Snow in the Canyon!

The Grand Canyon is really Grand!  And it's desert, right?  Well, this day we left the river to hike up to Thunder River.  This involves a hike up above the river and following a creek through this beautiful mini canyon.  Half way to our destination the clouds thickened, got lower, and at our level it was raining.  But, up higher we could see snow!  You can just see a little, here, in the desert!  How awesome.

Kearsarge Lakes & Kearsarge Pinnacles, Kings Canyon NP

What a beautiful place.  In August we drove to the Onion Valley trail head off Highway 395 on the eastern slopes of the Sierras.  The trail head is over 9000 ft. to begin with!  We hiked steadily up to the high point of almost 12,000 ft. at Kearsarge Pass.  Then it's back down to about 10,000 ft. to reach the lakes.  This is the middle lake near our campsite.  A spectacular place to be and well worth the hike.

Cold Morning Moon, Joshua Tree NP

Believe me, it was COLD out this morning.  I had set up my tent the previous evening a couple miles from the trail head.  In the middle of the night the wind picked up and the temperature plunged.  About 4:00 AM I got up, broke down my tent and headed out into a stiff head wind with the temp. around 30.  It was cold, but not cold enough to stop and set up for a photo or two.

Cafe DeLunch, San Francisco

While wandering around San Francisco, we ran into this unique looking restaurant in the Italian district.  We didn't go in but it deserved a photo none-the-less.  Maybe next time for trying the menu.