Views from the valley floor

Here are a collection of photos taken from the floor of Yosemite Valley. All of these shots were taken just a short distance from one of the roads in the valley. Easy views to get.

First up is a shot of El Capitan. Tammy and I ate lunch next to Merced River one day, and this was our view. The next photo after this is with my long lens, zoomed in on climbers on the rock face. They are completely invisible unless you look through something with magnification.





This is a sideways view of Yosemite Falls, the water falling away from the rock face as it crosses the brink.



A short trail to a bridge over the Merced River takes you past this meadow. The next shot is from that bridge, looking downstream.





I decided that this last photo looked better as a black and white. Maybe I was inspired by Ansel.

A Collection of Critters

A short and sweet post that addresses two concerns: I haven't posted in two weeks, and I have a small collection of animal photos from Yosemite National Park that I want to share.

First up, Western Fence Lizard, found next to the trail up to Inspiration Point.



The next two were both found along the trail to Sentinel Dome. First Mountain Chickadee in the shadows, and then Yellow-rumped Warbler in the sun,





The last two are of a Yellow-bellied Marmot, found at Olmsted Point, who was just as curious about me as I was of it.

Yosemite Falls

When you visit Yosemite Valley, you really can't help but see Yosemite Falls. But you really ought to take the time to take the walk up to the lower falls - it is just too easy of a walk. On the other hand, if you are up for a real challenge (which we weren't :-), you can take a trail to the very top of the upper falls.

Here are a few photos of the short easy walk to the base of the lower falls. The path through the grove of trees, the distant view of both the upper and lower falls, and a pair of views of the lower falls.

I Do

As mentioned a couple posts back, this trip to Yosemite was a vacation with a purpose. Tammy and I decided to tie the knot, and we elected to have our ceremony in the park. It was just me, her and the minister. Oh...and the view as well.

We did not have an official photographer. The minister agreed to take a few photos after the ceremony, to capture us in our wedding attire and the view. I still chuckle when I see our functional foot wear.

Mist Trail

On Monday Tammy and I hiked Mist Trail. The loop we hiked was about 5 miles total distance (I think), the first half of which follows the Merced River up to Vernal Falls. The Merced River is full from snow melt, so it is a raging torrent.



In the distance, we would occasionally catch a glimpse of some distant waterfall, whose water would eventually join the Merced River.



When we finally caught a glimpse of Vernal Falls, we felt like we were nearing the end of our hike. We were wrong - the adventure was just getting started.

As you approach Vernal Falls on Mist Trail, the trail turns into a staircase - steps carved out of granite. And the trail name comes from the fact that you will get a shower on the way up from all the mist. We wore raincoats to keep ourselves and our cameras dry.





Near the very top, you get a nice sideways view of the falls.

And then you get to conquer the last few steps. Heights stress me out, so my trip up the mist drenched granite steps to this point was mostly staring at the steps in front of me, and putting one foot in front of the other. I would occasionally stop to check on Tammy, convince myself yet again that I was not going to slip over the edge, catch my breath, and then resume the trek up. The last few steps to the top required a little extra mental preparation. Here is a photo looking back on those steps.

Here is a view from the top, showing the raging river, and distant section of the trail. If you look closely at the top of this next photo, you will see an even more distant portion of the trail, where it crosses the river via a bridge.

Beyond Vernal Falls, the trail continues up towards another set of falls - Nevada Falls. We took another trail that led us back to the valley floor (different from the route up) instead of climbing all the way to the top of Nevada Falls, but got a couple good views of those falls. And then one last look back towards Yosemite Valley before we descended.

Sentinel Dome

A mere four weeks after my trip to Corpus Christi, I am on yet another trip. This trip is to Yosemite National Park, and is a week's vacation wrapped around a very important occasion: a marriage ceremony. To be more specific: last fall, Tammy and I decided to tie the knot, and we thought it would be cool to get married in Yosemite. We officially get married on Wednesday, but in the mean time, we are both really enjoying the astounding vistas that are to be found here.

One of the first places we decided to visit within the park is Sentinel Dome. A short trail gets you on top of what is literally a dome shaped chunk of rock, 8122 feet above sea level, with 360 degree views all around. You can peer down into Yosemite valley and see famous Yosemite sights such as El Capitan, Yosemite Falls and Half Dome. My fear of heights kept me from the edge (and the associated very long drop), but even from the "center" of the dome, there was no really shortage of photos to be taken. Here are a few from the bunch.

First, here are a couple of photos of distant Yosemite falls. They were on the other side of the valley, and you could still hear their dull roar.

This view includes El Capitan - the large vertical face of rock on the right.



The final view shows snow capped mountains in the distance, and Half Dome in the foreground (towards the right).