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What a difference a month makes

How Mirror Lake in Yosemite Changes in Just Two Months

We often struggle with picking where to go on our holidays. Holiday time is so precious and if you don’t get that many days off, you have to make the most of them when you do. So we usually spend ages looking at where to go and what to see when we get there.

Often the ‘when’ of our trips can be pretty set in advance – usually when the flight prices are cheaper or working around particular seasons (e.g. avoiding rainy seasons). One thing that it’s easy to forget to consider is the differences that a couple of weeks can make to your experience of a destination.

A good example of this is our trip to Mirror Lake in Yosemite. We’ve been there on a couple of occasions but the last time we visited, we went slightly earlier in the year – there wasn’t too much of a difference, we are talking a visit in early June rather than late July. The difference in scenery, however, was astounding.

This is Wandering Beeb’s photo of Mirror Lake, or more accurately, Mirror Meadow on our first trip. Green lush grass and trees with lots of boulders and sand filled the valley.

The visit in late July saw stunning scenery, the centre of which was a field, surrounded by Yosemite’s recognisable granite cliffs. It was a lush setting, with huge boulders dotted throughout the area and sand drifts marking the uneven ground. Mirror Lake (or Mirror Meadow as it’s sometimes known due to the lack of water) is around a 1-3 hour round-trip, starting at shuttle stop number 17. The lake is a hangover from the glacial lake which once filled most of Yosemite Valley, standing at 4000ft elevation. Standing in the middle of the meadow, the cliffs surrounded us, building cut-outs in the blue sky.

Jumping forward to our visit to the same spot in early June a couple of years later and the place was unrecognisable in comparison! The same granite cliff faces surrounded us but this time, there was no meadow to stand in. Instead we stood on the edge of a serene lake, silent and glass-like. It was hard to believe that the small number of weeks had made such a difference.

Mirror Lake in early June – the water was full and still, creating the perfect reflection. We has stood here a few years earlier in the July when it was a dry meadow.

The still lake reflecting the granite cliffs. It was dizzying to look down on the reflection without seeing any disturbance in the water.

The trail around the lake is a really nice walk, lined with little cairns. These piles of balanced rock had filled one part of the trail, creating an interesting spectacle. Cairns have been used throughout history for a range of different reasons, often marking buried resources, graves or trailheads. The ones at Mirror Lake don’t seem to serve this purpose and raise an interesting debate on how people view them. Some say they see them as a temporary art piece, an example of humans making their mark in an environmentally friendly(ish) way. Others say they are a form of graffiti, disrupting natural placement of stones and making a mark on nature that shouldn’t be there.

Little stone cairns dotted around the trail at Mirror Lake in Yosemite. Historically used to make trail heads, resources or burial sites, these ones don’t seem to hold any purpose. Some say these are an eyesore, a type of graffiti, others see them as temporary art work.

Much less organised than the cairns were the huge rocks dotted around the lake. Standing on one of the larger boulders, the stillness of the water perfectly reflected Half Dome and we quickly set down our day packs to whip out our cameras to capture the image. The dual image of the rocks above us and their inverted view below was dizzying but beautiful, the images we captured failing to do it justice.

Wandering Beeb at Mirror Lake, silhouetted against the huge granite cliffs of Yosemite.

Have you been to Mirror Lake? When is the best time of year to visit? What’s your take on the cairns – are they temporary art or graffiti?

A Birthday in Central Park

Up and down, up and down, the scenery flashed past as the carousel spun, taking us laughing riders nowhere and everywhere all at once. It was my 30th birthday and I’d been lucky enough to convince Wandering Beeb, my sister and her partner to spend it with me in New York.

I’ve been a couple of times to New York, but never ridden the carousel in Central Park – and so this was the one thing that I wanted to do for my birthday.

The carousel has been in existence since 1871, first operated by a mule and horse who would pull the ride round from an underground platform. Fortunately, these days the ride is much more animal friendly and is powered mechanically.

I’ve always liked carousels and it felt like the best place to do something childlike and fun! Although the ride was short, it created a perfect snapshot picture, something that will always stay in my mind, the wind whipping round us, hair flying and most of all, lots of laughing.

We spent the rest of the day wandering around the park, taking in the highlights. Bethesda Fountain took our attention straight away, standing out against the blue sky. The noise of running water from the fountain merged with the sounds of the performers in the court yard, entertaining the crowds with a large bubble display.

We sat perched on the side of the stairs for a while, looking down on the activity below, before heading off to walk around Belvedere Castle. The image of the castle reflected in the pond certainly lived up to the castle’s name, which means ‘beautiful view’ in Italian.

The nearby pond, known as Turtle Pond was full of cheeky little turtles, all bobbing up in the water to see the human visitors wandering around the side of the pond. Once we spotted one, it was easy to see all of the other little shapes in the water, following people around for a sneaky bite of their lunch.

We stopped off at the Chess House – a brilliant idea of a place, filled with outdoor tables where people can set up their own games. I loved this and it felt like a hidden gem, bringing people together in a beautiful setting.

We rounded off the day sat on some of the large rocks, soaking up the sun and people watching, turning snippets of over-heard conversations into elaborate made-up back-stories. It was the best way to spend an afternoon, by being New Yorkers for the day in the hub of the big city.

What bits of Central Park did you enjoy the most? Are there any highlights we missed? Tell us your stories in the comments.

24 Hours in Cairo

Like most people visiting Egypt, the pyramids were one of the highlights of the trip that I’d been most looking forward to.

Arriving in Cairo following a quick flight from Luxor at some inhuman hour, I was bundled into a private taxi with a bouncy, energetic guide who immediately took me to a local shop to get me ‘something to wake me up’. The ‘something’ turned out to be a strange mixture called Sugarcane Juice. It did the job, even if an inevitable sugar crash was hovering just around the corner.

Back into the cab, a quick, scary rush down the busy roads and the first stop was to the Giza plateau. Making my way over to the pyramids, crowds of people were looking to get tickets to enter and there was no queuing system – everyone pushing to get to the front. The guide jumped in with more enthusiasm than was strictly necessary, surfacing a couple of minutes later clutching a small ticket that would let me into the centre of two of the pyramids of Giza. For some reason (possibly due to the environmental impact) tourists are only able to enter two of the three pyramids on any given day. I chose the Great Pyramid and the Second Pyramid to explore.

The Great Pyramid is also known as the Pyramid of Khufu and is thought to be the oldest of the seven ancient wonders of the world. The Second Pyramid or the Pyramid of Khafre is so called because it is the second tallest pyramid at Giza. Spending time during the earlier part of my trip to read up on the structures, I already knew that I wouldn’t be seeing ornately decorated interiors, similar to those in the tombs at the Valley of the Kings, however I was just excited to step foot in a pyramid – that’s not something you do every day and I’d always wanted to be Indiana Jones!

Approaching the Great Pyramid, I was surprised by how near I could get to the actual pyramid exterior, the blocks looking even bigger up close. It was fairly claustrophobic inside, the floor sloping upwards in a steady incline and the walls less than an arm’s-span apart. If you are not a fan of small spaces, this is not the trip for you! There were railings on the walls to help move up the incline and the flooring was boarded with slight raised notches every couple of steps. A small cadged light was perched above the passageway, providing dim lighting to direct my steps.

Although the inside of the Great Pyramid’s main chamber was sparse and undecorated, it felt incredible to be standing in the centre of such an iconic and historic landmark. I’ve always been fascinated by ancient Egypt and despite the mustiness, dust and sand, I felt elated to be undertaking such an adventure.

Always one to let my imagination run wild, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would have been like when the pyramid was first discovered, with the archeology teams taking their first steps into the darkness of the structure, unsure of what lay ahead of them in the darkness.

The Second Pyramid was just as exciting and my attention was captured by small shafts in the building, leading upwards to align with the stars. The attention to detail, coupled with the scale of the structure was hard to comprehend. Emerging from the depths of the pyramid, blinking into the light, I achieved my Indiana Jones moment, the noise of the crowds chasing away my imagined rumblings of the unseen, oncoming boulder.

Heading away from the pyramids, the Sphinx was my next destination. It rose out of the dust, flanked by the outlines of the pyramids in the distance. The Sphinx was stretched out at the end of a long pathway, which ran the length of the monument. Actually touching it was just out of reach, but up close, it was stunning to see. Considered to be one of the oldest monuments in Egypt, it was incredible imagine how this must have looked when it was being discovered, half buried in the sand. The plateau was full of people, all being encouraged to take posed pictures to show the scale of the Great Sphinx of Giza.

The final couple of stops of the morning were to the Giza Solar Boat Museum to look at the boats which had been buried nearby, thought by some to have been used as funeral barges.

The afternoon was spent visiting Khan Al-Khalili, a large souk in the bazaar district as well as wandering around the Cairo Museum. The contrast between the hustle and bustle, bright colours and noise of the shopping market and the calm, collected and hushed tones of the museum perfectly illustrated the two sides of Cairo that I’d experienced.

There were multiple treasures within the museum, but unfortunately the unbearable heat inside made it difficult to stay for too long. Regardless of the heat, I was determined to visit the hall of mummies and, the highlight of the museum, Tutankhamun’s burial mask. It was absolutely worth the discomfort and incredible to see.

The day was rounded off with a meal at the Hard Rock Cafe Cairo where I was able to spot one last wonder – Micheal Jackson’s hat from Smooth Criminal! It was a whirlwind 24 hours, with so much packed in to such a short time. I would love to go back some day to take it all in at my leisure. For now, Cairo stays on my list of places to visit again.

Have you ever had a 24 hour visit to somewhere? Would you go back or did you get to see everything you wanted? Let us know in the comments!

Transformation

So I discovered a new thing today -The Daily Post’s Picture Challenge. A new theme is set on a Wednesday each week and the challenge is to share photos of your interpretation of that theme. That means a bonus post this week!

This week’s theme is Transformation and immediately it made me think of sunsets. There is something magical about sunsets, watching the sky change through its cycle of colours as the stars slowly become visible. We’ve had a few stunning sun rise/sets on our travels and I thought that we would share a few:

This was looking out from Dubrovnik towards Lokrum. A storm had passed, the rain had started to dry out and the sun was starting to set. It was beautifully peaceful, the only sound, the lapping of the waves.

One of my favourite places on Earth – Yosemite National Park. Getting ready for a stargazing evening, we had parked up and stood transfixed as the sun went down, casting shadows on the granite face of Half Dome. As the sun dropped, the sky was transformed from a beautiful blue to a blanket of shooting stars.

This was taken at English Bay in Vancouver. We’d had a hectic day exploring what felt like every inch of the city and as the sun set, we sat down against a log on the beach, slowing down the pace of the day and watching the boats out at sea. It was a scene that would stay with us long after the sun tan faded.

Stuck in traffic in LA, the novelty of a full day’s drive on such huge freeways had worn off and we were desperate to get to our hotel. As the sun went down, our energy was rejuvenated at the warmly-lit skies.

Arriving in Carmel, USA we found a hotel just as the afternoon was getting late. Having spent the best part of a week camping, we were all desperate to get showers. The hotel proprietor told us about the amazing sunsets and the best places to watch down on the beach. It was almost dark by the time we made it down to the sand but we stood there transfixed as the stunning oranges turned into full dark, leaving us exhausted but happy for the next stage of our trip.

Where was your favourite sunset? Tell us in the comments.