In the woods, you can still hear the rednecks scream
Imagine: You’re in the most beautiful place imaginable.
Taking a hike in the chilly air.
There’s still snow in places in shadows.
Pine needles muffle the sound of footfalls in the forest.
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And you can hear some crap rock booming, throbbing from more than a mile away.
You get closer. It still keeps going.
And now, the shouting.
Like clockwork. A random, drunken yell one minute, two minute.
The smell of burning wood is in the air.
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A bunch of rednecks in a big pickup truck have roosted in a campground at Yosemite National Park. I can only imagine what the other campers thought.
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Few people venture this high in the mountains in February. Most of the tourists will come during the warmest months. But the park is beautiful at any time. And sometimes it’s nice to come when there are fewer people clogging the road, the trails and vistas. It’s quiet, calmer.
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And then you hear the rednecks scream.
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To prove that women too can scream like an idiot, it turns out there’s a girlfriend out here. Just when I thought the rednecks were too socially inept to attract rednecks of the opposite sex.
But then I thought it would be quiet here.
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Eventually, the sounds fall away under the rush and crash of falling water, of rapids. And the sound of my labored breathing as I climbed.
Now, to the pictures. Full size versions are available here.
A meadow brown right now, but still beautiful.
A view of the upper and lower Yosemite falls.
As far as we got to Vernal Falls. At least it drowned out the sounds of people yelling.
Another look at Vernal Falls. Vertical.
Waning light as we prepare to leave the park.
Beautiful pictures, though I would also like to have seen some shots of the rednecks screaming
I’ll check out your Flickr page for more. Wow, what grandeur. Makes me want to travel west for the first time.
I hate to disappoint you, but there aren’t more photos at Flickr. Just bigger sizes.
However … there are more Yosemite photos from the trip in January, if you go back far enough or look at the sets. I also took some cat pictures recently, which may be of less interest to anybody. Certainly wouldn’t persuade you to come out west.
You DO need to get out West some time, Matt. It is quite an experience. As for rednecks, keep in mind that the mountain does not move. We move; it doesn’t. Death is a human phenomena and the beauties of nature will continue in one form or another.
I, too, would have enjoyed a good red neck photo though.
Dunno. General rule of thumb: Stay away from the redneck, and no one gets hurt. Or a shattered eardrum.
Though maybe it’s time for Mel B. to get a super voyeur lens for her camera…
Geez…what am I doing here in frozen Ohio???