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Everybody knows about Yosemite, or has at least seen photos. I'm ashamed to admit that although I live only a few hours by car away, I have not seen this natural wonder till now -- and I'm only about 3 years in the area. Well, finally I managed to get there. It's so spectacular, that I cannot believe I haven't done this earlier.
The end of summer is not really the best time to visit, though. Most waterfalls are dry at this point, and the waterfalls are one of the most spectacular aspects of Yosemite. But despite that, Yosemite is definitely worth a visit. The photos below are a very small selection from the photos I took.
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When coming from the south you get your first glimpse of "the valley" shortly before entering a tunnel. As you emerge from the tunnel you are suddenly right IN the valley and see "El Capitan" (left) and "Half Dome" (middle) right in front of you. And now keep in mind that Half Dome is 8842 feet high, just to put things a bit in perspective... The prominent rock face you see so well on the two photos below is 2000 feet high and only 7 degrees off the vertical. Some people climb it... It sure is one of the most photographed mountains in the world... (and I obviously contributed heavily to that statistic) |
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To the left: Sunset as seen from Glacier Point. But the valley certainly has more to offer than just half dome. Below is an image of the Upper Yosemite Falls. Well... at least the spot where the falls usually are -- unless you come visit in late sommer when all the snow is gone and there is not enough water to feed such a huge waterfall... This doesn't mean the valley is dry, though. There is plenty of water left (see below). It's just not enough to feed a huge fall like this one. Oh by the way -- again just for matters of perspective... This waterfall on the right is 2425 feet high... it's the 5th highest waterfall in the world. |
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And there ARE a few waterfalls that still carry water. Here is Vernal Falls. In other locations this would be a sizeable fall... but then, in spring this fall streams all over the cliff from what I hear, so this is really nothing ;) But as it's the most spectacular fall in the valley at this time, everbody has to go there. This was labor day weekend and I expected the valley to be totally overrun. In fact, it wasn't half as bad as I had feared. But then I found out where all these people were: they were all at Vernal falls, it seems. It was packed! (see below) |
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Another natural wonder of Yosemite are the redwoods. There are several ancient redwood groves in the park. I visited Mariposa grove where the biggest trees we know live. It's very hard to show the sheer size of these organisms in a photo -- you really need to see something familiar next to the trees to grasp the proportions... Below you see Winn next to a fallen tree and the grove museum next to a few other ones. And those are by far not the biggest trees in the grove... |
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Who knew that there is a second yosemite valley? Well sort of. A few miles further north is another valley, called Hetch Hetchy. It was maybe not quite as spectacular as Yosemite valley, but it came close. So why do I talk in the past here? Because the whole valley is under water now. In the early 20th century the city of San Francisco decided they needed a reservoir there for the water supply and so they built a dam... There is a movement to get rid of the dam and restore Hetch Hetchy Valley to its original shape (which is supposedly possible). You can find more info at: Some photos of what the valley looked like before the dam was built are here: http://california.sierraclub.org/hetchhetchy/photo_gallery.asp Somehow, even with the lake it's possible to see that this must have been a beautiful place...
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last updated: 9/5/2002
