Yosemite April 2010

My husband and I have been itching to make a trip to Yosemite, so on Saturday, we left before the sun rose and headed to our favorite national park. The waterfalls are beautiful at this time of year, but the crowds is something I prefer not to remember. Here are some memories we came back with.

Bridalveil Falls: The sight was beautiful, but the spray was treacherous. It was freezing!!



We stopped on our way up to Vernal Falls. I saw a huge boulder with a strip of moss running down one side and thought it was so beautiful.


Water from snowmelt making its way down the Merced River.


Lower Yosemite Falls: I've always wanted to hike up to the top of both Lower and Upper Yosemite Falls, but that day wasn't the day for it. No time. So I made do with snapping away at the foot of the lower falls. The spray here was freezing as well, but my hubby bought me a beanie anticipating I'd get another headache from the cold and that made life a thousand times more bearable during those few minutes. Thanks, hubby. :) The amount of water pounding down is shocking and certainly very powerful. I can't even imagine being caught in that current. If you've never been here before, you may not have a good idea how tall this is. There's a little red dot on the middle of the right side. That's a person. Using that as a point of reference, you can get a good idea how wonderful this site is.


And here's a photo of Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls. They are massive and absolutely breathtaking.


I wish I could experience Yosemite without the crowds, without the cars, without the roads. I wish I could see it in its natural state. I wish I could have experienced what John Muir had experienced. "He was overwhelmed by the landscape, scrambling down steep cliff faces to get a closer look at the waterfalls, whooping and howling at the vistas, jumping tirelessly from flower to flower."*

(Marquis, Amy Leinbach. (Fall 2007.) "A Mountain Calling", National Parks Magazine, retrieved on 23 October 2009.)

Yosemite July 2008

The old bf and I made a short trip to Yosemite this past weekend. We were not aware of the fire burning in Mariposa, a county neighboring Yosemite, that started last Friday. When we got to the park, we drove straight to Glacier and Washburn Points. The air was a little smoky, but we could still the mountains, waterfalls, and large landmarks of the valley floor well from up there.

This is taken from Washburn Point. To the left is Half Dome and to the right are Vernal and Nevada Falls, also commonly known as The Giant Staircase. Even in this poor light, how you can think this is anything less than incredible?

After a short while of admiring the breathtaking views, we made our way back down to the valley. The difference in that half hour was incredible. The air was a lot denser and gray. I quickly snapped a shot of the valley as we drove by Tunnel View. The parking lot was closed for some reason.

This is a slightly different angle, but it's supposed to look like this.

Half Dome could barely be seen from Sentinel Bridge. We hung out in the valley for a couple more hours, having a casual lunch at the Ahwahnee, checking out the famous landmark, and taking photos of anything that caught our eye. As time quickly flew by, I noticed my eyes started to sting from the increasingly heavy air and my lungs didn't feel quite as strong. Even though the entire valley was blanketed in a fog of smoke, I still found Yosemite to be so incredibly beautiful. It seemed as if all was seen behind a soft red filter. It was beautiful.

The mountains are like gigantic ghosts looming in the background.

El Capitan veiled in smoke.

The sun fighting its way through the darkening skies.