It was marypcb's and my sixth wedding anniversary at the beginning of October, and as we were in the Bay Area for a series of conferences we took the opportunity to head away from the built-up coast to the wilds of the Sierras. We've always loved visiting Yosemite, and headed out across the flat Central Valley to spend a couple of days in and around the national park.

Driving across the fields in the early fall heat, we could see clouds piling up against the barrier range of the Sierras. By the time we got to Mariposa, it was pouring with rain...

The next day wasn't a lot better, with cloud sliding on and off the big walls of El Capitan...



Slowly the cloud began to lift, and we drove through the thunder showers, twisting and turning up the mountain roads to Glacier Point, more than 3000 feet over the valley floor. Thunder rumbled and echoed around the bare granite domes, patches of fading sunlight climbing the face of Half Dome.



As I looked down on the valley floor, more than half a mile below, I suddenly found myself in one of those magical moments.

A sunbeam was tracking up the valley, through the showers, and way below me, arching up to the granite cliffs across the valley was a rainbow. From high above it wasn't the familiar arc - just a line of coloured light rising up from the trees.

Fantastic.



Up there with watching snow storms in the Grand Canyon. What a wonderful world this is...

Yosemite, California
October 2010