Yosemite National Park - Part 3

In part 3 of my Yosemite blog I am going to try and wrap up the rest of our trip to California. On July 6th we woke up early and hit the road to visit Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. We headed west and then south as we traveled through Fresno and then headed east to Kings Canyon National Park. We stopped at some fruit stands along the way and took in the California country side. We entered through the Big Stump entrance and our first stop was Grant Grove. This grove of giant sequoias is home to the General Grant Tree which is also known as the National Christmas Tree. We spent some time walking the trails around the grove and checking out some of the exhibits. We also made sandwiches from the food we brought along. From Grant Grove we continued north and west to travel up the canyon. The canyon was interesting but it was very dry and desolate compared to the mountains I am used to in Montana. I am sure to some it has its own beauty but I couldn’t help but feel like it needed some trees and green grass. We drove to the end of the road and then came back through Grant Grove and then headed south to Sequoia National Park on the Generals Highway.  Since we had already had a pretty long day driving by this point, we decided to kind of do a really fast overview of the park. Of course we stopped to see the General Sherman Tree which is the largest tree in the world by volume. There was about a mile long round trip trail leading down to the tree. The trail was paved and included several sets of stairs. It was midafternoon by the time we got to it, so it was getting pretty hot and there was a pretty good crowd. If there are shuttle buses running, I believe there is a stop closer to the tree along the main road, but it was only for buses and handicap parking. After we saw General Sherman we headed down the road deeper into the park to check out large sequoias that are along the road. Since we did not have a lot of time we were not able to get out and do any hiking or explore things too far off the main road. I found the photography to actually be fairly difficult. It was technically a little difficult just because you had the shadows at the base of the trees and then the bright midday sun behind the tops of the trees. So it was really difficult trying to balance those two things. I also found it very difficult to really capture just how large the trees are. Most of the trees are fenced off so you can’t get right up to them, so you couldn’t put a person directly in front of them for scale. And even if you could, I still don’t think you can REALLY portray the real size of the trees in a single frame. We still had a good time and I am glad we took a day to check things out. After we drove a few hours back to our hotel we decided to relax for the rest of the evening with plans of getting up the next morning for sunrise. You can click on any of the images for a larger view.

The entrance sign for Kings Canyon National Park.

A couple of sequoias at Grants Grove.

Another large sequoia at Grants Grove. I like the base of this one and the bark I thought was interesting.

The General Grant Tree also known as the National Christmas Tree.

Another giant sequoia at Grants Grove. You can see an old burn scar at the base and I also like the starburst up in the branches.

A view of the landscape along the road into Kings Canyon National Park.

A view of Kings Canyon from the end of the road looking into the wilderness.

Entrance sign for Sequoia National Park.

The General Sherman Tree. If you look at the base you can see people standing at the base for some perspective. This is the largest tree by volume in the world.

We did get up early the next morning (July 7th) to shoot the sunrise of the Yosemite Valley again. This time I chose to setup from the Tunnel View area, which is a popular spot for sunrises. This time I was not as fortunate and the parking lot was already pretty full with people. I did manage to find a pretty good spot to setup though. My setup was the same from the morning at the Valley View area. I had my canon 16-35mm with my Canon R5 setup on my tripod. I was having a little sense of dejavu from my first morning in the park, the sky was hazy and pretty boring to look at. The advantage of the Tunnel View area over the Valley View area is that you are high enough up on the valley that you can see Half Dome in your composition. The downside, besides being more popular, is that you don’t really have anything of interest in the foreground. Luckily the sun came in and cast a lot of color on the valley floor so that made for some interest. I also hung around long enough to get some sunrays as they appeared from behind El Capitan.

Sunrise over Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View. I like the sun lighting up the valley floor and also the streak of light shooting up from El Cap.

Another shot of sunrise at Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View. I waited for the sun rays to appear from behind El Capitan to add a little interest.

Upper Yosemite Falls as seen from the creek near the boardwalks in Yosemite Valley.

A large color phase black bear we saw in Yosemite Valley. Not a great picture but I wanted to share anyway.

A young black bear we saw later in the morning in Yosemite Valley. This bear has been tagged.

A nice buck in velvet we saw in Yosemite Valley.

Entrance sign for Yosemite National Park. We finally stopped and took a picture on our last day in the park.

After we were finished with the sunrise, we poked around the valley a little more and managed to see two different black bears and some deer. We went down and hiked around the boardwalks and some of the trails along the river. After that we packed up and drove back through the park over the top and started heading back west to Montana. We stopped the first night in Idaho Falls and then got up early the next morning and came home through Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. It is always fun to drive through the Tetons and Yellowstone, but with the large crowds and being a little late in the day for wildlife it was a bit of a letdown. I was happy when we finally got home. As much fun as it is to be on the road having adventures, it is always nice to be home in the comfort of your own home. If you have any questions about Yosemite or the surrounding area, feel free to reach out to me on my contact page.

A panorama from Mormon Row in Grand Tetons National Park.

An ewe bighorn sheep with her lamb near the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park.

Yosemite National Park - Part 2

On the morning of July 5th we got up early and decided to head to Yosemite Valley. I knew I wanted to get some sunrise shots and we decided the view from the Yosemite Valley View was a good place to start. We circled around the valley (due to the one way streets and certain areas being blocked off, you had to drive all the way around the valley to get heading West again) and eventually found the spot we wanted to stop. When we first got to the pullout we were the only ones there. It did not take too long for others to join us however.  I setup my tripod and picked out a composition I wanted to shoot. I was using my Canon 16-35mm 2.8 version III lens adapted to my Canon R5. I wished I had brought a second tripod so I could have setup a time lapse with a second camera, but I was trying to travel light on this trip. Once I got my initial composition I wanted, I hurried and moved over just a little bit to get a couple of variations while the sun was still just peaking over the valley. I was a little disappointed when I saw the sky that morning, as the smoky haze and lack of clouds was leaving the scene a little flat. So I decided I would wait for the sun to rise so I could capture some sun rays to add a little visible interest. I was already shooting a small aperture to keep everything in focus, so I did not need to adjust anything to create the effect. For those of you that don’t know, to create the sunrays or some people call it a starburst, you need a really high (small) aperture. And the number of rays you get is dependent on the number of aperture blades your lens has. I was also intentionally using a fairly slow shutter speed so I could create the milky effect in the water.  Once the sun was actually up I no longer had that option however, as the slow shutter speed with direct sunlight would have been too bright and would have overexposed the image.

Sunrise photo of Yosemite Valley as seen from the Yosemite Valley Viewing area with the Merced River in the foreground.

Another sunrise view of Yosemite Valley just downstream a little bit for a different composition.

Another view from Yosemite Valley View.

Once the sun was completely up and we felt like we had experienced everything we wanted to see at the Yosemite Valley View we decided to make the drive up to Glacier Point to see what that view was like. Looking back that was actually a bit of a mistake. By the time we drove up there (I think it takes almost an hour as it’s a very steep and winding road) the sun was getting higher in the sky and there was so much smoke that morning the view was just not worth the drive. I tried to take some pictures and even tried using a polarizing filter to cut through the haze, but I just did not end up with anything worth sharing. And maybe the bigger issue was by the time we drove back down to the valley it was starting to get warm and we still had some hikes we wanted to do. We should have done the hikes first while it was still a little cooler out and then maybe did the drive to Glacier Point later in the day. But hindsight is always 20/20.  While we were on top at Glacier Point we did see some lizards, ground squirrels, a grouse and we saw several deer on the way up, so I guess it wasn’t a total waste.

A grouse hanging out on top of Glacier Point.

A lizard on top of Glacier Point, which was strange to see as someone coming from Montana.

A ground squirrel perched on a rock soaking up the sun at Glacier Point.

Another lizard on a tree at Glacier Point.

Once we got back down to the valley we decided to do the quick hike up to the Lower Yosemite Falls. Saying it’s a hike is an exaggeration, it is actually a pretty easy walk up to the lower falls. I think it’s maybe about a mile round trip or so. With it being such a dry year and later in the season, the falls was not spectacular, but there was actually more water coming down then I thought might be the case, as I had read it sometimes dries up completely. I only took pictures from the viewing area as they had the rocky area below the falls roped off, but that didn’t stop some people from going in there anyway. I was actually kind of surprised by how few Park Rangers we saw during our visit there. I don’t know if that was due to COVID or not.

Lower Yosemite Falls from the viewing area.

A wider shot of Lower Yosemite Falls as seen from the viewing area. If you look closely you can see people on the rocks below the falls.

Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls as seen on the trail to the lower falls.

Another shot of the Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls as seen from the start of the trail to the lower falls.

After we finished at the lower falls we decided we wanted to do the hike to Vernal Falls. By this point it was starting to get kind of hot and I did not leave that morning super prepared for a hike in almost 100 degree weather. We also got off on the wrong trail initially and ended up walking well over a mile extra before we realized our error. I was also surprised by how poor the signage was in the park. Having been to other national parks that usually had things well marked, I felt like Yosemite was really lacking in that department. Anyway, we did eventually get on the right trail and made the climb up to the falls. I would consider this a hike as it was pretty strenuous. Had we not already done a couple of miles that morning and waited until the heat of the day, it probably wouldn’t have been as bad as it ended up being. The trail itself is a good trail and paved for much of it. It is a pretty steep climb the whole way though and not a lot of shade that time of day. You eventually cross a bridge and you get a pretty good view of the falls. If you are in a hurry or don’t want to continue on to the more strenuous part of the hike, that is a good place to turn around. I decided to keep going to the falls and you go up the Misty Trail steps. The “steps” are 600 stairs kind of carved into the rock as you go up next to the falls. They are steep and a little bit treacherous. Once you get closer to the falls you do get hit with mist from the falls, so they are true to their name. I think the whole hike to the falls and back is only about 2.5 miles, but in the heat and I did not bring a lot of extra water, I did struggle a little bit. I had also meant to pack some extra socks as my feet tend to get sweaty, and I forgot those as well.

Vernal Falls.

A wider shot of Vernal Falls. I left the people in the foreground to show a little scale.

Once we got back to our vehicle (we had to walk about another mile back to our vehicle to the parking lot, typically there are shuttle buses to the trailhead, but with COVID they were not running) we decided we were ready for some downtime and we went back to the hotel for a nap. That evening we decided to drive back up to Glacier Point to catch the sunset. When we got up there the smoke had cleared quite a bit and we were treated to some spectacular views. By sunset it had got very busy up there, so I had to work a little bit to find a spot away from the crowds. I was again wishing I had a second tripod along to capture a time lapse of the setting sun. With the large vista I was once again using my 16-35 wide angle lens and I was still having to do some panoramas to take in the entire scene. I usually do not like shooting that wide, but with so many sweeping vistas in Yosemite I found myself leaving that lens on my camera most of the time. After sunset we drove back down the mountain for some much needed R and R at the hotel.

Half Dome catching some color from the setting sun from Glacier Point.

A panorama of the whole valley at sunset from Glacier Point, including Nevada Falls on the right side. Sorry I had to compress this image a lot for posting as it’s a huge file.

Another panorama from Glacier Point earlier in the evening when the colors were a little more muted. I decided to include a little more foreground on this one as I liked the green in the shrubs and the flowers.

Yosemite National Park - Part 1

Over the week of the 4th of July my sister Melissa and I went on a road trip to Yosemite National Park. While in California we also decided to visit Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park. It was a lot of driving but we had a good time. All three parks and many places in-between were new to both of us. On our way home to Montana we decided to detour just a little bit and came up through Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Stay tuned for blogs about the rest of the adventure.

We started our trip early on the morning of July 3rd. On the first day we got as far as Elko, Nevada. It was a pretty long and hot day. We also stopped in Twin Falls, Idaho for a little while to check out some sites there. On the morning of the 4th of July we got up early again and finished our trip to Yosemite. Along the way we took in some desert scenes including a desert fox which was a new species for me.


The Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls, Idaho. A quick cell phone picture.

A quick cell phone picture of a waterfall on the drive down to Centennial Waterfront Park in Twin Falls, Idaho.

A quick cellphone picture from the car of the roadside sign entering Nevada.

A Desert Fox we spotted driving through the desert in Nevada. I did not bring a long lens on this trip to save space, so this is a crop. There was also a lot of heat distortion so getting a clear picture would have been a challenge anyway. But it was still a fun spot for me, so I wanted to share it.

We entered the park from the northeast entrance from the Mono Lake area. The drive over Tioga Pass to the park entrance was pretty impressive. We were pleasantly surprised by a very short line at the entrance into the park. I don’t know if that is typical for that entrance or not. I am guessing it is probably a lesser used entrance. On our way to the valley we made quick stops at Tenaya Lake and then Olmsted Point.

Tenaya Lake. Not a great photo as it was midday and the sun was very harsh. But it was a nice little pull over spot.

Our first view of Half Dome from Olmsted Point. There was some haze in the air from fires nearby, but we still got a good view.

By the time we got over the pass it was getting late in the day so we kept heading south and west out of the park. We then checked into our hotel which was located just outside the park in El Portal. The hotel was nothing much to write home about, but it did provide easy access to the park. Due to COVID the eating options and other amenities were limited. We came prepared knowing this might be the case so we brought a couple of coolers with food and drinks to keep us going. After we got checked in we did drive back into the park and up to Yosemite Valley so we could kind of check that out and get our bearings for the next morning. It was actually relatively quiet in the valley that evening, I am guessing because it was the 4th of July and people probably had plans for celebrating the holiday elsewhere that evening.

Another shot of Half Dome and I believe that might be El Capitan from the road on the way down to the valley. There was a lot of haze in the air so it was hard to get a clear shot.