Birds in the Rain
16 Feb 2025
At one of the lodge's in the park, there's a little wooded area that was constantly full of Ravens conspiring. The conspiracy would often fly off and come back a short time later.
We went to Mirror Lake to see how it was, but unfortunately between the sediment and the low water levels from lack
of snow, there wasn't much of a mirror finish on the lack. But that's not why we're here. There's ducks!
It's not that Mirror Lake didn't have plenty of beautiful scenery as well. Take for example the stream flowing from
the lake full of rocks making it babble.
We even had an amazing view of the mountains with part of the frozen lake.
But lets focus on the birds. We spied a pair of Stellar Jays roaming around the meadows!
Beautiful, Blue, and MuddyStellar Jays and Blue Jays are the only two birds in North America that use mud to help construct their nests.
On the bus ride home we also spied a single raven scoping out the shuttle stop. We think it was a scout for a full
on conspiracy to land later.
Alright enough of the birds, we had been staying in the fanciest of the fancy-pants hotels we'd seen and have shown
you only one darkened picture of it. Here's a much better photo we took on the last rainy day.
The AwahneeThe Awahnee was built by the partnership between Yosemite National Park and Curry Company. It opened for business in 1927 and was constructed of steel, stone, concrete, wood, and glass. The Awahnee is a premier example of National Park Service rustic architecture. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987.
The architecture is incredible, with stained glass all over, even in the elevator!
The view from our room was also incredible.
We got breakfast one day in the Grand Dining Room
The Grand Dining RoomThe Grand Dining Room is 130 feet long and 51 feet wide, with a 34-foot ceiling supported by rock columns, creating a cathedral-like atmosphere.
The alcove window at the end of the room perfectly framed Yosemite Falls when the hotel was completed.
We weren't sure if the tea set was happy or angry though...
Sara's favorite feature of the hotel by far was the fireplaces they put giant logs on. It was
especially nice with a glass of hot chocolate when it was rainy and cold outside.
The hotel has incredible. We made a point to walk out to the original gate to the hotel because it looked so
cool. It was rainy though, so Sara took a break under a conveniently sheltering rock.
Note the raven on top of the sign, it's hard to see because of the overcast sky.
Yosemite was incredible. Easily one of the most beautiful parks we'd seen, even in the rain. We're very lucky to
have come visit. We've had lots of birds, but next we're expecting many fish! It also snowed on Valentine's Day at
the park!
