Flying over Yosemite
Flying back from NYC this afternoon, we flew right over Yosemite national park. We were directly on top of the valley, but from my north-facing window seat I was delighted to identify Hetch Hetchy. The dam was lit beautifully in the late afternoon sun, and Wapama Falls looked like it was roaring. I wish I had a camera. Above it I saw Lake Eleanor, where I hiked one solo one Memorial Day weekend in the snow. Nearby I noticed Cherry Lake, which was the terminus of a 4-day hike across Emigrant Wilderness for me and some friends once. Below the dam I followed the Grand Canyon of the Tuolomne, down to New Melones Lake where I could see the houseboats. Old Priest Grade wound its way up the ridge, and the new longer and windier (but less steep) SR120 snaked up the other side of the valley. I even spotted the Columbia airport runway, where I landed after a long cross country one particularly memorable day during pilot training. I felt a bit nostalgic, and almost homesick. I love that area, and I can’t wait for my kids to be old enough to go there with me. A few more years…
