Yosemite National Park (part 2)

Sentinel Dome

430 sure does come around early, especially when one is on vacation!  Yes I did get up at 430 so I could be ready and waiting for sunrise in Yosemite Valley.  I studied the maps so I’d know where to stop. Once you miss your stop it’s a long drive through the park to get back here.

As it turns out I am not the first up and about; as I get out of the car I already see climbers scaling up El Capitan.  In the dark, I could plainly see several groups of climber's headlamps sweeping up and down the rock face as they slowly moved up the mountain....

You can see the tiny points of lights in early morning shots before they are lost in the sunlight. While the side of El Capitan was busy with climbers I was the only one out wandering through the El Capitan meadow searching for a good place to shoot.

Pre-dawn El Capitan

As it turns out El Capitan meadow is right between El Capitan and Sentinel Dome so I can hardly get a bad image.  The moon is high in the sky so the rock surfaces facing the moon are nicely illuminated while other portions fall into shadow.  The sky resembles what we daily see in New Mexico, few to no clouds.

While planning my Yosemite trip earlier this year I intended to hike to the top of Vernal and Nevada Falls, then I thought no; I want to do the 10 mile Panorama Trail which takes me along the same falls.  Well, I did neither.  I was exhausted from getting up between 4 and 5 each morning then carrying camera equipment on my back four to six hours each day during the workshop.  Instead, I decided to stay in the valley and save the ambitious hikes for next time.  A small part of that decision was also driven by the lack of water flowing this time of year.  I didn't want to hike for several miles to find a trickle where there should be a torrent.

Fern Spring

After shooting the sunrise I stopped in my room so I could give my back and my camera equipment a rest.  I took off again, sans camera, to see other parts of the valley riding the valley shuttle.  I had another grand plan; breakfast at the Ahwanee Hotel.  Those hopes were dashed when I was told there was at least an hour wait for a table.  So much for that idea.

After having breakfast at the cafeteria I grabbed my camera gear and took a drive through the farther parts of the valley.  I had to make the traditional stop at ‘Tunnel View’ to shoot the valley along with the throng of never ending visitors.  As soon as one bus full of visitors left another took its place.  I also used this as an opportunity to scout tomorrow morning’s sunrise.

Bridalveil Fall

After determining my spot for the next morning I stopped at Bridalveil Fall for a short hike and photo op.  There is some water flowing but it looks like someone could have been standing at the top with their garden hose seeing the amount of water cascading over the edge.

I shot quite a few images at Fern Spring.  It is very quiet here.  A number of people stopped, viewed the spring from the car and took off to the other breathtaking sites.  While shooting I was amazed to see several hikers stop to fill their canteens with water flowing from the spring.

Once I returned to my room I decided to take the shuttle around again and visit a few of the other stops on the route.  The shuttle is a good way to get around this end of the valley and is heavily used even during the ‘off’ season.

I planned my evening to shoot Half Dome from another meadow hoping for a spectacular sunset.  After I scouted out my spot another gentleman set up a short distance from me and we waited for the show.  We struck up a conversation; he and his wife were visiting from Australia hitting all the highlights along the West Coast.  All the while we were comparing notes the sun was going down but no promise of anything better than getting dark.  Several minutes later the face of Half Dome started turning pink and several minutes after that the few clouds above Half Dome also turned pink.  From my just completed workshop I remembered to turn around to see the sky above Yosemite Fall light up with the same pink glow; truly spectacular.  This was another point I took home from the workshop; hang around and pay attention all around you.  I’m glad I paid attention in class.

Half Dome

This was a full day for me; stating with the sunrise on El Capitan through sunset on Half Dome and everything in between.  I decided to stay in so I could be up for one more sunrise from Tunnel View.  I ended up watching some show about witches on television and about half way through the program the glass dome on the hanging light fell on the floor shattering all over the room.  It was cleaned up, no problem, but putting the show about witches together with the crashing dome is a bit eerie.

Thank you for stopping by,

Mark