a grand intimacy ...

In the wilderness that is Yosemite, one can experience a 'smallness' unlike any other. It seems, as I stood there feeling alone and isolated by choice, humbled by the vast scale of remoteness, isolation, and rugged majesty of the wilderness before me - that the sky alone was matched as an equal to the land it covered. And I, in awe, was but a mere privileged particle in an entire universe - void of any other human population. Ah ... you say t'was but a fantasy, especially since I was there by choice. Ah ... I say, but you should try it ... :-)

lost in blue ...

I suppose that the one thing I will remember most, of my trip along the Pacific Coastal Highway ... is the overwhelming "blue" of both the sky and the sea - the sea being, of course, the Pacific Ocean. Both, enhanced by the vantage points one has traveling high on the hills along the Pacific Coastal Highway, ... provide a sight I could easily imagine to be unlike any other place in the world ... a place where the mountains meet the deep blue sea ...

a place in the sky ...

... to meet for a discussion among the elders in Yosemite ... :-)

In the distance ...

... From my trip to Yosemite National Park as viewed from a "high country" vantage point near "Glacier Point": With telephoto lens; below - the Merced river flows over the Vernal Fall (dropping 317 feet). If you look closely (click on photo), you can see some folks hiking at the top of the fall and on the trail leading up to the base of the fall (often called the Mist trail - which is closed in winter). Didn't get to hike this trail, but ... maybe "next time" ...

... trained by the wind ...

... anchored in the stone of your ancestry, misshapen and formed by a life of challenges, ... perserverant in principle and soul you stand steadfast, reverent of the creation ... that surrounds you, with grace you find beauty in the world ... never realizing ... ... ... you are the beauty in the world ...

- conversation with an elder - on a mountaintop in Yosemite Wilderness

a hope for ... 'evermore

You wander ... alone at springtime in the forests. And they ... come to you, as if curious - with their strangely unfamiliar calls, and suddenly you are not alone ... They claim your attention and ... your wonder. It is ... their right this time of year, and your duty to observe, to accept your privilege, to protect the memory of this day in your heart, and to give ... in whatever way you can ... an eternal hope for stewardship ... for now and 'evermore ...

... 8,000 feet and climbing ...

... thinner air ... snow-pack, breathtaking views, massive geological/glacier results - over millions of years ... you can find it all in the wilderness areas of Yosemite National Park. It takes me "higher" ...

There is an overwhelming peace ...

There is an overwhelming peace ... in Yosemite Valley in the early mornings. The rising sun casting long shadows in the river's calming and gentle flow, the crisp air, the morning dew on the meadows, and the total absense of all but the birds' morning greetings ... all of that and more ... grip you ... and hold you there ... and give you ... all that you had hoped for ... and you are at peace with your existence ... at this time ... and at this place ...

Yosemite ... the legend is real ...

and the weather couldn't have been better ... My only comment right now is ... "divine" ... More as I get the images posted.

Journey of big skies ...

... bombarded my subconscious every day during the week in which I put 1260 miles on my rental car as I traveled across California from Los Angeles to Yosemite to The Pacific Coast highway and back down the coast to LAX for the return flight home on 6/7/07... an exhausting, but in-my-mind rewarding trip ... The photos will help me keep the memories fresh and in-focus :-) ...

Lost in the highway ...

... going down the highway ... Absorbed in the beauty of the coastal highway (US 1) south of Monteray Bay, was what I was on my last full day in California and headed back to LA for Thursday's flight back home. I spent 17 hours on the road Wednesday traveling the long stretch of Pacific Coast highway ... incredibly beautiful!