Autumnal Equinox

We are about a week from when the length of day and night balance out. It's still warm in much of Yosemite, especially in our northwest corner, where smoke and burned ground are the rule. That part of the park will be interesting for many years, while it recovers from the Rim Fire. Egret seen in the Valley. Gaylor basin's pikas weren't shy while gathering winter stores of bilberry, etc. Grindella still adds floral color to the canyon in El Portal, while dogwoods, dogbane and other foliage is turning autumn colors in mid-elevations. The Conservancy's Fall Gathering event is coming up soon, and there's still space in our one-day field seminars with either author Suzanne Swedo or photographer Chris Loberg that first weekend of October.

I've had such a busy season in the office and out on the trail; Yosemite has too much good stuff to get it all in. Now I look foward to Orion overhead, chlorophyll breaking down, the frost line descending, and more square mileage per person in the park.