Hats off to John Muir

Without the efforts and advocacy of John Muir Yosemite would not be the National Parks that is enjoyed by 4 million people a year. He spent 40 years writing and sketching the beauty of Yosemite. Here are some of his quotes:

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike

Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.

Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine into trees

Wilderness is a necessity… there must be places for human beings to satisfy their souls

One touch of nature makes the whole world kin

In every walk with nature one receives far more than one seeks.

Sauntering had a kick to it today.  We started out at the altitude of our campground, 4,000 ft, and drove to Tioga pass which is 9,945 ft.

Our first hike was in Tuolumne Meadows.  The Ranger told us the history of the meadows.  When John Muir explored this area the meadows grasses and flowers were waist high.   Following his presence were farmers that brought their cattle up to free range in the meadows.  Next came tourists who trampled the meadows.  The end result is that the meadows have never recovered.  Granted the growing season is short, but the grasses and flowers have never regained the robust growth that was seen over 100 years ago.

The hike was beautiful and easy!

A ranger talked of the epic snow fall last winter which was the largest snowfall on record,  50-60 ft.   It took 3 months to get the pass plowed and the road did not open until July this year and it is usually open sometime in May.

Next came the kick when we climbed to May Lake.  It is a relatively short walk but any climb in elevation when you start out at 9,000 ft is a stretch for flat-landers from Minnesota who are not conditioned for hiking in high elevation.

The peak above of did not seem so far away by the time that we arrived at May Lake, but at that point we were not going to test it out!  The scenes on the hike were lovely.

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