I am on the road again, traveling in my Subaru through
California's Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Springtime in the Sierras can be very cold and windy, like today, but it is beautiful, spectacular, exciting and fun.
One of my favorite spots to camp is Grays Meadow Campground, right outside of Independence on the road to Onion Valley. It was 26 degrees when I photographed the morning sunrise and yes, I was freezing.
My poor foot is recovering from a recent surgery where my doctor broke my foot in order to align it properly. Kind of a pain, but I am slowly recovering. I do hobble around and will not be hiking any big trails on this trip.
My ride, reflecting the stunning view from my campsite.
My campsite overlooked the best fishing hole in the place and had a fantastic view of the creek as well as the mountains. One night, the couple next door invited me and several other campers over for dinner. We feasted on thick
BBQ steaks, grilled lamb sausage, fresh trout, rice pilaf, spinach salad and lots of cheese, olives, crackers and smoked salmon. After dinner we sat around a huge campfire and talked until my fingers started to freeze. Very fun.
The view from my site is spectacular; hard to
appreciate the fullness of beauty unless you are standing there with the cold wind whipping through your hair and the sound of the creek rushing behind you.
In the summer I soak in the creek but in the springtime, forget it. I did soak my swollen foot in the icy water and it helped tremendously. I could only hold it under the water for 5 seconds max, and then pulled it out until I was brave enough to do it again.
Overnight,
icicles formed on the branches, completely encasing the branch in a frozen ice shell. A few of the icicles dripped down like pointed
daggers, almost touching the creek.
Sometimes I need to sit by the river and be still. “We need to find God and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls.” Mother Teresa
Frozen splendor......
The first day I arrived was the opening day for fishing in the Sierras. By evening the campground was full of guys ready to fish the creek that this industrious fellow had stocked with huge farm trout.
The guy in the red flannel was fishing directly below my campsite and I watched him as he pulled in this fish. He looked perplexed and it turns out that he snagged the fish on the tail rather than hooked it in the mouth. He finally got the hook out and released the fish, looking up at me with a big grin on his face. He said that he had to let him go, that it
wasn't a fair fight. My kind of man....
I am on the road again, traveling in my Subaru through California's Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains. 
Springtime in the Sierras can be very cold and windy, like today, but it is beautiful, spectacular, exciting and fun. 
One of my favorite spots to camp is Grays Meadow Campground, right outside of Independence on the road to Onion Valley. It was 26 degrees when I photographed the morning sunrise and yes, I was freezing.
My poor foot is recovering from a recent surgery where my doctor broke my foot in order to align it properly. Kind of a pain, but I am slowly recovering. I do hobble around and will not be hiking any big trails on this trip.
My ride, reflecting the stunning view from my campsite.
My campsite overlooked the best fishing hole in the place and had a fantastic view of the creek as well as the mountains. One night, the couple next door invited me and several other campers over for dinner. We feasted on thick BBQ steaks, grilled lamb sausage, fresh trout, rice pilaf, spinach salad and lots of cheese, olives, crackers and smoked salmon. After dinner we sat around a huge campfire and talked until my fingers started to freeze. Very fun.
The view from my site is spectacular; hard to appreciate the fullness of beauty unless you are standing there with the cold wind whipping through your hair and the sound of the creek rushing behind you.
In the summer I soak in the creek but in the springtime, forget it. I did soak my swollen foot in the icy water and it helped tremendously. I could only hold it under the water for 5 seconds max, and then pulled it out until I was brave enough to do it again.
Overnight, icicles formed on the branches, completely encasing the branch in a frozen ice shell. A few of the icicles dripped down like pointed daggers, almost touching the creek.
Sometimes I need to sit by the river and be still. “We need to find God and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls.” Mother Teresa
Frozen splendor......
The first day I arrived was the opening day for fishing in the Sierras. By evening the campground was full of guys ready to fish the creek that this industrious fellow had stocked with huge farm trout.
The guy in the red flannel was fishing directly below my campsite and I watched him as he pulled in this fish. He looked perplexed and it turns out that he snagged the fish on the tail rather than hooked it in the mouth. He finally got the hook out and released the fish, looking up at me with a big grin on his face. He said that he had to let him go, that it wasn't a fair fight. My kind of man....