Our hero continues his impressions of his trip west...

THE FLIP FLOP PHENOMENON

My first conscious observation of this phenomenon occurred on top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. Mount Washington is the tallest mountain in the northeast - home to some of the worst weather in North America (including the highest wind gust ever recorded on Earth). It is also home to, among other things, a railroad, a road, and a gift shop (the buildings are literally chained to the ground using battleship chains - see previous comment regarding wind gusts).

It is difficult to describe the feeling one gets after walking for miles, ascending several thousand feet from the valley floor while carrying a 35 pound pack and finding at the top of the mountain people wearing flip flops, jeans, sun-visors, and deoderant. Also some of them carry purses, small children, and/or gameboys. There's a reason thru-hikers moon the Cog Railroad that helps bring these people to the top, and it's not just the smoke or the whistle (both of which carry for miles).

Yosemite Valley suffers a similar fate, although the feeling is muted somewhat by the fact that Yosemite is so large that we had to drive ourselves (it's hard to get indignant about others when you yourself have just stepped from an air conditioned vehicle). It certainly felt crowded, though, especially after the relative solitude of the Ansel Adams Wilderness.

It's a little more difficult to get frustrated with the tourists in Yosemite than the ones on top of Mount Washington. Some of them, yes, it's easy to get irritated with the ones who leave hot dogs in their cars and then act surprised when the bears pry the doors off. Many of Yosemite's visitors, however, do have to camp while they're there, or at least fake it with RV's. Also, Yosemite is just so beautiful you WANT other people to see it so they'll begin to understand why wilderness conservation is so important. This is the place, after all, that inspired the whole concept (thank you John Muir and Abraham Lincoln). So I don't really mind the flip-flops there. Besides, you can't get to the REALLY cool places in flip flops anyway.

PHOTOGRAPHY

It is virtually impossible to take an ugly picture in Yosemite. Tourists serve as the only real threat to aesthetic and they'd have to be pretty darn ugly to mess it up. On the other hand, it is also very difficult to take a satisfying picture - one that captures a true feel of "being there." Ansel Adams came close but even he could not adequately reproduce in two dimensions the impact of this place.

I am no Ansel Adams, nor, for that matter, was I using Ansel Adam's camera. I do, however, have some nice pictures (I took 173, it's hard NOT to end up with at least one or two decent ones that way). If you're interested in seeing any of them, let me know and I'll share what I've got. (I'll also try to actually post one or two in the midst of these columns once I get home to upload them - considering how long it took me to get this entry up, though, you probably should not hold your breath).

ECHOES

My Dad, my brother, my uncle, and I all seem to think alike. We tended to spread out as we traveled (thinking alike is one thing, moving alike is something else) and many times over the course of our journey, one pair (usually my brother and my uncle were in the lead) would pass something interesting and comment on it, only to hear the pair behind them make the same comment a few minutes later. Part of that is family, and part is the essence of the place (ask nicely sometime and I'll tell you what I mean by THAT, but not here).

Also, when it came time to get souvenirs, we all bought the same shirt. That actually might be less a comment on the similarity of our taste and more an indication of the similarity of our financial outlook. That particular shirt was the cheapest shirt in the store. It was also one of the cooler shirts, so maybe it was taste. It was probably both.

Regardless of the reason, three of us ended up with the shirt independently and the fourth got it after seeing what one of the others had chosen. We were so amused that we decided to play "tourist family" and all wore the shirt on our last day. It was partly for our own amusement, but mostly an attempt to embarass my cousin. We showed up at her door wearing them and bearing one for her, too.

OVERALL

A fantastic trip. I heartily recommend all of it. Even if you don't like hiking, you will find much to enjoy and appreciate in Yosemite Valley. If you do like hiking, definitely visit the valley, but also make sure you get out and away from it at some point, too. You will not regret the trip.