Sunday, August 25, 2013

Nights 235 and 236

Hi and welcome back!


Fire in Yosemite
We have been watching the news about the Rim Fire in California.  It has been growing for the last few days, and now it's 125,000 acres (or 510 square kilometers).  Part of it is now in northwestern Yosemite.  It's still far from the part of the park where we will be camping and climbing, but my dad and I just watched a video about it, and they said it may not be completely out until wintertime!

The other day while mom and I were riding, we went over a stream and saw a blue heron perched on a tree by the stream.  We stopped to try to get a picture, but as soon as we started walking toward it, it flew away.

About three minutes later, we were crossing the same stream (but farther upstream), and we saw another blue heron on a rock out in the water.  We're not sure if it was the same one, but again, when we stopped and started to walk toward it, it left.

Yesterday when dad and I hiked, we happened to be looking up and saw a satellite.  About a minute later we saw another one!  We stopped and looked up to see if we could see others, and about every 45 seconds for two minutes I spotted one.

It's been chilly overnight the last few days.  Last night my dad slept out with me. With it being colder, it's much easier to sleep. I always find it much easier to warm up, but you can only do so much to cool off in a tent.

Today when we were hiking, we were looking across the valley, and we saw a strange red glow next to a house.  We could see it for a few seconds, then it went away.  We watched it appear and disappear every minute or so, and then walked home.  It seemed like it was near my great aunt and great uncle's house, so dad and I got in the car and drove over.  It wasn't at their house, but it was back a long private road in the woods, so we never found out what it was...

Thanks for reading!

4 comments:

  1. LRC, if you have a cold night coming, try this. Fill a nalgene water bottle with boiling water. The bottle will become too hot to touch, so wrap it in a thick shirt and stuff it in the bottom of your sleeping bag. The shirt will insulate the water, keeping it/and you, warm throughout the night.

    Happy camping

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for commenting! Also, thanks for the tip. I'll try that the next chilly night. It's been pretty warm here the last few days, but we know cold nights aren't far off. It's already starting to get pretty chilly in the early morning.

      L.R.C.

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  2. I plan to visit the US and Yosemite in May 2015. How quickly do your forests regenerate after fires like that. I am a rural fire fighter and here in Australia bushland can take 6 months to a couple of years to come back after very hot fires. It would be dissapointing to see a scarred landscape

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  3. Thanks for commenting, Hunsta! I don't really know how quickly our forests regenerate, because we don't have forest fires around here too often. We'll let you know about the forests in Yosemite in a few weeks.

    L.R.C.

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