Road Trip - 4/26/2021 to 5/1/2021 - Finale

 Waning Gibbous Moon

The morning after my spend-happy night at Yosemite Lodge brought me right back to Earth in a hurry. After using the one-cup coffee maker to heat water for a one-cup drip brew of Peets Major Dickason (never leave home without it), I used the coffee maker again to heat enough water for a hot-soak serving of rolled oats and walnuts. I mixed up a cup of powdered milk to wash it down and presto, I was fed. I am very good at motel room breakfasts when they are called for, even though I much prefer a counter in a small town diner.

I knew I was only about a four-hour drive from home, but there was no hurry so I decided on another little walk, ending up at the Miwok Village behind the Museum. This is the site of an actual Ahwahnechee village prior to the arrival of the Europeans. Were the Ahwahnechee people part of the Sierra Miwok tribe? The info provided at the park's exhibits says they were. I think there may have been some disagreement about that over the years, but I don't have any proof one way or the other at the moment, so I will just let it slide for now.

The buildings here were similar to the ones at Chaw'se, but smaller and a little more weathered. They have a roundhouse and a few individual shelters plus a sweat lodge, which are still used by Miwok descendants for ceremony on special occasions. The site is so overwhelmed by the nearby hustle and bustle that it is almost an afterthought in the Valley experience. I have been there many times and I am glad I stopped by again, but it was hard to focus my attention. It was more like visiting a graveyard than anything else. Kind of a what-have-we-done moment. There is an ice cream store and a coffee shop right around the corner. Would you like sprinkles on your genocide, sir?

This was a Saturday, so I had a big advantage. Hardly anybody was heading for the exits except me, so I could lollygag around the turns and smirk out loud at the long lines of weekend warriors stuck bumper to bumper going the other way. It went on for miles from the Valley past the Mariposa Grove. 

Just before leaving the park, near Wawona, I turned on the narrow road leading to Chilnualna Falls. This is one of those places that I had always left out of my plans, probably because either I was hyped to get somewhere else or I was too tired to see one more thing. I definitely want to go back to hike up the the Upper Falls, but this day I only had time and energy for a quick walk to see the beautiful Lower Falls on Chilnualna Creek. As it was, on this busy Saturday, I had to take my pictures quick as a cat to avoid getting a bare-chested dude with a beer in his hand or his practically bare-chested girlfriend in my photo. The trail and the rocks were Instagram-pose Central. But the creek and the falls were great. The sound of the rushing, falling water was sensational.

I'll be back...

Peace, Love, and Quite a Trip,

Jim