A rain storm passed through Yosemite Valley this weekend in April 2018. Park was closed till Sunday due to flooding. I decided to drive up alone Monday for a few days of photography. And there is the rub, drive up alone. None of the human contact available on a train.
With no people to observe I was limited to places and scenery.
The first noteworthy observation was the water level in Pyramid Lake is practically back to the fullest I have ever seen. I smiled. So good to see that.
Pyramid Lake, CA
Crossing The Grapevine on Hwy 5:
Further up the Grapevine I noticed a bright orange flower coloring the nooks and crannies of the mountain side gullies. CA Poppies In 2017 their appearance was lauded as a rare event. "What's rare is wonderful", and it's back again this year. A beautiful sight to add to many other beautiful CA sights. Images of the bloom
I left Hwy 5 for the 99. The 99 is a little important for me since the first place I lived in CA was Modesto. Modesto is apparently and affectionately known as the armpit of the San Joaquin Valley.
Agriculture:
San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley is described on the EPA website as ".....one of the world's most productive agricultural regions".
I knew this because as a youngster in elementary school in Ireland Ballymackney National School we had learned that the Central Valley of CA was so agriculturally productive it could produce enough food each year to feed the world multiple times over.
There is another great valley someplace else in the world almost equally productive do you know where ? (email me for answer) As much as two-thirds of this country's surface land consists of the so-called black earth (chornozem), a resource that has made XXXXXXX one of the most fertile regions in the world and well known as a "breadbasket".
We learned all this in Elementary School geography. Probably so we would know that Ireland's agricultural economy was facing some very stiff competition.
I awoke one morning in Modesto years ago to find the town smothered in Tule Fog and the ground appeared white. Almost like being covered in snow. But it was Almond Leaves blown off the Almond trees that surrounded the town. A beautiful experience. A memory that has lingered with me over the years.
The towns along Hwy 99 are a variety of size shapes and economic exuberance. Their common feature is an abundance of agriculture based industries. Yes that's right AGRICULTURE. It's a huge unspoken part of our diverse economy here in CA. I have friends in places like Nebraska who were not aware of Ca's huge agri-economy. My friends know that when I shop for groceries I always try to buy CA Grown fruits and veg. Occasionally I am forced to buy berries from Mexico. But that's because her ladyship enjoys berries and I'm well aware of the old maxim "A happy wife makes a happy life". It's taken me 43 years to appreciate the wisdom of that maxim !!!
Hwy 99 starts with Bakersfield home of some great country music, Basque restaurants and at one time the largest oilfield in the US. A history of oil in bakersfield. This history was of course the story in the great Daniel Day Lewis movie There will be blood. Lewis won one of his Oscars for this show.
Just north of Bakersfield is McFarland. McFraland Website
Kevin Costner made a movie about the young people in this small town. The movie in my opinion celebrates the great Central Valley Hispanic tradition of hard back breaking work and the aspiration of all hard working people to give their children the opportunity to have a good life with less hard physical work.
Some thoughts on physical labor:
Hard physical labor is bloody hard work. And the older you get the more difficult it becomes. There is not a lot that is romantic about the labor itself. There is however romance to be found within the people who are forced to survive via that hard labor.
A common elementary school money making thing to do while I was growing growing up was to help with the potato harvest. (We were allowed take days of school to assist with this significant event). I spent a few days on my knees in wet clay mud with hemp sacks tied around my lower legs to try to stop them from totally freezing, being a tall gangling 6 ft kid my back would scream in agony each night during potato picking time. Looking back now I honestly believe that it may have been this experience, of hard back breaking work, that convinced me to knuckle down to my studies at high school and college. My favorite Irish Poet Patrick Kavanagh had a bit to say about picking potatoes.
Next time I drive to Yosemite I am going to actually stop in McFarland. After that McFarland inspired Kavanagh memory.
Continuing North on 99 you come to Delano. I think there should be something more to say about Delano. But all I know about it is that it is home to 2 big prisons and it produces a lot of grapes.
After Delano you will see road signs for Visalia. I cannot hear that name without thinking Onion, even though the onion is a Vidalia. Around Visalia I consider should I turn off Hwy 99 and go to Sequoia National Park instead of Yosemite. I never do but will drive to Sequoia on the way home. Sequoia National Park.
After Visalia it's a straight shot to Fresno and then Hwy 41 to Yosemite. Hwy 41 is a lovely drive through the mountain low lands. The towns of O'Neals, Coarsegold, and Oakhurst.
I generally stay in Oakhurst if I am not camping. Just try to arrive well fed to Oakhurst. Despite a year round flow of tourist traffic through this little town it offers food that belies my earlier comments about the great agricultural tradition of California. There are adequate breakfast restaurants in this small town but that's because you don't usually eat veg for breakfast. I had a pizza here this trip and unfortunately the poor kid screwed up even a pizza.See my YELP Review here!
As I said don't arrive in Oakhurst hungry. But it's a convenient place to stay to tour Yosemite.
I like to get into the valley as early as possible like 6 or 7 am. Love that morning light. And I am gone usually by 3 or 4 pm.
I cannot write about Yosemite Valley. It is the most beautiful place on earth that I have ever visited.
In the spirit of a picture being worth a thousand words ....
On the way home this trip I decided to visit Sequoia National Park. Another gem within our great National Park system.
Returning from Sequoia I took a different Hwy. I used Hwy 65 through Lindsay and Porterville and back to Bakersfield. Saw some new beautiful scenery. I never actually knew there was MORE agricultural life and magnificent beauty East of Hwy 99.
A great trip met lots of great people, But I'd still prefer train travel.
