We chose Yosemite as our winter vacation destination again
this year because we are never tired of the beauty of Yosemite.
Unlike our previous winter
Yosemite visit in 2001, we are more ready to try different
winter activities, and I'll put aside my camera for most of time.
The First Day ...
- Bridalveil Falls
As usual, Bridalveil Fall was our first stop in the
Yosemite Valley. The weather has been warm for the past
few days that there was not much snow left on the valley
floor. We can walk very close to the base of Bridalveil
Falls, which is impossible to get to in spring/summer
seasons.
- Curry Village Ice Skating Rink
Iris has been waiting for skating for several days before
our trip. It turned out that skating was much more
difficult than I thought. I had to hold on to the wall to
keep my balance. Iris and Woanyu were much better in
keeping their balance on ice, and they started to circle
the rink on a faster (or a more normal) speed.
- Sunset at Curry Village
After about an hour of struggling in ice skating, we
decided to call it a day and headed back to Curry Village
Lounge. Linus and I had a detour to a nearby meadow
(covered by snow) for the last light of sunset, which
illuminated the top of Half Dome and North Dome, with
moonrise just beside Half Dome.
The Second Day ...
- Badger Pass
We took the first free shuttle bus to Badger Pass at 8AM
(I had to wake everyone up to get ready starting from
7AM....). We all took the beginner's ski lesson to get
ready to hit the slope. However, Iris got so frustrated
trying to control her skis that she quit after about an
hour of basic lesson and had asked me to stick with her
all the time. On the other hand, Linus was so excited to
learn skiing, and he could not wait to finish his lunch
to get back to practice.
After lunch, Iris refused to try skiing anymore. She and I
walked uphills beside the ski slopes to make a snowman (well,
it's more like a snow tower), and had a few snowball fights.
Iris forgot about all the frustration she had this morning,
and wanted to come back to play with snow again on the next
day.
The Third Day ...
- Yosemite Falls
Since the road condition to Badger Pass was so good that
we decided to drive there today. Before we left the
valley, we went to the Sentinel Bridge to have classic
pictures of Yosemite Falls.
- Badger Pass
Linus could not wait to come back to ski again that he
kept telling us what he had learned from the lesson
yesterday. After a long line of waiting for the equipment
rental, Linus and I had a few runs on the beginners lift,
and Iris and Woanyu went to play with snow and built a
much nicer snowman. After lunch, Linus and I continued to
enjoy skiing and polish our skills, while Iris and Woanyu
drove back to Curry Village to have another session of
ice skating.
Going Home ...
After a few
days of perfect weather, it started to rain really hard on our
last day, so we had to cancel our plan of sledding today. It's
too bad that it was too warm to have snow in the Valley. After we
headed out of Yosemite Valley, both Linus and Iris got car
sickness after some driving, so we stopped at Yosemite View Lodge
in El Portal to let them take a break. Winter activities in
Yosemite are so diversified that we can keep trying different
things: cross-country skiing and ranger-led snowshoe hiking will
be on my list for the next winter Yosemite visit.
[Back to Photo Page]
After a few
days of perfect weather, it started to rain really hard on our
last day, so we had to cancel our plan of sledding today. It's
too bad that it was too warm to have snow in the Valley. After we
headed out of Yosemite Valley, both Linus and Iris got car
sickness after some driving, so we stopped at Yosemite View Lodge
in El Portal to let them take a break. Winter activities in
Yosemite are so diversified that we can keep trying different
things: cross-country skiing and ranger-led snowshoe hiking will
be on my list for the next winter Yosemite visit.
