Leaving Yosemite National Park and Staying at Sequoia National Park

Leaving Crane Flat Campground

Goodbye Yosemite

I woke up about 6:00 AM on Thursday, September 8th for the last morning of my stay in Yosemite National Park. I didn't want to get up or leave but I had to. My stay was over.

I took care of a few personal hygiene tasks and then without making any breakfast of coffee I packed up my campsite. I rolled up my air mattress and sleeping bags, took down my kludge tent and packed it up, got everything out of the bear locker, and loaded up my trusty Explorer. By about 7:30 AM I rolled out of Crane Flat Campground and set my sights on Sequoia and King's Canyon National Park.

Yosemite Highway View

My plan was to drive the Wawona Road / Highway 41 through Yosemite National Park, exiting at the south entrance. Heading from Crane Flat Campground briefly back into Yosemite Valley to get to the Wawona Road was bittersweet. I didn't want to take the Wawona Road! Why couldn't I just somehow stay in Yosemite Valley? But, I had to turn right... Of all the turns I took on my entire trip it seems that this one was the hardest.

Wawona road took me past Tunnel View viewpoint where I had spent some hours. It took me through the Wawona Tunnel. It took me past the Glacier Point Road turn off. It took me away from Yosemite. In case you can't tell, I was having a hard time leaving Yosemite.

Wawona General Store

The road continues winding through forest interspersed with wonderful but too brief vistas. Eventually, heading south, you'll reach the Wawona General Store and U.S. Postal Office at Forest Drive. I pulled in to hopefully get a burrito and coffee. They didn't have any burritos but the woman at the checkout counter said that the coffee was the best in town!

I thanked the woman for selling some of the best coffee in town and then went back out to my Explorer where I pulled out a 2-pack of berry Pop Tarts and had somewhat of a breakfast. I noticed that this was also the only building in town.

Driving through Coarsegold, CA

I continued on, past the turn off to the Merced Sequoia Grove which was closed during my visit for renovations, and then I was driving through the south entrance about 4.7 miles from the coffee vendor, on the exit side. I had driven on most of the roads in Yosemite National Park. I hadn't driven on El Portal to the park gate, and I hadn't driven on all of the minor roads.

But I had driven the Tioga, Glacier Point, Big Oak Flat, Hetch Hetchy, and Wawona roads. I felt like I'd seen a lot of the park. I felt sad to leave it.

I started passing through small towns including Coarsegold before getting into more open scenery with rolling hills and fewer trees. Eventually I started seeing more cityscape as I neared Fresno.

Denny's in Fresno

I decided I'd get a proper breakfast in Fresno so as I was driving along Highway 41 I punched up restaurants on my GPS and chose a Denny's (at 32 E Herndon Ave Fresno, California). I hadn't had a sit down meal since Friday, about 6 days earlier, so I decided it was time.

Intersection of Highways 41 and 180

I sat at the bar and ordered a breakfast from the Senior menu and called my wife. I also hadn't had much cell phone or Internet connectivity in almost a week, which for me is fine.

On a side note, I called collect to my wife 3 times while I was gone, using the pay phones at the Crane Flat Store in Yosemite National Park and the Lodgepole Visitor Center at Sequoia National Park. The 3 calls totaled to about $113 in charges. Your mileage may vary.

But I did want to post a few iPhone pictures to Facebook - some of my friends and family like them. I got my breakfast and ate while I continued to post. The waitress took my plate and gave me more coffee while I continued to post. I felt hungry so I ordered lunch while I continued to post - a grilled cheese and french fries! The waitress laughed at me but kept bringing me coffee.

After my breakfast and lunch and posting, I got back on Highway 41 and headed south to the intersection with Highway 180 where I started heading east.

On to Sequoia and King's Canyon National Park

Closing in on Sequoia National Park
California Highway 180

Highway 180 from Fresno leads right to the northern Big Stump entrance to Sequoia and King's Canyon National Park. The park entrance is about 58 miles from the Fresno Denny's on Herndon Ave, just in case you were wondering.

As you head east out of Fresno, past the airport, the countryside is mainly flat, eventually starting to get a bit hilly. I stopped before getting into the park at the Clingan's Junction Grocery and Valero Gas Station and store because someone thoughtfully put up signs (or used their marketing genius) to inform drivers that there is no gas available in the park.

Climbing into Sequoia National Park

Note: I want to point out that I am NOT affiliated with any of the links that I provide - I don't get paid by them, etc. I'm just including them when/if I get the urge and when I find a related link that I think you might be interested in.

As I approached the park it just didn't seem like it was very mountainous or woodsy. You end up driving up hills that look like they could be from eastern Oregon or Washington, or even northern California along Interstate 5. Those looks are deceiving. Once you get in the park, even a bit before, you get into the forest.

Big Stump Grove

A sequoia!

About .8 miles after you pass through the park Big Stump Entrance booth, you come to the Big Stump Picnic area on the left (west) side of the road. I'd read about the "Big Stump" in my "Photographing California - Vol. 2: South" book and had to stop there.

I pulled in to the parking lot and got out of my Exploder, setting foot for the first time in King's Canyon National Park. Woo hoo! There is a trail head that leads into the woods. I didn't take my DSLR with me as I headed down the trail, believing I'd return and get it if necessary. That was a mistake.

I headed down the trail. And I mean down. It wasn't terribly steep but it did descend. I passed by sequoias and was instantly struck by their size, majesty, and how welcoming they seem with their fuzzy bark which can get up to about 3 feet thick! I was smiling again! I still missed Yosemite but this was getting good - it's trees and not granite that are the impressive features of this park.

Getting friendly with a sequoia

Continuing along the trail I stopped to look at some more sequoias and to feel them. I'm no botanist but I still try to actually touch things instead of only looking at them through a camera viewfinder. Plus, I only had me iPhone with me so there was no viewfinder available.

When  I turned to start heading down the trail again, approaching a clearing, I saw 2 deer grazing on the trail! How cool is that?! I stopped and watched them. The one in the trail was watching me back but the other one, off to the side a bit, was eating some good national park grass.

Deer grazing along the Big Stump Trail

I took an iPhone picture and then tried to get closer for a better shot which scared them off and they jumped into the brush to the right side of the trail. As I got to where they'd been and was looking at what they were eating, there was a crash to my right.

I turned and saw one of them jump and run off away from me. It had only been about 10 feet to my right, apparently motionless, and I hadn't seen it as I approached.

I tried to see them again but it was no use. I felt lucky to have seen them at all this close and in a natural setting.

Mark Twain Tree - Big Stump Grove

Entering the clearing I came to the Big Stump, or Mark Twain Tree. I wonder how he'd feel (or felt) about having a tree named after him that had been cut down.

This near perfect tree was cut down in 1891 in order to have sections of it put on display in museums in New York and London where they still exist. The National Park Service has more information about it on this web page (https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/science/hartesveldt/chap1.htm).

This is where I got lost. I looked around the clearing a bit more and got turned around, taking a different trail than I'd come to the clearing on, and ended up on the park road right near the park entrance.

Me and my stubble on the Mark Twain Tree

I had no idea which way to go to get back on the correct trail so I decided to walk along the road. It was up hill and there wasn't really much shoulder to walk on so when I hear cars coming I had to get in the brush and wait until they passed. It was only a little under a mile but it was uphill, warm, and I hadn't taken any water with me. And, I'm not the svelte athlete I used to be. In fact, I never was a svelte athlete.

I was bushed by the time I got back to the Big Stump Picnic area and my Explorer and a drink of water! I wasn't wanting to go down the trail again with my DSLR. I was glad, however, that I hadn't had to carry my 10 pounds or so of DSLR gear up that road on my walk!

Lodgepole Campground

Lodgepole Visitor Center

I had reservations for 2 nights at the Lodgepole Campground and since it was about 2:20 PM I decided to head there to see what I needed to do to set up my site for the night. I bypassed the General Grant Grove thinking I'd make it back, which as it is now clear, was a mistake because I never did.

It's about 25 miles from the Big Stump Picnic area to the campground but because of how twisty the road is it took a good hour to make the drive to the Lodgepole Visitor Center and campground.

I checked in to the campground and drove around the entire campground. It is located along the Marble Fork Kaweah River and is very pretty and relaxing, situated among the pines and within walking distance to the visitor center, well stocked store, restaurants, and SHOWERS!

Site #16, Lodgepole Campground
Sequoia National Park

I found that my site, #16, had a very level parking area which was blacktopped. I was going to be able to simply sleep inside of my Explorer and wouldn't have to set up a tent! After my experience at Joshua Tree (where I lost my site), I did take the time to get out a folding chair and set it up. In fact, I decided that since I had the full following day, I'd just chill out at the site.

I went to the visitor center and took the first shower I'd had since Saturday, 5 days earlier. I went back to my site after the shower and dropped off my shower stuff. Then I went back to the visitor center to get souvenirs and eat at the restaurant however the restaurant had closed by that time. I bought myself some souvenirs and a jar of peanut butter. I'd taken bread with me from Phoenix but hadn't opened it and I was hoping it was still good, which it was. I just didn't want ramen noodles again. The bees swarmed my peanut butter and bread - I found out that one of the sites next to me was closed due to bees! Nice to have company!

When the sun went down I was already in bed, reading me some "Bill Bryson - The Lost Continent" and laughing out loud.

Sherman Tree 

Me at the General Sherman Tree Trail entrance

I woke up around sunup or 6:00 AM or so. I made myself some instant Starbucks Italian Road coffee with a Pop Tart, rearranged the inside of my Explorer a bit, then headed down the road. My first stop was at the General Sherman Tree.

This time I did take my DSLR with me, along with one of my trekking poles (the left one). The trail from the non-handicap parking lot is steep. The Big Stump trail was wimpy compared to this one. They have warning signs about the trail - it's easy going down but be aware that coming back up is strenuous!

I got to the tree at about 7:30 AM without meeting anyone, nor was there when I got there. I had the place to myself on that Friday morning. I took some photographs with my Nikon D610 that I was pretty happy with to an extent (I'll post them later - I still haven't processed them).

From a photography perspective, you really need a wide lens in order to capture the sequoias, or you need to be at the base to shoot up the tree. But that ends up creating distortion in the trees. You can get rid of that distortion in Lightroom but when you do you might find out that you needed more room around the tree to prevent chopping some of it off. I really wish I had some way to edit shots on location so you could see if you needed to recompose when shooting this type of subject. Maybe someday I'll just learn how to compensate.

Bombs Away!

Size 11 Pinecone

When I got back to the parking lot I had to use the bathroom. There was a loud bang on the roof while I was in there. Outside I found a large pine cone had fallen on the roof. I was glad it hadn't hit me on the head! I wonder if that has happened. I'd guess that it has, and then I wonder what the damage is!?

Auto Log and Tunnel Log

The Auto Log is a fallen sequoia that has had a lot of photographs taken of it with autos on it. I thought it was the log you could drive your car under but I was fooled. I took some iPhone pics of Auto Log but then went to find Tunnel Log.

Jucy camper van

I met a young couple at Tunnel Log who were driving a "Jucy" rental camping van. I'd never seen these before but there were quite a few of them at Yosemite and Sequoia. I wish I'd asked them how they like it. 

They were concerned that the van wouldn't fit under the Tunnel Log due to it's clearance. I watched and helped them get through the log - there was probably a good 3 or 4 inches of clearance.

Me and my Explorer at the Tunnel Log

I took some cell phone pics of them on their phone and they reciprocated and took some of me. I drove through the tunnel twice just to make sure I did it properly.

Crescent Meadow

My photography book suggested Round Meadow as a photogenic location, a nice meadow surrounded by sequoias. The directions to the meadow in the book were not up to date, however, and I couldn't find the way to the meadow.

The book also mentioned Crescent Meadow and I saw the signs, etc., to make it there so I decided to give it a try.

Me at the trail for Crescent Meadow

I took my DSLR gear with me on the trail but when I got there it wasn't nearly the same as what the pictures of Round Meadow were and I didn't end up taking any photos of it at all. It is a small meadow with some trees around it but there was growth throughout the small meadow that just didn't make it terribly photogenic. 

I'm sure it would be cool if there was fog or golden hour light but for mid day it didn't move me enough to take some photos. I headed back to my Explorer still enjoying the wonderful immersion in nature regardless of the photograph productivity.

Moro Rock

The start of the path up Moro Rock

Moro Rock was listed in the photography book rather nonchalantly as a climb up a rock that offered view point worth seeing. Little did I know what was in store for me.

The summit of Moro Rock is at about 6,725 feet elevation. It looks out to the south and has a great view. Or so I'm told. I saw a part of it.

When I pulled in to the parking lot at Moro Rock a park ranger had just arrived. I watched him hop out of his vehicle and bound, hop, run up the stairs leading to the trail. I hated him instantly.

I grabbed my DSLR, tripod, and trekking pole and headed up the stairs. The picture at right is what you see shortly after getting up the stairs from the parking lot. I was nervous even at this point, hoping I could put aside my fear of heights.

I kept going and was trying to be manly. 

The view, even shortly up the trail, was expansive. I just hated it when I looked down at all so I tried not to do that.

I made it basically to the end of the path visible in the picture at left where the path turns to the right and climbs up. 

At that point I suddenly felt like I no longer had control of my balance or feet and at any moment I was going to fly off of the edge and there was nothing I could do about it. 

My eyes seemed to close in and get tunnel vision. I started trembling. I have to fight back the panic I feel, and how I want to scream and yell for help and just want to close my eyes and wake up back in the parking lot.

Some other tourists asked me if I was okay and needed help. I told them I was just afraid of heights and would be okay. I tried to turn around but couldn't. I backed down the stairs, forcing others to go around me. It was embarrassing but I had no choice.

Eventually I made it back to an area with railings that made me feel safe again where I did turn around and basically clung to the rock until I calmed down. Man I hate that I can't combat and overcome that fear. Once again I missed out on a sight from a high vantage point because of my fear. Heights and spiders - I hate them!

No Bears

I made it back down to the parking lot and the safety of my Explorer. I was disappointed but still happy that I'd at least seen as much as I was able to.

I decided at that point to head back to camp. Along the way I drove slowly, hoping to see any sign of bears - even footprints or scat. The only signs I saw were signs.

After spending a number of days and nights fussing with the bear lockers at the campsites in Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks I really wanted to see a live bear. 

For some reason I thought that would be less scary than walking up Moro Rock! From the videos I've seen the bears don't really want to have anything to do with humans other than to get to their food.

I'd actually been worried about it enough that I had vacuumed the Explorer very thoroughly before I left home and I packed every scented thing in the bear lockers at my campsites. But I felt that if I saw one wander around that unless I smelled like beef jerky, it probably would saunter off, like the deer I'd seen the day before.

Fin

On my way back to the campsite I made up my mind to cut my visit short and head home. I could make it home that Friday night, giving me Saturday and Sunday to regroup before heading back to my J O B on Monday and with it, settling back into my old life.

I would not be the same, though. Because I have now experienced John Muir country in the Sierra Nevada "Range of Light": Mono Lake, Yosemite, Hetch Hetchy, King's Canyon (briefly), and Sequoia. I can't unsee those sights nor unlove them. Nor can I (three weeks later) stop wanting to return. I felt reborn while there. I felt alive as a human animal while there. I felt as though there is meaning to life while there. I smiled while there.

Post Processing Blues in my Yosemite Photographs

Removing a Blue Cast

Half Dome from Olmsted Point

When I was in Yosemite in early September, 2016 for my first visit, the skies were almost completely clear of clouds the entire time - the few clouds that were in the sky were small and almost singular. That meant my photographs had a lot of blue in them if I included the sky, but it also resulted in the granite reflecting a lot of blue.

I processed and posted a few of my shots to share them with others. After I saw them again a couple of days later, especially in the smaller thumbnails, it bothered me how blue the mountains like Half Dome looked. The entire images had blue casts to them and that wasn't how I remembered them looking when I was there.

I can't say for sure that they didn't appear to have blue cast in person, but I don't remember it. I think that as a human my brain probably understood that the granite wasn't actually blue.

I went back into Adobe Lightroom to alter the images. I just did a selection of the peaks or domes using a brush in Lightroom and changed the Temperature (White Balance) of the selected area to a warmer setting in order to make the domes look more like I imagine that I remember them. Note that the granite in the foreground does not appear blue and I did not touch it up.

Adding Blue to the Sky in Post Processing

This image of Half Dome still has some blue in the darker areas but the lighter areas are warmed up. The strange thing is that the sky isn't terribly blue either. I brought out the blue in the top of the image using a graduated filter in Lightroom in this shot. The original is more white, like the lower half of the sky.

I didn't use a graduated neutral density filter when I shot this and I'm not sure how well it would have worked. The problem with this shot is that I'd like the sky to be darkened but Half Dome sticks up into the sky where you want the darkening. Half Dome would get darkened as well. Perhaps that could be overcome in Lightroom but then I'd just be doing a different set of adjustments.

Dehaze added more Blue Cast

Half Dome from Big Oak Flat Road

The images where there was some distance to the peaks often had a "haze" in them which should be a perfect time to use the Lightroom Dehaze control. I also noticed that increasing the Dehaze also increased the blue cast as shown in the shot to the left.

Again, I went back to adjust the color cast using a brush and changing the temperature of the selection. In this shot I did more temperature adjustment of Half Dome than of the other middle hill on the right. It was closer and didn't turn as blue.

I didn't adjust the sky as much in this shot; it was blue from the top down.

Kudos

Processing these photographs has been more of a challenge than I expected. I have tried rendering some of them in black and white but I haven't been much happier with the way they look in black and white, mainly, I think, because of the boring sky. What I have gained is an appreciation for the amazing captures of the Yosemite scenery by others. The scenery is very beautiful and impressive but to get an image that stands out you really need the sky to match the landscape with interesting clouds and you need to try different things with the capture to control light. I want to go try again!

Some photography notes from upper Yosemite National Park

Lembert Dome

I've processed the images that I think were worth it from my brief few hours in northern Yosemite National Park. I'll say up front that the park did it's part - it was beautiful. Any deficiencies are my fault!

If you haven't read my blogs about my visit, I entered the park from the east along Highway 120, from near Lee Vining. My first stop was at the Tuolomne Meadows area. My first shots with the Nikon D610 started at 9:10 AM on a sunny day with barely any clouds (in fact, there were only a couple of very small clouds in any of my shots).

Because of the time of day, and the time of year, while Tuolomne Meadows was still wonderful to see, the grass was brown, the sky was boring, the light was bright and the shots were contrasty. Nonetheless, I took some shots. It was, after all, my first visit and as it turned out, the only visit I made to that part of the park.

You can view more images on my SmugMug site at http://RandallMorter.SmugMug.com.

Lembert Dome

Lembert Dome

Lembert Dome dominates the east end of the Tuolomne Meadows area, or at least is visible clearly from that location. The cliff face faces northwest and the rounded back faces southwest. Not having been there for sunrise (or sunset), I can't attest to the best location to shoot it from. If you shot during the summer months it might be a good shot to try to get a sunburst on the cliff face as the sun rises. If the sunset caused the face to turn red or gold that would be a good shot. Also, if you're so inclined, a shot from the top might be good. I read that the climb up the rounded back can be done by less experienced climbers. And, as always, if there are good clouds, including storm clouds, that could probably be good from any where around the formation.

Tuolomne Meadows

Tuolomne Meadows - I believe that's Tuolomne Peak

I really wanted to like the meadows, and I did to an extent, I just really want to go back in spring when the Tuolomne River is flowing higher and the grass is green and maybe you can catch some fog on it. Again, no fault of the location - I just wasn't there at the best time of day or year.

The Tuolome River runs through the meadows, meandering to and fro. I really wish I'd had more time to walk along it, to get away from the built up area next to the road.

As it was, I stopped a few places around the meadow: at the road to the horse stables (nearest Lembert Dome), at the bridge near the Dana Fork but east of Tuolmne Meadows Grill (there are some falls up the road that turns of just west of the bridge but I didn't drive up to see what they looked like in September), on the side of the road near some boulders in the meadows, and on the side of the road about .7  miles west of the Cathedral Lakes Trailhead. 

Tuolomne River near the bridge

I want to interject that for some reason I didn't feel compelled to attach my GPS to my camera. I have no idea why, I thought about doing it but I just didn't want to go through with it.

As for the Tuolomne River, I think you need to walk along it to find really good shots. The one I took from near the bridge isn't great. I was on the east side of the river, south of the bridge. On the west side of the river is a road. I had to wait until cars had got out of my shot. I was also somewhat shooting into the sun (you can see the flare in the image at right). I did use a polarizer and when I was shooting perpendicular to the sun it was okay but there were footprints in the sandy bank, I wasn't interested in shooting the bridge, and I didn't want to take the time to hike the river right then. 

Boulders at Tuolomne Meadows

I found the area with the boulders to be interesting but due to the time of day it was pretty contrasty and with the direct light, not terribly fantastic for photography purposes. 

I would love to see this in spring, and especially if you caught a deer out there feeding in the morning or evening light! 

I'll make another interjection here too - while my photographs didn't turn out to be world class, I still enjoyed the heck out of being there, and that was why I decided to go at this time of year. I'd originally wanted to go in February of 2016 but health issues kept that out of reach. When I had my third surgery of the year in August, 2016 and things started looking like they were improving, I made the plan to go around Labor Day knowing the falls would be dry, the grass would be brown, etc., but I didn't care - I wanted me some Yosemite!

The west end of Tuolomne Meadows

The end of the meadows that you can visit from roadside, a bit past the Cathedral Lake Trailhead, is cool in that there is some granite that comes right down to the meadows. There's also a trail that goes right along the base of the granite. 

I've cloned out some of the signs in my image. I didn't try getting lower into the meadow to hide the trail because there were signs right there telling you to stay out of the meadows.

Tenaya Lake

Tenaya Lake

About 5.5 miles farther down the road I stopped on the side of the road at Tenaya Lake. What a pretty location!

Tenaya Lake is oriented from southwest to northeast. The southwest end has a park which could be a good location for sunrise shots since there are a number of peaks around the lake. 

Conversely, the northeast end might be good for sunset shots. There is a pullout right at the northeast end that you could hike from, or just beyond the northeast end of the lake is the Tenaya Lake Picnic Area although the walk would be a little longer from that starting point.

Peak north of Tenaya Lake
Wide view

The best I did was getting down at the waters edge and getting my camera low, trying to use some of the rocks to generate a leading line into the shot. If it was at sunset and if there were clouds in the sky I think it'd be a nice shot.

While I was there I also climbed up the granite on the north side of the road, just a bit. I really wanted to feel it with my own hands - the John Muir granite! I laid on it, rubbed it, enjoyed it. And then I heard some distant yelling. There were people climbing above me!

I didn't have my long lens, just had my 16-35mm attached, but took some shots anyway.

The wide view at right is cropped a bit (due to levelling), shot at 35mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 100. This give some sense of scale. If you click on it to see the larger version you'll see the climbers in the upper right of the face.

This other shot at left is a crop from the same image above, focusing in on the climbers. What I don't like is that they just aren't very sharp. I don't remember if I used my tripod for this shot. If not, I'm okay because I know my jittery hands just don't yield great handheld shots. If it's a tripod shot I am not that happy with the sharpness.

Regardless of the picture quality, what they're doing is pretty impressive!

I don't see a name for this peak, but it's the one that is on the north side of Tioga Road at Tenaya Lake.

I did not pull in to the park area at the southwest end of the park, where Tenaya Creek flows and where you can find the Clouds Rest Trail.

Olmsted Point Overlook

Yosemite Valley from Olmsted Point Overlook

About 1.7 miles west of Tenaya Lake is Olmsted Point Overlook. That's where you get your first view of Half Dome when you enter the park from the east. I wasn't really prepared for it but when I figured out what I was looking at I felt like I had arrived!

Olmsted Point Overlook provides a view of Half Dome from the northeast which is the opposite direction it's normally photographed from. I believe the distance to Half Dome from Olmsted Point Overlook be about 5.5 miles as the raven flies.

I shot this pic on the left with my 70-200mm lens - I wish now I'd at least taken a shot also with my 200-500mm lens.

If you view this at 1:1 you can see the Half Dome Cables - this is the side you can climb up if you're healthy and brave enough. There are permanent cables (well, I think they take them down in the winter months) for hikers to pull themselves up. If you've never looked into this, there are some YouTube videos of folks hiking up there (search for "youtube half dome cables"; click HERE for a sample). The number of hikers allowed to do it is limited by the park but it still looks crowded!

I think this location could provide a great sunset shot. Half Dome is oriented similar to Lambert Dome - the face points northwest. In the summer months when the sun sets farther north it could potentially light up golden or red and this angle could provide for some great reflections. And it has the advantage of being from a different angle than most shots taken from the other side of the valley.

Half Dome Cables (click to see larger version)

As you can see, my shots are maybe better than iPhone snapshots with respect to image quality but they're certainly nothing spectacular. I think Ansel Adams can continue to rest peacefully.

As a general photography note, I will say that I felt comfortable shooting. The last couple of times I've gone out I've started to feel like I know my camera and know which lens I want to use to get the shot I want and that I have a nice selection of lenses that cover my desires. I truly don't have any needs for anything more or different, except perhaps another graduated neutral density (GND) filter which might have helped out on a couple of my shots. But I also think that GND's are best for these mid day shots and frankly I just don't really like these mid day shots anyway, even if I had a GND.

Yosemite National Park Day 3 - Glacier Point

My elaborate campsite,
Crane Flat Campground #410

I woke up early again on Wednesday, September 7, 2016. I was beat and sore. I decided to relax a bit and went back to sleep. I didn't roll out of my sleeping bag until about 8:30 AM. I leisurely heated some water for my instant Starbucks coffee and instant oatmeal. Note that one of John Muir's staples was oatmeal. I was hoping that I'd channel some more Muir!

I also want to plug the Starbucks instant coffee. It's pretty good for instant and I don't have to have to take any tools to brew coffee. I had started looking for such a thing before leaving on the trip and ended up finding that Starbucks had instant coffee. I ordered some from Amazon at $11.65 for 8 packets. Afterwards, when I was at my local WalMart to get some other supplies, I saw they had the same thing for about $6. Someone made some bucks off of me! Regardless of the price, it was good and convenient.

My plan for the day, now that I wasted and lost the opportunity to shoot sunrise photographs, was to visit Glacier Point. That was the last remaining highlight I had on my list of things to be sure I saw during my way too short of a visit:

1. Tuolomne Meadows
2. Tenaya Lake
3. Hetch-Hetchy
4. The Valley and El Capitan, Half dome, Yosemite Falls, Ansel Adams Gallery
5. Tunnel View viewpoint
6. Glacier Point

Eventually I got myself on the road. Yes, I'd lost the sunrise but I was very relaxed and happy, even if I was sore. I must have moved around and exercised some muscles more than I realized up to this point! Good for me!

I headed on out of the campground and down towards the valley to get on Wawona Road. I drove past the Tunnel View viewpoint and headed through Wawona Tunnel for which it's named. It's a long tunnel at 4,233 feet - about 4/5 of a mile.

Sign for McGurk Meadows along Glacier Point Road

Continuing up the winding Wawona Road you come to the turn off for Glacier Point. It seemed like it was suddenly there without a lot of warning (signs). I took the turn and headed up Glacier Point Road. There's a Yosemite Ski and Snowboard Resort along the way as the road twists through some lovely pine and granite. I wanted to stop along the road often but kept going, hoping I'd have time at the end of the day to stop more. 

I just found the scenery and landscape along that whole road to be beautiful and wonderful. Again I was wishing I could live there. I imagine a lot of other people wish that too! I also wish I was a park ranger, working there.

I did see some similarities between the Glacier Point Road and some of the roads in the Grand Canyon National Park on the north rim side. But the meadows at Yosemite were prettier (from what I saw as I drove past them). I'll also admit that I drove slowly, generally in tourist mode and under the speed limit. There wasn't a lot of traffic and when anyone got behind me, rushing to get to the end of the road, I pulled over to let them pass. I wanted to enjoy the trip! 

Washburn Point Visitors

I am reading "Wild" right now and Cheyrl Strayed has a line I read last night that I liked - she was in a car while bypassing some snow bound parts of the Pacific Crest Trail, and, to paraphrase, said that as she watched the landscape go by from the car it became general instead of specific and that she was an observer instead of a participant. I was trying to stay as much of a participant as possible.

As you get closer to the Glacier Point area you first pass by the Washburn Point viewpoint. Yep, I did pull in there to check it out. I didn't spend much time there at the time, but did get a nice view of Half Dome before continuing on to Glacier Point.

Between Washburn Point and Glacier point, headed to Glacier Point, there's a right hand turn around a point that looks out at the valley just before you get to the Glacier Point parking lot. There's a parking area inside the turn, and there was only one car in there. I thought it would make a great place to take some photos from.

The parking lot at Glacier Point was full. I drove around 3 times before I found someone that was leaving. I waited for them to back out of their spot and I grabbed it. It was probably about 10:00 AM, which is after the tourists start getting out. 

The area at Glacier Point was also full of humans. I didn't even get my DSLR out of the car, and my iPhone battery was dead so I didn't even get any photos from there. I walked the paved trails around the point, ooohd and aaahd. Watched everyone else taking their selfies with their selfie sticks. I went through the little masonry "tower" on one of the trails. I went in to the Glacier Point "store" and got a hot dog and coffee. The bees really enjoyed it - I had to take bites from it in between the times when there were a few bees on it grabbing a bite.

Outcroppings near Glacier Point

I tried to enjoy the view but there were a lot of people there. If I'd had another day at the park I would have tried to get up there a lot earlier. The view of Half Dome is better here than at Washburn Point because you see more of the face from Glacier Point. At Washburn Point you're looking about straight across the face, just getting the profile of Half Dome. But, due to the number of people, I didn't end up going back with my DSLR. I'll do it next time.

I decided to instead drive back to that sharp turn in the road just outside of the Glacier Point parking lot. When I got there it was packed full of cars. Bummer. I went on a bit farther and pulled off the road near some granite. I parked and walked out on the granite and found some decent views of Half Dome there so I grabbed my DSLR and climbed out on those rocks.

Half Dome from the outcroppings near Glacier Point

I actually climbed out on the rocks to get some shots, trying not to look down. In fact, I crawled on part of my excursion. I really wanted some photographs from up here and the drop offs weren't quite bad enough to keep me away. I enjoyed finding a path through the bushes and over the boulders.

Half Dome was visible through some trees. I won't say that I got award winning shots but I like them and I really like the memories that they'll spark when I view them in the future. If I haven't mentioned it, I was really enjoying my visit at Yosemite!

I was even able to pose and grab my own selfies with Half Dome in the background! How cool is that?

Me with Half Dome in the background

Okay, nothing spectacular but I was still pinching myself - I was truly seeing John Muir country!

I continued on, stopping at Washburn Point again to take some more photographs from that location.

I haven't processed the shots yet but I was able to use my 200-500mm lens to get some shots of Vernal and Nevada falls which are visible from there. 

When I looked at the falls without the lens, they were okay. Not a lot of water but enough. But when I looked at them with the long lens I saw that there were a lot of people at the falls. That lens is cool. I wish I had a teleconverter too; it would have likely worked fine for those shots - using a tripod in bright mid-day light. I could have picked out the people a lot better (and it would have been useful for the climbers on El Capitan).

Somewhere along Wawona Road

There were a lot of folks at Washburn Point taking pictures, as you would imagine. Out of the many DSLR shooters, all of them were using Canon cameras except 2. I spoke to one guy who stood right in front of me (it was okay, I was just sitting on a railing enjoying the view) about that, He thought it was funny - he hated the Canon ergonomics. I can't say I hate Canon ergonomics because I've never shot one. What I can say is for what ever reason, significantly more people were carrying a Canon DSLR than Nikon. That's just an observation...

At some time about 4:15 PM I decided to start heading back to the valley. I thought I'd stop at Tunnel View viewpoint again and see what I could get for some sunset shots from there. Along the way I shot a video of going through Wawona Tunnel (click this link to view the video).

Some non-humans at Tunnel View

I stayed at Tunnel View until dark and shot a lot of captures of the shadow of El Capitan as it crept across the valley using the interval timer on my Nikon D610 (again, when I process these shots I'll post another blog). I got about 100 shots at 1 minute intervals.

While I was doing that I talked to a nice young couple from Rhode Island. They were just as excited as I was to be there watching the sunset on Yosemite Valley! They'd come up to me and the man said "I see everyone else is over there (pointing) and you're down here. We figured you must know what you're doing so we're coming here by you." His flattery got him a smile and a laugh in return! 

I left Tunnel View after dark, heading back to my campsite. I wasn't looking forward to trying to fix some ramen noodles in the dark but oh well.

As I got into the valley and made the turns on to El Capitan Drive and Northside Drive and was passing by El Capitan Meadow, the moon was visible between the Cathedral Rocks and looked wonderful. I made the quick decision to pull over and shoot some moon pictures from out in the meadow.

I grabbed my camera which had my 70-200mm zoom on it and walked out into the middle of the meadow where the deer and bears roam. It was so cool, being there like that at that time of day with no one else around and hardly any cars going by. I tried shooting a picture but instantly saw that I needed a wider lens so I walked back to the Explorer, swapped the lens for the 20mm, and then returned to the middle of the meadow. 

I got some shots (which I haven't processed yet, as you might have guessed). When I turned around to go back to the car I noticed lights on the face of El Capitan. The climbers were settling in for the night and you could see where they were. Again, this place is something else (in a good way)! I put the camera down and shot some photographs of that too. Like I said on my post about day 1, every time you turn your head here, or walk a few feet, there is something new to take a photograph of. You better bring lots of film if you come to Yosemite!

Eventually I made it back to my campsite. I barely got my ramen cooked and eaten and cleaned up before the 10:00 PM "quiet" time hit. My second full day in Yosemite was over, dammit!