wildlife – Life in Yosemite

Slow For Butterfly Migrations

6 September 202223 May 2017 by Theresa

I love that there is a time of year when our community is asked to please slow down on their commutes in order to save butterflies. The California tortoiseshell butterflies (a different species than the one pictured above) are doing their annual migration across Hwy 140 just outside the Yosemite park boundary. In 2010 extraordinary numbers … Read more

Chickaree

6 September 202213 April 2016 by Theresa

Of all the wonderful animals that live in Yosemite, my favorite is the Chickaree. Lately, two of these hyper-energetic and entertaining critters have been running through the yard on a regular basis, chasing each other generally being cute. One day, I grabbed a camera and decided to see if I could get a photo. This … Read more

Anniversary Vacation – Mt Tyndall

30 October 201529 August 2009 by Theresa

Celebrating our Anniversary atop Mt Tyndall

I promised myself that this is the very week that I would (finally) put something on this blog about the vacation that Tom and I took the week of Aug. 10th for our 11th wedding anniversary. We’d tossed around some other ideas, and we may have even gone to Hawaii if we’d planned ahead a little further (for people that know us, the beach vacation is a radical departure from our typical vacation mindset). It turned out that a shorter vacation to the East Side of the Sierra was absolutely perfect. Our trip had three parts. We had time to finish up some projects ahead of time so that they weren’t hanging over hour heads for the vacation, and then hiked to the top of Mt. Tyndall, wandered slowly through the Bristlecone Pine Forrest, and climbed in Clark Canyon.

Watching animals on the computer

30 October 201530 April 2009 by Theresa

Spent much too long tonight looking at animals on the computer monitor – but my brain is in slow motion after a grueling couple of days at work, so it seemed like just the right speed.

Pets and Birds

1 April 2009 by Theresa

Spring is here. I pulled my bike out of storage today and have been enjoying the freedom of that transportation – so much more fun, faster than walking and sometimes even faster than traveling by car and then finding a place to park.

The birds are returning too and mornings are filled with bird songs. I recognize only a few right now, but even so it’s like having old friends call to you from across the street. I imagine that knowing bird songs is like knowing a secret language – that if you knew how to listen you could learn all kinds of things about the world around you even with your eyes closed. I wouldn’t classify myself as a birder or anything, but I really do like those little guys. That’s why this announcement to locals within the park caught my eye.

Hites Cove Run

30 October 201510 March 2009 by Theresa

Hiking the first bit of Hites Cove this weekend reminded me of what a wonderful run it is -beautiful rolling terrain, with great views of the S. Fork of the Merced and, of course the wildflowers. Plus, now that it’s daylights savings, there is enough light at the end of the day that it’s possible to really get out and do things after work. Losing that extra hour of sleep goes down easier when you think of the after work activities that open up. So, today, we drove down the hill and went for a jog at Hites Cove.

It. Was. Glorious.

Winter Bears

30 October 20152 March 2009 by Theresa

Yosemite’s bears, like most black bears, usually settle down in the winter time and hibernate. (There’s some confusion about the term because different animals hibernate in different ways, but black bears enter a state where they don’t move around, eat, drink, urinate or defecate for many months, and according to the North American Bear Center, leading physiologists have returned to just using the word hibernate, again.) But this year, there are a couple of bears in Yosemite that seem to staying up late to explore winter, (there’s a children’s story in there somewhere) and Tom and I were lucky enough to see them a few weeks ago.

Bear Update – a rant

30 October 20158 August 2003 by Theresa

The picture of the bear in the blog is probably the most commented-on entry. We hadn’t seen the bear for a while during the summer, and thought that perhaps it had moved to higher country to beat the recent heat. But it was back on Friday. We could tell by the crowd of people sneaking through our backyard with their cameras out.