I brought some socks with me to our weekend camping trip to Yosemite National Park last weekend but progress was slow. It's hard to knit during the drive when the road curves and bends every hundred feet or so.
Instead, I did a lot of hiking! Almost 20 miles worth. Every year we make at least one pilgrimage to Yosemite and last weekend was probably our only one for 2005. It was gorgeous! Some fall colors were beginning to show, the skies were deep blue, the air was just crisp and cool enough. We took a couple of short hikes up to Vernal Falls and the Tuolumne Grove. You can see more pictures on Image Zone. Our main hike was new to everyone - a fantastic trail to the North Dome, a smallish rounded hump of granite that was directly across from Half Dome. It took my breath away, the view. It was one of the best I'd ever seen of Yosemite and we've done quite a few hikes there. Half Dome is the gold standard of hikes. If you go to Yosemite, you have to hike up to the top of Half Dome at least once. It's 18 miles roundtrip and takes all day. There are cables along the short side that you use to pull yourself up.
Along the way to North Dome we took a short detour to Indian Arch, an amazing natural rock formation. It's huge as you can see from the photo with the 4 guys. The arch looks so thin and brittle, yet once we were on it, it could hold a few of us up. Maybe not for long though.
The Tuolumne Grove was an easy hike to a small stand of sequoia trees. Sequoias are some of the longest-living trees in the world. They are gigantic but lovable at the same time. They are fairly rare since their living conditions have to be just right - the amount of water, the deep, loose soil, the elevation and temperature. My friend McGinnis pictured here is 6'4. He's standing about 6 feet in front of the tree.
So, not much knitting was accomplished. Thought about it a lot...I wonder if I could knit socks that could withstand all the hiking abuse. I haven't tried any sock yarn heavier than fingering weight so I have no idea what to use. I have sport weight but I'm not sure that would cut it. Any ideas or suggestions?
Until the next day in the life....
3 comments:
wow, such beautiful pictures! i haven't been back to yosemite since i was a kid. i can understand that not much knitting was accomplished - it looked like a fun trip! =)
as for sock yarn - i have no idea, since i haven't ventured in the sock knitting realm just yet. but i intend to this winter! =)
Wow Lynette,
we didn't get to Yosemite on our only USA visit. Now I wish we had. Your pictures are awesome. I definitely want to see it for myself
Those pictures are fantastic! Makes me want to put on some hiking boots and get trekking! Thanks for the well wishes!
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