"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." (Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33)
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away ...God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. ...the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. ...And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. ...And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." (Excerpts from Revelations 21)
Now THAT is exciting! I am confident that you have experienced pain of some sort this week. Maybe even sorrow or crying. I am certain you have experienced night and possibly the fear and evil that comes with it. But let me remind you that there is a place where we can all be together, without pain, without sorrow, without crying and without night. No evil, lies or abominations will surround us. Instead, it will be the presence of Almighty God, who is perfect in all ways, never failing, always loving and radiant as ever. Oh, and by the way, we can be there forever! Whew! Well I'm excited for heaven and I hope you are too. What you'll see below cannot even begin to compare, so just keep that perspective in mind as we take a picture tour starting with our entrance into...
...Yosemite Valley. That's El Capitan on the left, Half Dome in the distance and Bridalveil Falls on the right.
Walking up to Bridalvail Falls where rain jackets are advised as you walk right up to those rocks in the foreground!
A panoramic of the falls and river it forms at the bottom.
We were privileged to see the falls when they were close to their peak and flowing through the woods below...
...and here too.
Fritz captured some great shots.
Imagine standing right next to the roaring waters as they careened over the falls and through the woods.
Fritz the sharpshooter.
Apparently I was taking too much time to enjoy the beauty...
...and it was only our second day couped up together!
After finally shooing them off the bridge, I was able to capture it in sepia...
...and black and white.
Continuing through Yosemite Valley, we had our sights set on Yosemite Falls...
...while he had his sights set on us.
"I'm watching you!"
Our goal for today? Hike to the top of that, Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls, the sixth tallest waterfall in the world, a total of 2,425 feet of falling water!
A good view of Lower and Upper Yosemite Falls, nearly a 1/2 mile high!
A blue bird of some sort who gets to enjoy this beauty all the time!
3.8 miles, and we're off...
Fritz along the way.
Flowers...
...Falls...
...and Friends. The spray from the falls was very refreshing.
Upper Falls along with the run off at the bottom as the water heads towards Lower Falls.
You'll notice that many of the pictures in Yosemite were taken vertically because everything was so tall. Unfortunately, it's difficult to provide you with an appreciation for the 1,430 foot vertical drop from the top of the waterfall to the misty base in front of you. Yes - that is over a 1/4 mile!
Fortunately, there was a path cut out for us so we didn't have to scale the granite cliff in front of us.
Shayna takes in the view of Yosemite Valley from the top. If you zoom in you might be able to see my car!
Standing next to the top of the falls, looking down at the middle cascade section, which has a 673 foot vertical drop before the water disappears over the edge for another 318 foot drop to the Valley below.
Safety First: While napping on top, be sure to sleep in a place you can't roll off. Oh, and put sunscreen on before you fall asleep with sunglasses.
Fritz poses on top...
...while an airplane cuts through the clear blue sky! It felt like we were right there with it.
Wow - and a rainbow too!
A panoramic of Upper Yosemite Falls and the middle cascades...
...zooming in on the rainbow across the cascades.
Not sure what kind of tree it is, but it was pretty cool with the entire underside coated in a smooth red wood.
Half dome comes back into view on our way down.
One last look at where we were, standing next to the top of these falls with the spray in our face!
Moving along (a little slower now that we were all worn out), here are some pictures of North Dome along Mirror Lake.
If you look at it long enough, you'll realize it's a reflection...
...and not just an upside down picture.
A panoramic right side up.
Some awesome views.
Fritz takes cover behind his camera...
...but you can still see him behind the tree.
Wow...
...Wow...
...Wow (very similar to a previous "Wow")...
and Wow? Maybe a different kind of wow. The tie dye doesn't really fit in. As the sun made it's way towards the horizon, I bought ice cream and refilled the water bottles while the others got hot showers. (We were lucky enough to have some insider information on how to do this.) They were quick and we jumped in the car and started racing back to Glacier Point for sunset when Shayna realized she was missing her favorite hiking shoes. So, we turned around and headed back to find...
...them right where they were left, next to our parking spot. So, we were off again, stopped only by...
...this view as we headed out of the valley and around to Glacier Point.
We were just in time to catch these awesome views of Half Dome as the suns last few rays danced across the top.
OK, so I couldn't decide which picture I liked better so you get to see both.
After the sun set, there was still enough light to capture one last shot before the stars would appear. Now, I hope you have been amazed at God's handiwork in our little United States. Sure, He could have designed North America to be all rolling hills, plains and deserts. But instead, He created this beauty for us to enjoy. Can you even begin to imagine what He is preparing for us in Heaven? Well if you aren't on the edge of your seat yet, I'll give you a minute while we pull out the handy Coleman stove and cook some hot dogs, chili and even vegetables while the night sky and chilled air settles in. Then we'll walk back to the tip of Glacier Point and let you see the long exposure pictures Fritz captured for us!
Half Dome with a streaking plane or satellite overhead.
Half Dome. So many songs well up inside of me as I remember these watching these stars dancing in the sky above!
Upper Yosemite Falls with the last rays from the sun coloring the sky...
...and the village lights below illuminating the falls.
Just amazing what God can do!
Thank you Fritz for capturing these while we laid on our backs starring into the heavens...
...enjoying the reality you can only see through the pictures.
Trees in the foreground, snow capped mountains in the background and stars covering them all. Then you realize that those in New York are looking at the very same stars!
You can see the streak of lights from planes overhead. After taking it all in, we were ready for the trek back to the Wawona Campground. The downside of travelling so late and after everyone else is that we had to stop for night construction by...
...this cowgirl! You know you are out West when hardhats are shaped like cowboy hats.
Shayna looking official while...
...I struggled to stop laughing as I called in for backup. After a 30 minute nap, the real sign holder knocked on our window, woke us up and we headed off into the night, ready to repeat it all tomorrow! I hope you have enjoyed the picture tour and keep in mind how much better Heaven will be!
Amen.
gorgeous pictures!
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