I love social media in its many forms and Pinterest is my latest account. I created a California Parks board with photos of California's most inspiring public lands (hence the generic "parks" because "California's Public Lands" sounded a little dry). I'm pleased to use photos from local photographers in Yosemite and other spectacular shots I find on the web. If you know of a place on the web harboring photos of California that others should not miss, send the link my way so I can share on Pinterest. That's what social media is all about. Check out my Pinterest page here.
Besides skiing at Badger Pass, ice skating at the Curry Village Ice Rink and shopping at the Curry Village Craft Bazaar, one of the highlights of winter in Yosemite is the Chefs' Holidays food extravaganza at the Ahwahnee Hotel. Thanks to our friends Joe and Christy, we had the singular delight of attending the gala dinner prepared by sustainable seafood chef Rick Moonen. There's nothing like sharing excellent food and wine with friends at a cozily lit table in the Ahwahnee's venerable old dining room on a cold winter's night. We started off the evening with the superlative Green Papaya Salad above, accompanied by champagne (note the little 'c') and incredibly, the food got better and better as the evening progressed!
Christy and JoeI'm fairly certain that all Chefs' Holiday dinners are excellent. After all, chefs from around the country descend on the Ahwahnee every winter to demonstrate their knowledge and skills to an appreciative audience about the joys of food and cooking. Though the dinner is not inexpensive, it's worth every penny and you can augment your experience by attending free cooking demonstrations (read: free food samples!) by the chefs designated for each holiday session. And did I mention that each dinner course is accompanied by carefully selected wines? Chef Rick did us a favor by choosing a crop of lovely California wines to savor with our seafood. After Papaya Salad, everyone at the table lost their minds over the Arctic Char. The cucumber/horseradish flavors sent the perfectly cooked fish over the moon as far as we were concerned. By the time the Alaskan Black Cod arrived and was promptly consumed, Ted exclaimed that this was the best meal he had ever eaten. When Ted says "best meal ever", he is of course referring to a subset of meals cooked outside of our home. But still, high praise indeed. No photo of the cod as I was halfway through when I realized I missed the photo op. Too busy eating. This also may have been my best meal ever as in addition to preferring seafood over just about anything, I like me some venison. And it should always be prepared like this with onions, mushroms and brussels sprouts - perfect!
Applewood Smoked Arctic Char
Venison with Pear ButterChef Rick's current venture is RM Seafood in Las Vegas and his efforts to endorse sustainable seafood purveyors for restaurants resulted in "Chef of the Year" status for 2010 by the Monterey Bay Aquarium's influential Seafood Watch program. Accolades aside, the man has a way with preparing seafood that is a boon for the rest of us. We talked with Chef Rick after dinner and he shared how much he enjoyed hiking around Yosemite during his visit. I shared how fortunate I am in visiting Las Vegas next month where I would be enjoying this dinner all over again.
We ended dinner with Sticky Toffee Pudding (right!) and the evening with a table visit from Ahwahnee General Manager Brett Archer and Ahwahnee Executive Chef Percy Whatley. Both exuded enthusiasm for the dinner and the Chefs' Holidays event in general, as they should. Both have had a hand in creating an exceptional dining experience enhanced by it's national park setting. The Ahwahnee team and it's guest chefs are making winters bright in Yosemite National Park.
Michelle and Chef Rick Moonen
Brett and Ted
Did I mention there was a lot of wine?Junket Ratings:
Chefs' Holidays at the Ahwahnee: Junk in the Trunk!
If ever there was a sign of the impending apocalypse, the photo above may be it. That's my yard in Yosemite Valley at 4000 feet in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Not one flake of snow has desended since the onset of winter last month. Though we can have rather skimpy white christmases here, the snow has usually come and gone at least once if the holiday is green. Last year the snow started at Thanksgiving and my yard looked like this (we got a new fence last year):
I came across this video by Steve Bumgardner, posted so we don't forget how winter looks in Yosemite. Though lack of snow has made our day-to-day lives easier, the fact remains that Yosemite looks good in white. The other fact that makes me a little uneasy is that the less snow we get in the winter, the less water there will be in the spring and summer. We live in a land of fierce wildfires that is forced to drain it's snowmelt for far-off thirsty cities, and sometimes there just isn't enough water to go around. So pray to your weather gods, cross your fingers or shake your snow stick that we get some whopping storms sometime soon.
As Yosemite dwellers, we don't always have vehicle access to the high country, particularly in the winter. So unless you're slogging it up switchbacks prepared for skiing and snow camping, you say sayonara to the high mountain passes from fall until spring. Unless of course, the snow doesn't show. So far this year, snowfall has been almost nonexistent and the roads are being kept open by NPS. And the people who live here are very, very excited. Tioga Pass is the Sierra Nevada's highest at nearly 10,000 feet, so even when there isn't snow in December, the groundwater is freezing. And the Tioga Road is home to three alpine lakes that provide spectacular landscapes for ice skating: Tenaya Lake in Yosemite and Tioga and Ellery Lakes just outside the park in the Inyo National Forest. We took a trip over the pass two weeks ago and visited the hot springs outside Mammoth Lakes. Since then I've been inundated with friends' photos and videos of high country skating expressing the joy of accessing Tioga Pass so late in the year. And since this is the season of joy, I thought I'd pass some of it along to you.
My friend Beth took the three photos above, wrote a great article about driving Tioga Pass in December at National Parks Traveler, and you can hear about her experience as well as about the current climatic conditions in California that are causing us to have such a snow free holiday season on KQED public radio:
Chris Falkenstein shared his video of skating on Tenaya Lake:
And the Yosemite Winter Club made to Tenaya Lake for some real old-fashioned ice hockey:
Photo by Kirstie KariSince Ted's knee is not 100% and I now have a bum foot, our trip over Tioga Pass involved admiring frozen lakes and waterfalls from afar (though Ted did try a little skating on Tioga Lake), and heading over the pass to search for hot springs near Mammoth Lakes. Home to legendary skiing on Mammoth Mountain, Mammoth Lakes also offers common and not-so-common benefits of great ski towns: good restaurants and natural hot springs. We experienced two great hot springs under moonlight and sunlight and shared dinner with friends Christy and Joe at one good restaurant. Just southeast of Mammoth Lakes is the Hot Creek Geological Site, one of many hot springs located in the geologicaly active Long Valley Caldera. Administered by the Forest Service, Hot Creek is not for bathing, unlike the myriad other springs in the area built up with stone and concrete pools and adjustable water sources. Not commercially developed, volunteers maintain these pools and ask that the sites be respected and kept clean by all users. We visited the Shepherd Hot Spring by day and the Hot Tub spring by evening under a full moon and enjoyed both pools with their incredible views of the Sierra Nevada in California and the White Mountains of Nevada.
Frozen waterfall next Mariuolumne Dome
Frozen water on Tioga Road
Ted at Shepherd Hot Spring
Hot springs grow bacterial mats that give them beautiful colors
The pool at Shepherd Hot Spring
Sunset on the White Mountains
The Hot Tub spring looking east toward the White Mountains
The Hot Tub spring looking west toward the Sierra NevadaWe basked in the sunshine at Shepherd Hot Spring while soaking our tootsies in this seriously hot pool of water. These maintained tubs have water pipes that allow you to adjust the flow of water into the pool, which also allows you to control the temperature to an extent. Four of us soaked comfortably while our dogs tooled around the area sniffing the grasses. The views are expansive and we even had the pool to ourselves on this December day (though we saw campers and naked hippies here earlier). Ted and I spent some time after dark in The Hot Tub spring watching the full moon rise over the White Mountains which we also enjoyed exclusively. To find these springs, we used two sources: Touring California and Nevada Hot Springs from Falcon Guides (see below) and the HotWaterSlaughter website that contains photos and directions to hot springs all over the western US.
After a relaxing evening soak, Ted and I met Christy and Joe at Slocum's Grill & Bar in Mammoth Lakes for dinner. We had a great dining experience with the excellent company of good friends and I even got to eat snails - because I love me some escargot. We shared a Goat Cheese Bruschetta and the Escargot a la Slocum's, both excellent, and I was quite pleased with Seafood Spaghetti, a Caesar Salad and a pre-dinner cocktail Martini (very dirty). It wasn't my time to blog, but I know everyone enjoyed the dishes that were absolutely heaped on our corner table with culinary goodness and the service was swell. All photos below from Slocum's.
Not bad for December weekend in the Sierra that didn't involve snow and skiing. As I write this, the Tioga Road is currently open and ready for your winter adventure, but you should check the Yosemite National Park road conditions for yourself at 209-372-0200 before you go.
It always goes by so fast, doesn't it? Another summer in the Sierra draws to a close. Visiting Yosemite for the first time, our friend Ray traveled from Chicago to California, just before the autmnal equinox that signifies the offical end of summer. We're still enjoying banner summer weather and Ray shared phtoos from his hikes around Yosemite Valley demonstrating waterfalls that trickle and sunny, sunny skies. He tackled the Mist Trail on his first Yosemite outing:
Ray captures Vernal Fall's rainbow despite low water flowNevada Fall in late summerMerced River Canyon from the top of Nevada Fall USGS Benchmark at the top of Nevada FallRay lucked out with his end-of-summer visit in that the waterfalls were running at all (unheard of in September) and he had a chance encounter with a bobcat and her two cubs on the Yosemite Valley Loop Trail. Ray walked some 10 miles on the Loop Trail the day after hiking to the top of Nevada Fall, cramming a lot of sightseeing into a short visit to Yosemite. We hope he'll come back and visit us sometime soon.
Lower Yosemite Falls' trickle
Valley View with the Bridalveil Fall trickle on the rightTed and Ray in front of Ray's deluxe accomodations at the Hansen Cabin
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 10:51AM 
