in an obsolete vernacular

Yosemite NP, CA - A parlty cloudy and mild late morning - use a clip, save a bear

So I've arrived at my first destination of this trip, at Yosemite, which is truly breathtaking. I arrived yesterday at about 10am, and was setting up camp by 11am. My first time here will be spent at Yosemite Village, which is hardly roughing it. A walk from my campsite is a grocery store, showers, laundry, post office, cafes, restaraunts, etc. I sent the first day exploring the village and setting up camp.

This AM I went for a short hike. Walking around Yosemite for the first time is like exploring a new city downtown...you can't help but gaze up at the massive canyon walls, as though they were skyscrapers. Giant naturals arches, waterfalls, gigantic boulders of granite, and plenty-o-wildlife. I saw a bunch of deer yesterday, not ten-fifteen yards away from me. They seemed unfazed by the visitors.

I'm staying at Camp 4, which is a good deal for solo campers at $5 a night. As anywhere in Yosemite, my campsite has bear lockers for stowing away food and other sweet smelling items. The bears are shy and quiet by nature, but they are not shy about stealing your picanit basket. They will tear your car door off if they smell food, or anything resembling food.

http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/bears.htm

Its a little tiresome, but you need to keep everything in your locker and take it out as needed. The squirrels and blue jays are also very fond of raiding your campsite as soon as you walk away.

I'm entering this blog using the village internet kiosk, it has this maddening keyboard whose buttons continuously get stuck. Ah well. Ok, my five dollars worth is running out. Gotta go. Sorry no pictures this time, this machine doesn't make it easy. I'll try and get some out next time.

More soon.

Andy