Winter hit suddenly in Yosemite. It seemed like one moment I was hanging out on the porch in the sunshine reading through JP's thesis, and the next in my down jacket huddled in front of the pellet stove. 80 degrees and sunny to cold and snowing in only a few days. Tom has taught me the French phrase for “It's cold around here,” (Il fait froid en ce pays!) and I've been getting a lot of practice using it.
We did have a spectacular autumn season. Nothing to rival the displays out East, but beautiful yellows and pinks nonetheless. We took an excellent hike up from Wauwona Tunnel past the scenic points along the rim of the Valley, the points being Inspiration, Old Inspiration, Stanford, Crocker, Dewey, and Taft. Between the stunning vistas of the valley we hiked through several small meadows full of autumn color. Then we met our friend Mike at Taft just as the sun was setting and he was nice enough to give us a ride back to our car.