all sizes, including a section of tiny ones (at least, they were tiny relative to the others!). Route 14 continued on into the Mojave Desert and through Red Rock Canyon State Park before joining Route 395 North, which we followed all the way up to the Yosemite area. We stopped repeatedly to look at (and photograph) the strange rock formations in Red Rock Canyon. The geologic history of the area is visible everywhere you look, with stratified layers of rock pushed up out of the ground at angles, and other rocks eroded into sculptural forms like in the photo above. The views along Route 395 caused at least as many stops. The spectacular Sierra Nevada mountains tower at the edge of the plains along the left side of the road, and several other beautiful mountain ranges border the plains on the right side. In some places, the tops of the Sierra Nevadas were dusted with snow while the sides were dressed with streaks of yellow fall foliage.

The changing temperature was almost as dramatic as the changing scenery. From an initial 80F near LA, the temperature dropped as the altitude increased, descending into the high 40s. Sandeep's watch, with a built-in altimeter, informed us that our highest altitude was about 8000 feet.

We camped at June Lake, about 12 miles south of Lee Vining and the east entrance road to Yosemite. Our campsite was in a little canyon, with steep rock sides and little evergreen trees growing from small pockets of soil in the rock. Sandeep, Molly, and I climbed to the top of the canyon wall (via a sort of trail, not straight up the rock!), and looked down on June Lake. Sandeep pointed out the campsite to Molly, who was having great fun climbing up and down the rocks like a tiny mountain goat. I'm not sure if she was interested in seeing the van from above, but she looked obediently in that direction. We saw the sun begin to set behind the opposite canyon wall, silhouetting several picturesque dead trees, before climbing back down to the campsite.

Giant pinecones plunked onto the roof of the van all through the night.