California
From 20 July to 5 August 2013, I was in California to join my brother Greg
from Bulgaria, his wife Emi, the twins Gregory and Joyce, now 14 1/2, and
Mina, 13, for part of their vacation. My niece Carrie met me at the San
Francisco airport, and we drove down to Pebble Beach, where Greg had rented
a house. We all went for a walk together along the coast at Pebble
Beach. After Carrie returned to Oakland, we went up Carmel
Valley to Garland Park, for a hike in the Coast Range and its redwood
groves. The kids enjoyed an excursion to the Santa
Cruz boardwalk at the northern end of Monterey Bay. Another day we
went down to Big Sur for lunch with friends. Then we crossed the Central
Valley for 7 days in Yosemite National Park, first for a night at Yosemite
Lodge in Yosemite Valley, then two nights in
furnished tents at Camp Curry, with short hikes through the valley and up
towards Vernal Falls. We then drove up the Tioga Road to Tuolumne
Meadows in the High Sierras for two nights, with walks through the
meadows, and finally hiked up to May Lake High
Sierra Camp for two more nights (where we also went last
year), before returning to Carmel. It is always a pleasure to return
to and share with family the places I grew up in, and especially the High
Sierras where I have hiked for more than 60 years.
PEBBLE BEACH
The outer coast of the Monterey Peninsula at Pebble Beach along the 17-mile
Drive is rocky, with small sandy beaches and some off-shore rocks with
seabirds and sea lions. Where there used to be sand dunes behind the beaches
that we played in as children, there is now a golf course and luxury homes.
My explorations of the tide pools and seashore life as an adolescent led me
to become a marine biologist. The coast is usually cooled by fog in summer,
and thus escapes the summer heat.
. 
. 
The coastline in Pebble Beach; coastal wildflowers; Carrie looking
into a tidepool
. 
. 
Greg and family heading for the beach; Joyce, Mina, Emi and Gregory;
Gregory and Greg
. 
. 
Mina and Joyce walking along the coast; Joyce and Emi; Gregory, Greg
and Carrie
. 
. 
Walking along the coast
CARMEL VALLEY
One afternoon, we went up Carmel Valley to Garland Park, for a hike up into
the Coast Range of mountains with some redwoods, oak woodland and coastal
scrub vegetation.
. 
. 
Starting up the slope; Mina on the trail; Gregory resting
. 
. 
Vegatation of the Coast Range: oak and poison oak; bay laurel; scrub
and redwoods
. 
. 
trees, scrub and coast redwoods
. 
Mina with Carmel Valley in the background; Gregory and his cellphone
. 
The Dahls: Greg and Emi; Gregory, Joyce and Mina
SANTA CRUZ
For Greg and Emi's kids, the Santa Cruz boardwalk at the northern end of
Monterey Bay, with its wooden rollercoaster (an historical monument) and
other rides, is always an attraction. We sat and enjoyed the beach and sun,
and visited friends.
. 
. 
The Santa Cruz Boardwalk with amusements and roller coaster; Mina,
Emi and friend
. 
Santa Cruz beach in front of the boardwalk (the fog stayed offshore
on this side of the bay)
YOSEMITE VALLEY
After crossing the hot central valley of California, we drove up to Yosemite
Valley in Yosemite National Park, the famous dramatic glacier-cut valley
where we spent three nights and made some short hikes, first along the river
to Happy Isles, then up towards Vernal Falls.
. 
Starting our first hike: Emi, Mina and Greg; Gregory, Joyce and Mina
. 
. 
Gregory, Emi and Mina; Gregory on the bridge; Greg
. 
. 
Views of Yosemite Valley along the river
. 
. 
Views of Yosemite Valley with its glacier-cut walls
. 
The wildlife is accustomed to people. We also saw a bear.
The hike up to Vernal Falls
. 
. 
Gregory in the lead; Joyce, Emi, Mina and Greg; the twins Gregory and
Joyce show their strength
. 
. 
Views of the walls of Yosemite Valley
. 
. 
The river; glacier-cut cliffs
. 
Gregory waiting for the others to catch up; Greg, Joyce and Emi
. 
. 
The valley; rapids on the river; a strange red pool by the river
. 
. 
Views of the valley, and Vernal Falls
. 
. 
On the way down; Greg and Mina; Greg; Emi and Joyce
TUOLUMNE MEADOWS
Our first stop in the High Sierras was Tuolumne Meadows (8,600ft/2,620m),
the only high camp accessible by car, where we stayed two nights at Tuolumne
Meadows Lodge in tent cabins with wood heaters, hot showers and dining room,
and hiked across the meadows and around the base of Lembert Dome.
. 
The Dahl family in the meadows; Gregory
. 
. 
Tuolumne Meadows with Sierra peaks in the background; soda springs
(carbonated mineral water) and Parsons Lodge
Hike around Lembert Dome
. 
. 
On the trail: Emi with Joyce and Mina; Joyce and Gregory; Greg and
Mina
. 
Lembert Dome; steep face with climbers
MAY LAKE
The hike up to May Lake (9,270ft/ 2,825m) is not too long but quite steep,
but I had to pack in a tent and sleeping bag as there was no room for me the
second night in the High Sierra Camp. We made a day hike to Raisin Lake on
the trail to Glen Aulin, and enjoyed the beautiful environment of May Lake
itself, with Mount Hoffmann (10,850 ft / 3,307 meters) in the background.
Since we climbed Mt. Hoffmann last year, we decided not to go up again this
year. In the evenings, we enjoyed the sunset view over the High Sierras and
towards Half Dome and Yosemite Valley from the ridge behind May Lake.
. 
. 
May Lake from the High Sierra Camp, with Mount Hoffmann behind
. 
. 
May Lake High Sierra Camp, with manager Brian preparing the dinner
menu
. 
Mules from a group riding around the camps
. 
. 
In the camp: Joyce, Gregory and Emi; Emi and Gregory; looking at
photos
. 
. 
The Greg Dahl family; Joyce and Emi; Joyce in the camp
. 
. 
Sunset in the High Sierras from the ridge behind the camp;
Mt. Lyell (13,114ft/3,997m) in the distance.
. 
Gregory and Greg
. 
. 
Emi, Greg and Gregory watching the sunset
. 
. 
Half Dome (8,842ft/2,695m) at the edge of Yosemite
Valley; alpen glow after sunset
The hike to Raisin Lake
. 
. 
Starting out along May Lake
. 
. 
Along May Lake; Emi liked photographing unusual trees
. 
. 
The trail down to Raisin Lake
. 
. 
On the trail; Emi and Greg; the kids arriving at Raisin Lake
. 
Raisin Lake surrounded by granite
. 
. 
The family at Raisin Lake; Emi and Joyce still had lots of energy
. 
. 
. 
Gregory contemplating the lake, and Greg catching up on his reading
. 
We then climbed back up to May Lake
. 
. 
The trail crossed granite slopes with Junipers and meadows ringed by
lodgepole pines
. 
. 
The meadows were still green despite a drought
. 
The Dahl family in the High Sierras; night as it really is in a camp
tent
. 
. 
Gregory, Mina, Greg, Emi and Joyce in their tent at May Lake. This is
camping with comfort.
. 
.
Me at my tent in the May Lake campground
. 
. 
Mina, Gregory, Greg and me ready to leave the camp and return to
civilization
On the way back, we stopped for burgers in Mariposa
CALIFORNIA
Returning from Yosemite, we crossed the central San Joaquin Valley and then
the Salinas Valley on the way to Carmel. The extended fields of irrigated
agriculture are always impressive, as is the summer heat in comparison with
the more temperate mountains and coast.
fields in the Salinas Valley
sunflowers in the Salinas Valley
artichoke fields near Castroville
harvesting strawberries
mining the sand dunes behind Monterey Bay
sand dunes behind Monterey Bay
sand dunes with the Monterey Peninsula across the bay
Monterey Peninsula across Monterey Bay