Vacation 2009 Day 2 - Waking & Fire Fall

There is nothing better than waking to the sound of water rushing over rocks, birds chirping and squirrels quarreling over some scrap. And those noises were what woke me this second morning of our vacation. But what really wakes me up in the morning, even before the coffee, is a long hot shower!

It must have something to do with prenatal nostalgia that makes this ritual of birthing into a new day so compelling! So, in a state of stretching, yawning, eye rubbing and general scratching, I leave Zoe sleeping soundly in her bed, take my toiletries out of the “Bear Box” and follow the first rays of sunlight streaming through the trees to the Communal Facilities. There within, I find a number of fellow travelers in varying states of transition between zombie and some more enlightened state of humanness. Having been a human for more than half a century, I still am fascinated by these transitional states. I am particularly enthralled by the “Eyes-Closed-Tooth-Brusher”, the “The-Munch-Screamer-Contact-Lens-Applier”, the “Water-Launching-Face-Washer”, the “Bleeding-Foam-Shaver” and the most interesting final state of transition of all, the “Bury-Your-Face-In-Your-Towel-Pretending-To-Dry-It-But-Really-Not-Wanting-To-Face-The-Day-Yet” state. All these states of consciousness are present within this facility, or should I say Water Temple. The peaceful transition these acolytes are attempting is challenged by hyperactive and noisy spawn of questionable connection to these afore mentioned... beings.

Just finding my way past and not interrupting them is a challenge. The empty shower stall I find is just leaking with excitement to help me in my daily transition.

Pulling the curtain closed I am confronted with the unique challenge of a single hook to hang my cloths and towel, a small wet seating area and stall walls that are also wet and claustrophobically close. I dismiss my inability to balance on one foot like a Flamingo while removing my clothes and not get them wet, with the delightful prospect that in a few short moments, I will be in my happy prenatal place of enveloping warm water and steam. But bouncing my bare bottom off a cold wet wall while contorting my clothes off, makes me understand that the most amazing thing Superman could do wasn’t flying or leaping tall buildings in a single bound, or being faster than a speeding bullet but that he could change his clothes in a telephone booth!

Finally prepared, I entered the warm “Stream Of Consciousness” I’d produced from the “Never-Ending-Circle-of-Possibilities-Handles” that had challenged my usual water temperature adjusting skills. I dove in face first and lathered up. An “Om” of contentment organically filled my body and prevented me from hearing the sounds of a new gaggle of daemon spawn that had entered the temple! For those of you who don’t know, I enjoy dancing. East Coast Swing, Nightclub 2-Step, Meringue and Salsa are my favorites but the arhythmic aboriginal dance I performed from one corner of the shower to the other, between dribbles of fire hot and gushing icy mountain water, with each of the daemon spawns flushings, resembled more an exorcism, down to the soapy froth, rather than anything I’d studied! And though, this may be more than some of you might have wanted to know, I’m very happy to tell you that no-one actually saw it!!

Finishing my transition into a relatively conscious humanoid, freshly exorcised and ready for the day to begin, I stepped out of the Water Temple. In this moment I realized that the builders were truly compassionate saints, gurus of extraordinary wisdom! What I thought was faulty plumbing, proved to be a brilliant solution in creating a mass exorcising facility! The proof was before me as I was confronted by a hoard of freshly risen Zombies with their heavy footed and squinty eyed migration to the Temple. From this point forward I will never question the wisdom of our government... well at least the Forest Service!

Arriving back at the tent I found Zoe out of bed and dressed. Still needing to use the Water Temple, I bid her well and prayed she would find her way back in the process. When she did return we fortified ourselves with more Bear repellant food and checked on our car in the parking lot. Seeing that it was find, we proceeded to walk to the stables to arrange for our 4 hour mule ride to Clarke’s Point. We were unable to get a reservation till the following afternoon... this is a popular activity!

As we were walking back to Camp Curry Zoe said “Why don’t we go on a bike ride?” My Zoe is so brilliant! We did just that. Finding the tent that contained the rental bikes was easy. Selecting a bike for Zoe was easy as well. A choice between the lime green or pink one - lime green won the day! Finding a bike that fit me was a bit more challenging but there it was a big black cruiser. These bikes are the Hummers of the bike world. Durable and not too efficient. With the placement of stars and stripe helmets on our heads we headed off to discover the valley in a whole new way. With the first few peddles the breeze across my body, the thrill of taking a bike out returned to me. Child like I was making wide turns across the entire path we were on on the verge of screaming “WHOOPPEEEE!!!” The call “Daaaddddd!” from behind me brought me under control, a bit but I was itching to do it again... We found our way to Yosemite Village where my photographic background required me to visit the Ansel Adams Gallery. Wandering with Zoe she found the gifts she had wanted to get for her Mother and Sister which we would return later to collect. I tried to tell her my story of Ansel Adams... well that stopped mid story!

Out of the store and back on the road we headed to the mouth of the valley. For those of you who are not familiar with Yosemite, the valley is relatively flat from one end to the other. Heading west there is a place where the road becomes one way and we are committed to continue on till the next turn to return us to the east end of the valley. It is from this point forward that the bikes we chose became a great way to see exactly how hilly the “flat” valley floor really is! This isn’t to say that it didn’t also show how out of shape I was or how a 12 year old can disregard pain - they did that too! One speed, one pain! So by proceeding on with the loop, we found our way to the meadow across from Yosemite Falls - it was time for a break! Taking photos was a great excuse to let my breath return - Altitude, I kept saying but I wasn’t able to convince even myself! Zoe took her camera out and was taking dozens of photographs.

Another tourist, who had just stopped, got out of her car, stretched and was looking at this glorious vista, came over to us and asked how to get to the Ahwanee... in exchange, for a photograph of Zoe and I, that was further away than the length of my arm, I provided the easy directions... “Just keep going straight and you’ll see the sign when you need to turn left.” As they drove off and waved we were putting our helmets back on and getting ready to complete our tour.

After returning the bikes we were walking for some lunch and saying how much fun it was to ride in general. Note too self: Next trip bring your multi speed well fitted bike along!

The afternoon was spent driving to Glacier Point with the requisite stops at Tunnel View. The fame of this location world wide is based on one photograph done by Ansel Adams, so this viewpoint has been expanded to accommodate a huge number of cars, busses and people trying to duplicate that image. After making out attempts by clicking away and some people watching, Zoe and I were off again.

The first viewpoint of Half Dome along the road is Washburn Point. Again developed for visitors to safely see the views of the east side of the park, I remember a photograph taken by Ted Orland called “One and a Half Domes”. I took this photograph in homage to his photographic sense of humor...

Next stop Glacier Point... The end of the road and here again the development of this location for visitor to safely go to the edge of the cliffs, awe and take photographs is interesting. I remember it being open rock back when I was young. Okay, if you heard this last sentence with a bit of a southern twang like Walter Brennan’s grandpa from the Real McCoys... smile! You’re old enough to have seen Glacier Point the same way!

After taking our requisite photographs, looking down into the valley to find our tent and giggling about what would happen if different things were dropped off the edge we climbed in the car and returned to the valley floor, some dinner and then entertainment at the amphitheater.

This evening it was a film about the famous “Fire Fall.” I couldn’t wait to have Zoe learn about this and so we took our seats and looked up as dusk settled here at the foot of Glacier Point. At 8:30 the program started with a Chilean docent coming on stage to introduce the DVD we were about to see. As it started I was transported back to the 60’s and seeing the falls for the first time. The interviews from the movie filled in the facts of the “Fire Fall” each night of the season being made from the embers of burned bark piled high. The “Fire Fall”, as we also found out, was a marketing gimmick started in the 30’s or 40’s to bring visitors to the park.

Camp Curry amphitheater was the center of this program. Starting at 8:00 every night, they would have some entertainment; singers, dancers, Native American chants which all culminated in the MC’s yelled command at 9:00, “LET THE FIRE FALL!” All faces turned toward the cliffs as a veil of orange embers began their descent. At it’s full stream the erie illumination of the cliff face left us mouth agape. I remember the amazing feeling of awe that that I felt as the light of the embers floated through the tears perched on my lower eyelids. A feeling that was inexplicably, deeper, richer, and spiritual. Sitting here writing about it, the tingle at the bridge of my nose and a catch in my throat, floods me with memories - mine and possibly a universal memory of all who have been touched by this nightly spectacle... The movie revealed that my feelings weren’t mine alone.

One of the funnier things that I remember were all the flash bulbs going off as people tried to capture the memory. Even at that young age I knew that the flash wouldn’t help... as I’ve gotten older I realize how simple it is to put a camera to ones face and wipe away tears.

With the success of this marketing program having helped Yosemite now get over 5 million visitors a year and trying to preserve the meadows, where people would park each night to find a vantage point to see the spectacle, it was stopped in the early 70’s - but this evening, it’s history was shared through the movie interviews with one of the MC’s, the person who pushed the embers off Glacier Point and a number of spectators, who like me, had seen the Fire Falls in person!

At the end of the formal presentation, Zoe and I quietly left the amphitheater as the docent led the audience in yelling “LET THE FIRE FALL!” - that went unanswered...