Meral's Pool: What This Blog Is All About

The image above is of Meral's Pool on the Tuolumne River just outside Yosemite National Park. Meral's Pool marks the end of the Class V+ Cherry Creek section and the beginning of the Class IV-V Main Tuolumne, and I believe it is the perfect image to encapsulate what this blog is all about.

The first two words in my description of this blog in the left margin are "River Journeys." We are all on a journey in life, and we are all at different stages. Some of us are at the beginning, some are in the middle, and some are near the end. Meral's Pool is halfway down the Tuolumne, as I am halfway, or just over halfway in life (at least I hope that's where I am).

If you are interested in taking a river journey on a whitewater river, you can expect to do no better than a Three-Day Wilderness Trip on the Tuolumne. Starting at Meral's Pool, you will travel eighteen river miles and have the opportunity to see some of this nation's most breathtaking scenery from deep inside Jawbone Canyon, as well as experience a legendary Class V drop known as Clavey Falls. The Tuolumne, and the Clavey River which joins the Main Tuolumne just above Clavey Falls, are currently threatened with new dams to augment the water supploy of San Francisco. You can find out more at the Tuolumne Trust Website.

Meral's Pool is truly a special place, and not just for it's awesome beauty and remoteness. It's here that the rushing waters of the pristine Tuolumne River pauses for a rest after descending Cherry Creek before continuing on down the more gradual Main Tuolumne, just like a rest stop between the fast pace of youth and the more gradual pace of middle age. Every time I look at this picture of Meral's Pool, I am drawn into the image like few photographs I have ever taken.

This blog is like Meral's Pool. It's a place to stop and reflect, either for a brief moment, or an extended period of time, of where my life is headed. Meltwater. Torrents. Meanderings. Delta. I think I named this blog better than I originally thought. Adding the image of Meral's Pool to the top only cements that sense of certainty for me.

Thanks for reading.