June 15, 2011 David and I left the house at 4:45am this morning to be in Yosemite with the sun’s first rays. We planned this trip last night, spur of the moment. I’m suppose to be getting ready to leave to house sit for our girls during the weekend, then spend a week visiting….but this sounded like more fun than putting the house in order. David will remain home to take care of the animals and fend for himself. Putting the house in order is probably a waste of my time but I’ll feel better leaving a clean house.
Summer has arrived without warning. We feel as if we went from early spring to mid summer overnight. The heat is melting the snow pack which is rapidly raising the level of the Merced River. Needless to say, there is a flood watch in effect. Below are pictures I took today at the Swinging Bridge. Normally the river is well below the bridge but today it was about a foot from touching the bottom of the bridge. The valley meadows are all flooded with the wooden walkways and dirt trails under water.
The picture below I took at Christmas 2004. Compare with the picture below this one, today’s picture. The shape of the river has changed considerably. (understatement)
Below: Looking across the bridge to Yosemite Falls side.
From the middle of the bridge looking towards Yosemite Falls.
The woman below is on the pathway on Yosemite Falls side…..where the path way ends at the waters edge.
Water, water everywhere as far as you can see. The disappearing pathway.
The light parallel lines in the water are the edges of the raised pathway under water. They look like two logs submerged. The river has ripples created by the submerged path. It’s hard to see but there are two lengths of wooden railings that follow the path towards Yosemite Falls. Just the top railings are visible.
Looking back towards the opposite side, on the upstream side of the bridge. I’m guessing the bridge may be under water in the near future.
