Well, I'm guessing that some genius climbers who were moving slow got benighted and decided to stay warm with a fire. Someone said they saw a fire up there on Monday night. Anyway, they started a fire basically at the point that the walkoff for the Royal Arches route meets the rim. Bad climber! No chalk!

I first noticed the smoke while out for a lunchtime walk to meet my sweetheart and then the helicopters came around 2:00pm. I didn't see any flames until someone roused us around 7:30pm to go have a look. I got some pretty decent pictures of the fire on top of Royal Arches (9 images), but there were a couple of times when it really flared up and i was not ready with the camera, so I missed those. I also missed the best of the firefalls. By 8:00pm there was a substantial fire on the ledges that were below tree line. We could see them clearly through the trees, but couldn't really get pictures and I didn't want to cross the valley to get a better look, but I think the Royal Arches climbing route was on fire. That's unconfirmed, just my guess as looking at it from Stoneman's Meadow. Good job dude!

The Mariposa Grove road opened last week.

Rumor is that Glacier Point Road will open this weekend. Of course, as usual, it doesn't open until it opens. If some problem arises or whatever, opening dates are always subject to change, so don't count on it.

A friend who was doing some setup out at the Point drove the road last week and got stuck in a snowbank (got herself out though), so the road is driveable for certain. It's usually a matter of cleanup and limbing trees and such that accounts for the delay between snow melt and opening.

For the definitive word, call (209) 372-0200, then

This is not completely Yosemite News, but Ed Hughes, of A Day Behind the Lens has just self-published a book of 40 of his favorite photos, a good number of which are from Yosemite. You can see a 15-page preview from his site. I really admire Ed's wildlife photography and, though not Yosemite-related, you literally owe it to yourself to look at the sample to see the waving otter without the watermark (that link takes you to a watermarked version). Really, it's one of funniest wildlife pictures I've ever seen and it's got 100x more personality without the watermark. And his pouncing coyote is great - if I hadn't been shooting through a camera pressed up against a binocular, mine would have looked like that too. Sort of. OK, not really, but I like to think so.

A quiet walk with little traffic through dense forest, a recent burn area and a historic tour down the remains of an old logging railroad, arriving at Alder Creek Fall, and impressive 100-foot cascade. A nice place to escape the crowds on a spring weekend.

Okay, so this might strike some folks as a little weird. I just got back from two weeks in Vermont and the snow in the Valley is almost totally gone. Theresa's bike, which had only the seat showing above the snow when we left, had emerged in all it's glory... er make that gory, by the time we got back. And in spring, a middle-aged man's (who?) fancy turns to trail running. And then it turns to other thoughts. Like chafing. Feet, pits and, oh yes, that ever so fragile skin surrounding the testicles.

If I'm going 10 or 20 miles, no problem. But somewhere around 25 miles, the chafing and burning picks up and hopping in the shower at the end brings not relief, but YOUCH! Goodness that burns. Last year I never did any 50-mile days, but this year I'm swearing that I will and I'm looking for ways to make them less painful. I think Injinji Toe Socks are definitely on the list. Everyone swears by them as a good alternative to taping the toes and preventing toe blisters. But today I came across Saxx Performance Underwear, which looks sort of like a bra for testicles. Yes, women can't appreciate this and a lot of men can't either. But if you have a, uh, friction problem, you know what I'm talking about.

We've been getting a lot of snow lately and I finally have done my weekly update to the photo journal after seven months. Seven months, seven days, what's the difference? The beauty of Yosemite is eternal right? Anyway, you can see a selection of snow valley scenes from the week if you wish.

Now I've pretty much quit climbing, but the one thing I really missed last year was not doing springtime get-in-shape laps on Generator Crack. I could live my whole life without doing Lunatic Fringe or Butterballs, but I do sort of miss Generator Crack and Reed's Left. So I'm sitting here during the snowstorm of the decade, or so they say, reading an article on Badass Mama and thinking, "I should really get out and climb again. There are really two possible reactions to an article on BAM: "Ick!" or "Umm!". If you call into the latter category or if you climb but don't know what any of that means, you definitely need to get on over to WideFetish.com.

I've rounded up a few judges to help me out with the first (and possibly last unless I win another voucher) Yosemite Explorer Photo Contest. Now I just need some submissions! I'm quite pleased with the folks who've agreed to help with the judging though.

QT "Tuan" Luong, of TerraGalleria.com, has been a friend for over 15 years now if I recall correctly. He is a professional photographer, specializing in travel and landscape photography. As a photographer, he is perhaps best known for his National Parks Project, in which he photographed all national parks in large format, both near the car and deep into the backcountry (a few weeks ago I hiked Mount Hoffman with Tuan and his 5x7 camera, which counts as near backcountry I suppose). I have always admired Tuan's eye for composition and I have had the occasion to be able to compare pictures taken by Tuan and another professional photographer (of our wedding actually) at the same instance and have been impressed at his "hit rate". Tuan first became "internet famous" for having what was, as far as I know, the first website to publish detailed information about rock climbing in Yosemite (and one of the first websites on Yosemite of any kind). That information has long since been superceded, but his website on large-format photography remains relevant on that subject.

Finally getting around to announcing the winner: Jeffrey Murray, a ski patroller, wildland firefighter and aspiring professional photographer who won with this stunning photo of Half Dome:

Great Job Jeff!

This New year, resolve to win the Yosemite Explorer New Year's Photography Contest! Round up your best two Yosemite pictures and send 'em in. You could win a night at Tenaya Lodge (something like a $330 value I think).

Why this contest? Why that prize?

Last year I won the end of the season ski race at the Badger Pass Spring Fling and the prize was a fully transferable gift certificate for a free night at Tenaya Lodge, a luxury hotel on the southern border of Yosemite National Park.