I briefly wrote about Yosemite when I highlighted the UNESCO natural places I have been to in the US. As I have written before, I grew up in Southern California, and we went on a lot of extended family camping trips in the summers. I think Half Dome was probably one of the first subjects I photographed as a kid.
Of course, that was long before I learned about the photography of Ansel Adams. And way before I learned about the Sierra Club and the travels and writings of John Muir. I’ve read parts of “The Yosemite.” I read “Travels in Alaska” during my first trip to Alaska. And, for a fun read, “A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf” highlights his travels from the midwest to the tip of Florida and in which he shares sleeping in a cemetery, waiting for money at Western Union, and catching malaria, along with documenting all of the flora and fauna he encountered along the way.
But I digress… Yosemite is made for wandering, and I have always loved taking photos of pathways leading to somewhere yet unknown… and in Yosemite, you have your choice of easy paved walks, paved climbing walks, rocky walks, or hanging by a cable onto Half Dome walks.
You get the chance to see so many amazing views and occasionally wildlife…
These photos of Upper and Lower Falls were taken in the winter, so there is very little water coming over the falls, but it’s still there. You can see deer around a lot of the park. And, I happened to get a great shot of Mirror Lake on a cloudless and windless morning.
Photo tip: Try panning from bottom to top with your cell phone camera to get a photo like the one here to the left. I learned to do this in the redwood forests and it works so well in mountain valleys… it’s such a unique perspective.
Finally, what a lot of people don’t know is that there is another part to Yosemite. What you usually see in photos is Yosemite Valley. If you enter through Tioga Pass (when you can because sometimes the road is impassible) you come to the Upper Meadows. You see lakes and rivers and trailheads. It’s less crowded than the valley but no less beautiful and something everyone should experience… And, at Tuolumne Meadows you find one of the trailheads to the John Muir Trail which can take you southwest to Half Dome or southeast to Mt Whitney.
You Go, Squirrel! 