Going to the woods is going home.
~john muir
yosemite is home indeed! a land i find it impossible to be angry, unsatisfied, bored or uninspired...these words used in association to this place seem almost sinful. when i drive through the twisty roads or walk along a wooded trail or gaze at the unbelievable rocks i am completely awestruck. i think to myself, if there are places this majestic, what must it be like to be in the presence of God?! if He created such beauty, what must He be like? i can only imagine.
Goin home, goin home, by the riverside I will rest my bones,
Listen to the river sing sweet songs, to rock my soul.
Listen to the river sing sweet songs, to rock my soul.
brokendown palace, the grateful dead
one of my favorite grateful dead songs. brigit recently quoted it here and i just couldn't help but include the beautiful words in this post as well. each day we spent swimming in the merced river. the spot we go to is a sandy beach with a front row view of el capitan. with a pair of binoculars you can watch the rock climbers slowly making their way up the face of the massive rock.
we took a lovely bike ride through the valley. that is until marianne started screaming. poor little babe, shane had fallen asleep on her and she was squished. i walked the rest of the way holding her. i've learned that when traveling with children you cannot expect everything to go smoothly. if you just take it as is comes and not have some unattainable ideal of how you think things should be, then you will enjoy yourself SO much more.
on monday we took a short hike to taft point. there are massive fissures in the rock with frightening views to the ground that made this mama bear VERY nervous for her cubs. the next three pictures give you a good idea of the incredible view from 8000 ft. above ground. you'll see why i said over and over, "daddy! don't let go of shane!". and to my anxiety skyrocket, shane was not the least bit frightened of the height.
the moss on the trees is so amazing!
i am so grateful for having been able to return to yosemite. after my dad and step mom read this post they planned the trip. so, thank you both from the bottom of my heart for a perfect vacation! my spirit is refreshed!
♥anne
Wow! Truly amazing, it's one of the few National Parks that I've never visited and now I long to even more. What a wonderful collection of photos.
ReplyDeleteLilly
such majesty! i love your spiritual approach to nature, and the way you capture in words the soaring spirit of being out in it, those trees, that sky, mountains and rock, bones of the earth. your kids are so dang cute and it made my toes tingle just looking at those crazy heights. i'd be freaking out too. i'm always with my daredevil brothers at places like this and have to squeeze my eyes shut as they cavort dangerously.
ReplyDeletehow sweet of your dad and stepmom to plan this trip. looks like it was truly an amazing time...i want to go to that river spot NOW!
Yay for refreshed spirits! Oh man to think of Clover at the edge of those soaring rock faces, I can totally imagine your anxiety! What an awesome experience for the kiddos though.
ReplyDeleteI've only ever experienced Yosemite in it's winter wonderland state. I'd love to experience the warm summertime splendor of it one day too.
Speaking of which, that photo of you and Shane bathed in rainbow sunbeams is absolutely gorgeous <3
so cool! I can't imagine sleeping in that incredible cabin tucked in the woods. We are going up that way next month, staying just outside yosemite so a day trip is all I'll get. But I'm thankful at that.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos.
Anne - I really enjoyed this heartfelt post. Love all your photos too...especially the sun flair shot of you and Shane :)
ReplyDeletei just stumbled across you blog and i'm so happy i did. it's simply lovely.
ReplyDeletebeautiful! my parents took their honeymoon in yosemite. i love the photo of with the river and the sun rays!
ReplyDeleteperfect! your photos are just gorgeous! i'd love to travel west someday. you make it seem sooo wonderful:)
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