April is almost over, and I’m just getting around to collecting some ideas about in one place. Being busy is good, but if someone could slow the clocks down and give me a chance to catch up again that would be nice.

In addition to the big things (Easter, Earth Day etc.) There were a bunch of interesting things going on to distinguish the month (as if the beginning of wildflower season wasn’t distinction enough around here). I don’t know if they are interesting enough to actually get me to participate – which is probably why it took me so long to mention them – but definitely interesting enough to get my head going around a bit. Helping out with the Yosemite Sentinel brings a lot of these random events to the surface, and is one of the most rewarding things about working on it.
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In the late winter, early spring, the water in Yosemite Falls can become super cooled and form small ice crystals that turn Yosemite Creek into a beautiful flowing slushie. I’ve been living in Yosemite for 6 years, and it’s the first time I’ve actually gone to Yosemite Creek when it was cold out and seen it.

When I confessed to a long-time Yosemite resident, he responded, “Glad you are enjoying your stay here in beautiful Yosemite National Park.” which I read with a saccharine tone. But it is so true in some ways. All this time, and I’m still a tourist – still seeing new things and being amazed. I’ve had people ask me if there is enough to see in Yosemite to spend 3 days here, and just now I saw something that it’s taken me 6 years to actually see. I guess that would be an emphatic ‘Yes’.

After I got back, I was telling everyone, and Tom also ran out to see the ice. When he returned, he called and commented, “I see you your frazil ice, and raise you one bobcat”. There’s so much to see in Yosemite.

When I first got to the trailhead, the ice was starting to back up and come to a stop. I guess if it was colder, and more of the frazil ice had formed, it would have backed up the river and caused the banks to overflow. According to the NPS site, it does this on a semi-regular basis – covering trails and causing damage to bridges and sometimes even buildings that used to sit next to the creek.

In 1997, the frazil ice built up to the point where it nearly covered the Lower Yosemite Falls bridge – coming up over the railings. That must have been incredible to see.

PS. Quick note: super cooled frazil ice this morning, but tomorrow’s forecast is for a high near 60 degrees. The weather here has been absolutely schizophrenic. Sure makes things interesting.

Yesterday, the National Weather Service was calling for a winter weather advisory in effect starting at 6pm, and it started to rain, hard, at my office in the Valley about 5:45pm. When I drove up to the house from work, the snow level was right at the Wawona Tunnel. I drove in one end in the middle of the spring rain, and came out the other end in a winter blizzard. It was a bit Alice in Wonderland, and completely delightful. MM, who came for dinner last night, says that it seems like that happens a lot – the rain snow transition in the tunnel – and we tried to figure out why that would be. Nothing we came up with seems particularly plausible. Probably Magic.

This morning there was about 5-6 inches of snow on the ground at our house, and of course, before we could get out of the driveway the plow came by and buried us in a good deal more. Fortunately, I have an excellent snow removal service – Tom + shovel, and we were able to get out with a bit of slipping and sliding but nothing major.

Back in the Valley this morning, the big features were all lost in the clouds, but I thought the patches of green grass surrounded with snow were particularly striking.

The Village Grill is opening tomorrow with a great new menu, and today people from NPS and DNC were invited to a ‘tasting’, and a chance to take a look at what changes have been made to the menu. Chef Gover, who they have brought in this year to manage the Grill in addition to the Yosemite Lodge Mountain Room and the Food Court, presented a few of the changes that he put into place before we all stood in line for our food. The Grill is the closest source of calories to my desk (excluding the vending machine in the lobby), so I end up eating there fairly often during the summer months. I like absorbing a little sunshine while eating outside on the deck (even if it does frustrate me when people feed the wildlife). So, I’m glad that there seem to be some big new improvements in the menu.
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Yesterday, it was spring – warm weather, wildflowers, sunshine. This morning, I woke up and there was a kid sledding down the street in front of my house. Just a reminder that weather can change quickly in the mountains, and just because the calendar says it is now spring, doesn’t mean diddly squat in terms of what to prepare for outside.

This morning Badger Pass was buried under 18 inches of new snow (at 7200 ft), we had around a foot here at our house in Yosemite West (~5300 ft), and someone in the Valley said that they even had accumulations of 5 inches or so. I wonder if it snowed down as far as the bright fields of poppies that everyone has been so crazy about lately, and also whether any intrepid soul managed to get a picture of the poppies with some snow on them. That would have been a unique picture to get.

There was, unfortunately, so much snow that Badger Pass didn’t open today – much to the chagrin of DP who is here from FL and was hoping to get a day of skiing in during his trip. I hope he’ll be able to squeeze some time in tomorrow to get a few runs. Tom and I are planning to have dinner with him this evening at the Mountain Room. I love the food at the Mountain Room, and I’m looking forward to that for sure!