Snow, Rocks in the Crocs and the Tufas

Yosemite is huge! We've been trying to get out of this park all day. We were going to leaving from the north entrance of the park and we kept seeing these huge sheets of white on the mountains and thought maybe it was snow. It was maybe 70 degrees outside, but it really looked like it. Upon further investigation though we determined that it was not snow. But then upon further investigation (by jumping on it) we determined that it is indeed snow. We got and had a snow ball fight. When we left Florida we certainly did not think we could have a snowball fight on this trip. We slid in the snow a bit, got lots of snow in our crocs, and saved a snowball to take home. It was a great experience!

We kept driving until we finally got out of the park. A Muslim family we met in Yosemite told us about a gorgeous place they knew of that we had to go see, so that's where we were headed. The first place was an dormant volcano. This place was amazing! We hiked up the volcano, but pretty soon found ourselves up against an obstacle: rocks in the crocs. The volcano and area all around it were covered in pumice rocks, the same kind you buy to scrub your rough spots, and obsidian, what the local Native Americans used to use for their arrowheads. The pumice rocks were okay, they hurt but were tolerable, but the obsidian is sharp, shiny, and glasslike, and it was everywhere. We were planning on hiking all the way up and around the volcano, but the rocks in the crocs were a problem so we thought we'd just hang out and enjoy the view. I (Shezena) have always loved obsidian and wasn't going to let a little rocks in the crocs stop me from exploring everything I wanted to, and I have the cuts to prove it. Even from the trail you could see the obsidian shining brightly. It was gorgeous. There were parts where the obsidian and pumice were swirled together, and then huge chunks of pure obsidian, and large blocks of pumice.

Obsidian and pumice are chemically the exact same thing, even though pumice is light tan and so light it can float on water and obsidian is thick, heavy, black and glasslike. When the volcano exploded, the frothy lava that erupted quickly solidified trapping the air bubbles. The lava that erupted slowly though, the one that just oozed out was able to lose any trapped air, but it still solidified too quickly to form any kind of crystals. They look as different as can be, but they came from the same place, are made out of the same stuff, and are chemically identical. Cool, huh?


Next stop: The Tufas! (photo above) When we were done with the volcano, we went to a lake that had these huge mineral formations in the water. It was lake was three times saltier than the ocean, with a little baking soda bitterness that made it 100 times more alkaline than the ocean added for good measure. The formations, or tufas, form because of the springs underneath the lake. The spring water has calcium in it, and as the water seeps up through the bottom of the lake floor, the calcium collects and builds these huge columns of mineral deposits. They were beautiful beyond words. We came at the perfect time of day too, the sun was about to start setting and the sky was all kinds of shades of pink and blue. With the tufts in front and the sky behind, it was a sight not to be soon forgot. We prayed magrib in the RV, had a spot of tea and continued down the road. I think this was the best day yet.