May 6 2012, Yosemite Day Four

We went back into the park this morning to make the one-mile hike from Shuttle Stop 17 in the valley up to Mirror Lake. As the name implies, this is a lake which reflects the mountains behind it and so provides one of the most popular Kodak moments in Yosemite. Unfortunately, for some reason that the guidebooks don't explain, the Park Service stopped dredging the lake in 1971. Sediment is slowly accumulating, and by midsummer the lake sometimes dries up altogether, relying on winter rain and spring snowmelt to restore it briefly to its former glory. This past winter did not produce as much snow as usual, which on the one hand is a good thing (see tomorrow's post about Tioga Pass) but on the other hand means that Mirror Lake is not its usual splendid sight at this time of year. However, by standing in one particular spot, I did manage to get a photo which shows the mountain reflected in the lake. I hope to be able to upload all my favourite Yosemite photos on Tuesday, when I assume I will have full power internet in the middle of Dallas.

The afternoon was taken with a visit to Hetch Hetchy reservoir, just to the west of the main park. In 1906 the famous San Francisco earthquake struck and, amongst all the death and destruction, it managed to wreck the city's water system. The next few years were spent in furious argument about how a more reliable water supply could be established, and the favourite idea was to dam the Tuolumne River just west of Yosemite and flood the valley beind the dam, thus providing a reservoir that could service the San Franisco Bay area. There was a huge outcry from conservationists who didn't want to see the valley lost, but in 1913 the supporters of the scheme won the day and Congress passed the necessary legislation to dam the river. The chief engineer was a chap named O'Shaugnessy, and the dam he built bears his name. In 1938 the top of the dam was raised by a further 85 feet to increase capacity.

We drove down to the parking lot by the dam for a wander around. You can walk across the top of the dam, and if you are especially intrepid you can go through a tunnel on the far side and then climb up to the top of the mountains at the side of the lake to the head of two waterfalls. The drive down to the dam and back is the most nerve-wracking drive that we've experienced here so far. It's a narrow two-way road climbing up the side of a mountain, with a rocky wall on one side and oblivion on the other. I was very careful! What we hadn't realised until we got back to the B&B and read a bit more is that the Hetch Hetchy region has the largest concentration of rattlesnakes in the area. I noticed that the park rangers at the station by the dam are tooled up, unlike their counterparts in Yosemite. I can't imagine that they carry guns to ward off rattlesnakes. Maybe bears? Maybe people intent on attacking the dam? Who knows.

For our evening meal on this, our 24th wedding anniversary, our host (Steve) kindly made a reservation for us at The Grill at Pine Mountain. Pine Mountain looks like a gated community about a mile north of Groveland, and The Grill is the golf clubouse restaurant. It was the best meal we've had in California so far, so the day finished well.

Jen's bit: Two things happened today. The first was our wedding anniversary and the second was the scariest drive of my life.  What Peter didn't put in the blog was that on the way back from Hetch Hetchy I discovered a quicker route home.  I will never, ever alter Peter's planned route again. My short cut involved us in an extra ten miles of death-defying, side of mountain, narrow roadway driving. Lets just say there wasn't much love in the air for a while! Jx