What an exciting week this has been!
Our planned trip to the East Side to visit a friend in Bishop was a catalyst for being on the outside of a whole bunch of crazy that has been going on in Yosemite. The stay in Bishop was wonderful. Ahough we didn’t get in as much skiing as we had anticipated, we enjoyed hanging out and being out of the valley.
The only part that wasn’t so great was the big storm that rolled through in our absence, and stranded our renters. This was their second trip to Yosemite. The first trip was during the last big storm that closed the roads, the ski area, and left them buried under many feet of snow, and we’d laughed that we were going to have to explain to them that not every trip to Yosemite would be met with feet of light fresh powder. Except, that as it turned out, it did.
Not only were they buried under the snow, not only did the roads close, the power also went out leaving them without electricity and without heat or hot water or a phone (the phone we put down there was a cordless phone so it required electricity). Fortunately, they were tough, and resourceful, so it didn’t turn tragic, although it sounds like they were happy to get out when they finally did. Good thing, they did too. Not long after they left, the water system stopped working, one of the plows broke, and just recently, the batter backups for the phone systems died and the phones are expected to stop working tonight sometime.
We’ve been lucky to be able to avoid most of the drama by staying outside the park with various friends, and working from there. It would be easier if I had my work computer with me, but frankly, it works surprisingly well to curl up on the couch and get things done (although I do miss the huge multiple monitor set up at the office). Still, the stories that are coming out of the park are amazing, and I’m eager in some ways to get back in there and explore first hand.
Fortunately, the latest estimates are for power to be restored Saturday, so maybe we’ll head back in then.