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Yosemite January 10-18, 2012
	In January 2012 Tioga Pass was open in January for the first time in 40 or 50 years. It had been a very light snow winter to that point. When I went to my usual February Yosemite camping trip the pass was closed and I had to go through Bakersfield and Fresno to get there. I started this trip by going through Panamint Valley
Panamint Valley
Northern Panamint Valley sand dunes
The Islands in Northern Panamint Valley
Distant  11,027' Telescope Peak across Panamint Valley	Looking down upper Rainbow Canyon across Panamint Valley
Camped just off Obsidian Dome Rd above Mammoth before heading through Tioga Pass.
Lower Lee Vining Canyon. (Inyo Craters in the distance)	Upper Lee Vining Canyon
Frozen Ellery Lake
Yosemite
Tuolumne Meadows, Lambert Dome and Mt Dana
Tenaya Lake	People on the ice included a woman with a baby stroller. While there was so little snow that Tioga Pass was open it had still been cold enough to freeze the high altitude lakes.
Upper Pines Campground
The campground host warned me to keep my tent zipped against raccoons until he saw Mya.	The ravens would work together to outsmart Mya and steal her food.
A pitiful Yosemite Falls but at least it wasn't dry.
From Yosemite Valley I went down to the North Bay area to Vallejo to see friends. I decided to go over Ebbetts Pass which took me through the new Town Square Copperopolis. Well new for me, hadn't been around Copperopolis for many years.
I came back over Ebbetts Pass which was also strangely open in January, there wasn't much snow around or above the pass. (After Ebbetts I went over Monitor Pass which can be open now and then in the winter.)
Independence
Mounts Williamson and Tyndal
Camped off Mazourka Road on the way south on US395
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