This web page contains pictures from the Spring Trek to the Western Sierras. For Jeanne and I, it was a 3 day trip, with the first day (Friday) spent driving up to Oakhurst, the 2nd day touring the Yosemite Valley, and the third day doing some driving through Sequoia National Forest. For others who stayed for a 4th day on Monday, there was additional driving through Sequoia National Park.

My sincerest thanks has to go to SOCALM memebers Dave Okamoto and Gene Stanley for doing all the organizational work, so that others could have a smooth and enjoyable weekend. I don't think people realize the necessary preparation that's needed for an event like this. Both Dave and Gene did an exemplary job in this respect. They did a total of 3 pre-runs up to the Yosemite valley area despite living in Orange County and making that long drive up. During these pre-runs, They found some great, twisty and scenic roads for us to drive. They also scoped out a very good place for us to stay at Oakhurst, and found places for everyone to gather for dinner, and even printed a great spiral-bound information booklet for the weekend.

If you went on this trip, and you haven't thanked Dave and Gene, take a moment of your time and show your appreciation. And if you didn't go this time, but if you want to take part in a club trip like this in the future, just hope that there's someone like a Dave or a Gene or my wife Jeanne (who did last year's Fall Trek to the Eastern Sierras) who took the initiative and planned out the trips for the fun of it and for the benefit of others in the club.

Another way to view all the images is to download this 1 Mb Quicktime movie. It contains a clip with all 50 images, at a 320x320 frame size, showing one image at a time. You'll need Apple's QuickTime software installed on your computer to view the movie.

The group gathered for dinner at 8pm on Friday night at the Yosemite Forks Mountain House (#03) near Bass Lake.

On Saturday morning, Jeanne and I, and 17 others, left the Miatas at the hotel and hopped on a small 25 person, Yosemite Tours sightseeing bus (#04, #05) to tour the Yosemite valley. Over half the SOCALM group who were at Oakhurst that weekend took the bus which picked us up around 9:20 at the Shilo Inn. Bob was our driver and provided great narration, tidbits of information and humor throughout the day. We got ot Yosemite National park's south entrance a little after 10am. Our first stop was at Chinquapin (#07) where we saw that the road up to Glacier Point (#06) was still closed due to snow. I think someone on the bus said the road would probably open next week.

We hopped back on the bus, and then made our way to Tunnel View. There I snapped the first pictures of the Yosemite valley (#09).

Bridalveil falls (#11) was off to the distance on the right. It was probably 25 years since I last visited Yosemite and I was surprised at the number of people who were there (#12). I can't imagine what the park would be like during the peak summer months. Despite the crowd, people in our club found space to snap some pretty pictures. That's Jeanne and I (#13), Dave and Nancy (#14), Bruce Hsiao and his friend (#16). Some folks in the club drove their Miatas into the valley. That's Judy, Ralph, John, and Gracie (#15) walking up to meet us.

Our bus made another stop where I got more pictures of Bridalveil falls (#17), El Capitan (#19), and the traffic of Southside Drive (#20).

A stop before lunch brought us closer to Yosemite Falls ( #23, #25, #26). After lunch, we climbed up the trail (#27) to lower Yosemite Falls. There was lots of mist and wind at the base (#28) which made picture taking a little wet. Back on the bus, farther up on the Northside Drive, we stopped and watched several climbers making their multi-day trek up the face of El Capitan (#29).

We made one final valley on the westernmost part of Northside drive by the Merced River where I snapped some more pictures of waterfalls. (#30, #31, #32)

We drove out of the valley and went over to Mariposa Grove and saw the Giant Sequoia trees. (#33). The Fallen Monarch (#34, #35, #36). was just one of the massive trees in the grove. After the groves, it was back to the hotel, and dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Oakhurst.

On Sunday morning, everyone gathered at the Shilo Inn parking lot for a group picture #37 before getting in their cars at around 8:30, for a nice, scenic run through the Sequioa National Forest. When we're not driving, we're either eating or taking pictures, as shown by this quick stop by a bridge (#38, #39).

We had a longer break at the small town of Shaver Lake (#40) where Tom and Marna (#41) relaxed in their cars while Jeanne and I grabbed some Ben and Jerry's ice cream.

After leaving Shaver Lake we cruised down the highway, but broke off from the main group, to do a U-turn back to a small shop selling log sculptures. We met the owner, Dave, (#44), and his many log creations like these cute wooden bears (#42, #43).

We caught up with the group at our lunch stop in Auberry at the SJ&E Diner and Social club (#45), where Jon and Judy was standing next to another well dressed bear (#46) On one of their previous pre-runs, Dave and Gene had somehow managed to talk the owner into opening up the normally-closed Cafe to our group on Sunday (Mother's Day!). In appreciation, Dave presented the owner and her mom (who worked on Mother's Day!) with a SOCALM cap and plaque (#47).

After more driving, we made one more stop at the Squaw Valley Indian Trading Center (#48, #49). After the stop, Jeanne and I drove with the group, behind Ralph and Gracie's car (#50), but just before they reached Giant Forest village inside the Sequoia National Park, we broke off. We headed south along some nice, twisty, narrow roads, down to Tulare, where we hopped back on Hwy 99 and eventually rolled back home around 8:30 Sunday evening.