Sunday, August 5, 2012
Yosemite and Saddlebag Lake
We drove up to Tioga Pass and had a picnic in Tuolomne Meadows, then I went on a short hike to see nanutuks - mountain pinnacles that weren’t covered with glaciers because of altitude and high winds. They preserved alpine seeds until glacial recession and that repository of lichens, flowers, and simple plants distributed to the barren soil left after glacial scouring, breaking down and building soil for later growth of bushes, trees, and wildlife. I learned about Clark’s Nutcrackers and whitebark pines - the birds love these seeds and disperse them widely across the mountains as they swoop and rocket through the treetops with raucous cries.
Later we fished Saddlebag Lake, a rather barren brown thing, but here John caught his largest rainbow ever, a near 3-pounds that fought hard and took out line. There was a kind fellow fisherman who helped us with an I-Phone photo and a net, and to whom we bequeathed the fish which we could not cook.
Dinner at the Mono Inn, watching the long slow twilight descend upon the soft wide blue lake and in the matching sky. Billowing cumulous clouds above turned pale violet and pink in the waning light. Lots of nice wine and a warm breeze on the veranda, like time never ending but closing so gently and beautifully, like Faure, that one doesn’t mind, except for a mild beautiful regret.
No comments:
Post a Comment