The Great Outdoors: The Nilsens Take a Trip to Yosemite in 1940

Last week, I wrote about Ernie Nilsen and his occupation about being a carpenter and patternmaker. This week is a story of a vacation to Yosemite in California.

Ernie Nilsen and his wife, Mary, had no children. Because of this, they spent time with their nieces and nephews. In 1940, they took his brother, Arthur, Arthur’s wife, Lena, and Arthur’s daughters, Thelma and Bernice, on a fishing and camping trip.

I have a collection of photos from this trip and on the back of two of the photos, Thelma wrote about the trip.

"These were taken on a camping trip in 1940 with Aunt Mary and Uncle Ernie, Dad, Lena & Bernice. We started at Huntington Lake, but the lake was too windy for good fishing. They hiked up high in the mountains and got some golden trout."

Later, they went to Bass Lake but stayed only one night.

"The outhouses were so disgusting, I think Lena and Aunt Mary put their foot down, so we moved up to Yosemite for a week. Uncle Ernie took many pictures."

These shots I can clearly identify as being taken at Yosemite. The Massachusetts tree was located in Mariposa Grove. Isn’t it interesting there was a ladder present so visitors could climb on the tree? That would likely not be allowed today.

The last two shots are of Thelma at the lake perhaps sunbathing instead of fishing. I’m sure she enjoyed being out in the outdoors. Once she married George Gorrell, they made yearly camping trips to places all over California.

#52 Ancestors: Week 27: The Great Outdoors

This is my sixth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/) at Generations Cafe. I write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

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