I Greet you from Yosemite
Yesterday, the trackless snow was beautiful and pristine just after the gentle snow storm. The morning sky's beauty warmed my heart; there were gentle but still glorious clouds floating above our little community of Yosemite West.
Today, the snow is covered with tracks, which tell many stories. As you learn to read tracks, a beautiful experience with nature will open up before you. Tracking is a rewarding and enjoyable way to spend time in Yosemite.
Tracking is also a useful skill to have in Yosemite to help YOSEMITE SAR (search & rescue) to find lost persons.
An active log of clues is kept, including tracks and their locations.
"The Tracker: the true story of Tom Brown, Jr.," and his "Field Guide To Nature Observation And Tracking" are the best books on tracking. The lessons learned from all his books and classes have stayed with me since 1985.
He teaches you the mystery of the track and to become more aware of nature.
Tom Brown says, "The first track is the end of a string. At the far end, a being is moving; a mystery, dropping a hint about itself every so many feet, telling you more about itself until you can almost see it, even before you come to it. ...."
"Stalking Wolf was teaching us to live with the woods rather than in them. "
You will begin to notice," the half steps thought about but left untaken..."
..."It also describes the skills necessary to "read" those tracks and to answer important questions about them. How old is the track? What was the animal doing? What was it thinking? Where was it going? How fast was it going? When will it be back? After learning these skills, you will soon begin to recognize the passage of animals by broken twigs, upturned stones, nibbled branches, and telltale hairs. As you become more sensitive to these signs, you will begin to see the web of life unfolding before you. You will also begin to see more clearly that nature observation and tracking are inseparable, and that the entire landscape is a living manuscript written and rewritten each day with new and ageless meaning."
"But tracks also hold a beauty that is difficult to keep to oneself."
"...wilderness recreation has tremendous importance... very few of us are able to slow down enough to appreciate the full splendor of nature....to feel more fully the joy of living in the moment......to hear the voice that speaks the heart. "
Come to Yosemite and leave your own winter tracks...
Hiking in Yosemite West...
???? Henness Ridge Fire Lookout
Beautiful turns on the Badger slopes
Ski Skating on the Glacier Point Road
Nordic skiing to Dewey Point
Carvings on the Valley ice rink
Hiking...
Sledding...
Snowshoeing with the Badger Ranger
Go on a Naturalist Ranger walk
Tracking...
... a day spent outdoors celebrating the WONDERS of life.
Rachel Carson asks,"What is the value of preserving and strengthening this sense of awe and wonder, this recognition of something beyond the boundaries of human existence? Is the exploration of the natural world just a pleasant way to pass the golden hours of childhood or is there something deeper?.....Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of the birds, the ebb and flow of the tides, the folded bud ready for the spring. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature-the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter. "
"This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried up at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls." John Muir..."The Mountains of California"
Bye now. Another terrific day in Yosemite.
He teaches you the mystery of the track and to become more aware of nature.
Tom Brown says, "The first track is the end of a string. At the far end, a being is moving; a mystery, dropping a hint about itself every so many feet, telling you more about itself until you can almost see it, even before you come to it. ...."
"Stalking Wolf was teaching us to live with the woods rather than in them. "
You will begin to notice," the half steps thought about but left untaken..."
..."It also describes the skills necessary to "read" those tracks and to answer important questions about them. How old is the track? What was the animal doing? What was it thinking? Where was it going? How fast was it going? When will it be back? After learning these skills, you will soon begin to recognize the passage of animals by broken twigs, upturned stones, nibbled branches, and telltale hairs. As you become more sensitive to these signs, you will begin to see the web of life unfolding before you. You will also begin to see more clearly that nature observation and tracking are inseparable, and that the entire landscape is a living manuscript written and rewritten each day with new and ageless meaning."
"But tracks also hold a beauty that is difficult to keep to oneself."
"...wilderness recreation has tremendous importance... very few of us are able to slow down enough to appreciate the full splendor of nature....to feel more fully the joy of living in the moment......to hear the voice that speaks the heart. "
Come to Yosemite and leave your own winter tracks...
Hiking in Yosemite West...
???? Henness Ridge Fire Lookout
Beautiful turns on the Badger slopes
Ski Skating on the Glacier Point Road
Nordic skiing to Dewey Point
Carvings on the Valley ice rink
Hiking...
Sledding...
Snowshoeing with the Badger Ranger
Go on a Naturalist Ranger walk
Tracking...
... a day spent outdoors celebrating the WONDERS of life.
Rachel Carson asks,"What is the value of preserving and strengthening this sense of awe and wonder, this recognition of something beyond the boundaries of human existence? Is the exploration of the natural world just a pleasant way to pass the golden hours of childhood or is there something deeper?.....Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of the birds, the ebb and flow of the tides, the folded bud ready for the spring. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature-the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter. "
"This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried up at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls." John Muir..."The Mountains of California"
Bye now. Another terrific day in Yosemite. Share This Post!
