Day 4

Focusing on the little things and laying beneath the stars

Adding watercolor paint to our nature journaling sketches
Photo by Ashley Bowerman

By Ashley Bowerman
Atb63@txstate.edu

Miles walked: 6.6

Work produced: 5 interviews, 15 pictures, one Instagram post

Fun fact: John Muir, the father of National Parks, nature journaled in an effort document what he saw and felt in Yosemite

It was another early morning in Half Dome Village. Mike, Gabby and I headed for the Happy Isles Trail around 10 a.m. to complete interviews we needed for our stories. On the hunt for the Junior Park Rangers, we eventually found them around 11 a.m. Jennifer Cook, the female park ranger who led the Junior Park Ranger program that day, agreed to talk with us about the program. The interview with Jennifer went well and we felt relieved that we were able to get one step closer to completing our assignments.

Nature Journaling 
The morning only got better after the class met up at Yosemite’s Nature Center for a nature journaling class. We didn’t know what to expect from the activity but we were curious to see what would come of the experience. After Lora, the nature journaling guide, explained that we would be sketching and then painting aspects of the wilderness that surrounded us, we were filled with excitement and uneasiness of the task. Some of us were not good at art, and others were. But despite being anxious about drawing, we all dove in got to work sketching leaves, bark, flowers, and whatever spoke to our senses. It wasn’t about your artistic ability, it was about focusing on the beauty found in the little things at the park. The entire experience was calming and peaceful. Taking a moment from the chaos of the trip to enjoy the crisp air and draw the fine lines found in the greenery around us was meditating. Nature journaling was an experience we didn’t know we needed but were grateful to be able to take part in.

Arch to Arcturus
To end a relaxing day in Yosemite, the class took part in a stargazing party. Tarps stretched across a nearby field and several campers sat and observed the dark night sky. Our eyes filled with wonder as we gazed at the twinkling stars that were significantly brighter than the stars back home. The gentlemen who led the star party was passionate about space and knowledgeable about the different constellations. I liked that he not only informed us about the different constellations but made it easy for us to apply the knowledge we learned about the stars in our own backyards. He focused on specific stars in the sky, like Arcturus, that could be easily found after locating the Big Dipper and “arching to Arcturus.” The way the sky looked in Yosemite was different than any sky I had ever seen. I tried my best to soak in the stars, only wishing I could take them home with me.

After the star party was over, Dale showed us how to take pictures of the night sky using his fancy new camera. Everything was going great until he realized he neglected to remove his lens cap before snapping the first picture! It was an innocent mistake, being that we were in shear darkness, but funny enough that it would be made into a joke for the remainder of the trip. The next day I would search for another interview for Dales class and get as much b-roll as I could. Our time in Yosemite was beginning to come to a close and although anxiety set in about our assignments, we came together as a team to get everything done. All the while, trying to enjoy as much of Yosemite as we could before we had to leave such a wondrous place.