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 1 - Tuolomne, Crane Flats, Hetch-Hetchy

Heading west on Highway 120 towards
Yosemite National Park

I turned west on to California State Route 120 just south of Lee Vining and was finally on my way into Yosemite National Park! I had been waiting for this, planning for this, wanting this for well over a year and it was finally happening. Yes I was grinning like a fool driving along the highway.

First, though, I had to stop at a rest area to brush my teeth after having a breakfast burrito from the Mono Market in Lee Vining. And, at the risk of being gross (not that it will stop me), I had to irrigate my sinuses. That was the first occurrence of this process on my vacation where I got to use very cold water. The overnight temps had got down to about 40 degrees Fahrenheit and my distilled water was close to that. Nothing like squirting that up your nose at 8:00 AM in the morning!

Then, after my procrastination, I climbed back into my Explorer, got my grin back on, and headed towards the park.

As my camping partner from the night before told me, the highway climbs fast once you get on it. Lee Vining is at an elevation of 6,781 feet, and by the time you travel the roughly 13 miles to the East Park Entrance at Tioga Pass, you're at 9,941 feet elevation - most of which is gained very quickly along the road.

Along the way you start getting into the mountains. You start seeing the granite that Yosemite (and the Sierras in general) are known for. You, if you're like me, start grinning even more. 


I have lived in Oregon and Washington a lot but the mountains there are not like these. One reason I like Arizona is because I can see something besides trees, which is about all you see in western Oregon and Washington. I enjoy seeing the dirt and rocks - the ground. In the Sierras you see what the mountains are made of but you also see a lot of trees. A great mix!

There are some cool viewpoints along the highway that allow you to turn off and enjoy the scenery. I hit a few of them even though I was torn by the desire to see where I was and the desire to get in to Yosemite National Park. As my visit unfolded I found that I had that problem often.

I wanted to savor the moment but I was anxious to see more. I'll say it now - my overall thought of Yosemite National Park was that I loved everything. When I saw something amazing, something that I just wanted to look at or photograph, I would end up turning my head or walking 20 feet and there'd be another amazing or beautiful view. 

Wide vistas or close under forest cover it didn't matter. There is always another wonderful view waiting. I spent 3 nights there and all it did was whet my appetite for more. I'm jumping ahead, I guess, but as I write this I have an overwhelming desire to be back in the bosom of Yosemite. 

I know I'm not the only one but I believe it affects people deeply, especially if you are in tune with nature and the beauty of that area. I suppose there are some people that could be more like Clark Griswold when he visited the Grand Canyon in "Vacation", but I couldn't and can't get enough! 

And I was still outside the park, experiencing the need to both linger and venture and wish I had at least two weeks to spend in the park.


I did continue on, driving to Tioga Pass where the park entrance is located. I drove past the various lakes and campgrounds and Tioga Pass Resort. I then made it to the park entrance.

Tioga Pass - East Entrance to Yosemite National Park

I had purchased an annual pass to the National Parks at Joshua Tree National Park. At Yosemite they asked to see some ID along with the pass. The ranger squinted at my ID and my signature on my National Park pass. I assume she was trying to ensure that the signature was the same on my Arizona driver license as it was on the pass. I don't get it - the passes are not replaceable if you loose them - they're basically like cash. 

Whoever has the pass can present it, as far as I know. And, as I'd find out a Sequoia National Park, not every park asks for an additional ID. I find it strange that different National Parks operate differently at basic levels such as how they indicate whether a vehicle has paid the entrance fee to the park. All three parks I visited did something different. 

Once I got through the park gate I felt like I'd finally made it. I was in Yosemite National Park! 

Driving along highway 120 was, as I've already alluded to, a never ending scenery fest. I had my iPhone on the windshield suction cup mount and kept clicking it. I didn't want to have too few photos!

I wonder if a better approach would be to walk the highway instead of driving it. You'd have more time to enjoy each and every detail. I wonder why I don't feel this way about the other places I go to, or why I didn't feel this way about the Hoh Rainforest in Washington. The two places have a lot in common - natural, trees, etc. I may need to revisit the Hoh again to see if I can be reset properly.

A lone Sequoia along Highway 120

I started seeing a sequoia now and then. It was relentless in the assault of beauty. I found myself hoping that the road went forever. My only regret was that my wife wasn't with me to share it. This was another thing I found I wished for a lot over the rest of my trip. I don't remember what movie I saw that had a line like that - but it sure does make an experience more profound if you're sharing it with someone you care about. 

Before I knew it, and before I wanted it, I found myself at Tuolomne Meadows. I wanted to see the meadows but I wanted the park to be more expansive at the same time. If you look at a map you'll see that the meadows are actually quite a distance from the west side of the park. I just was hoping to prolong the foreplay before arriving there.

Arriving at Tuolomne Meadows

At 8:55 AM I arrived at the Tuolomne Meadows area. There were quite a few people there by that time. 

The parking lot at the road that head north to the horse stables was full but there were a few spots left for parking along the road itself. I had to stop and get out and walk around. I didn't take my Nikon with me at this point, I just wanted to get my feet in the famous Tuolomne Meadow!

I spent a bit of time in the area and took a number of shots with the Nikon D610 (which I'll post when I get them processed). I got some photographs of Lembert's Dome, Tuolomne River, the meadows, some boulders and pine trees. I enjoyed the area and could have easily spent days there. It's beautiful and peaceful. There wasn't a lot of water in the Tuolomne River but there was enough to allow you to think of it as a river instead of a creek.

After a bit I headed on, stopping at the Tuolomne Meadows Visitor Center. I went in but didn't stay long. It wasn't a tourist trap and didn't have any souvenirs - it had information and registration for hikers if you need it.

I came to Tenaya Lake, again it was too soon! 

Me at Tenaya Lake

Some granite across Highway 120 from Tenaya Lake

Me laying on the granite across from Tenaya Lake - wonderful!

I have watched a number of videos (mainly on YouTube) about hiking the John Muir or Pacific Crest Trails and when the people have arrived at Tenaya Lake or Tuolomne Meadows I had the assumption that they were remote locations you had to work at to get to. Here I was driving to them!

I took out my Nikon D610 and got a few photographs of the lake that I like, even for mid-day shots. I'm sure they'd be better at the golden hour but I never made it back after this brief stop. 

Tenaya Lake

From there I stopped at Olmsted Point where I got my first view of the iconic Half Dome! I had now seen three of the famous points of interest: Tuolomne Meadows, Tenaya Lake, and Half Dome! I still hadn't stopped grinning! I never wanted to leave!

Approaching Olmsted Point from the east

From there it was quite a drive to Crane Flat campground where I was staying. The drive was mainly in the pine forest. The traffic wasn't bad, and I eventually arrived at the campground.

When I checked in to the campground they had a sign on the booth saying "Bear Crossing". I commented that it didn't look like the crossing was very busy at the moment the range told me the bears had been through earlier.

I was really hoping that I'd see a bear, not breaking in to my vehicle or chasing me, but perhaps wandering through the park. It wasn't to be, unfortunately; no bear sightings the entire trip.

Campsite #410 at Crane Flat Campground

I got to my site, #410, and it was something else. It was a "pull through" type lot but it was on a hill side. The Explorer was probably at a 10 degree angle when parked. The tent site was level but the picnic table was probably at 5 degrees or more. Things rolled off of it quite nicely which does help keep it uncluttered!

Then I found out that my new tent was not a complete tent. It was designed to work with a separate canopy section which I hadn't purchased. Due to my recent viewing of outdoorsy YouTubes, I fashioned additional support out of my trekking poles and some straps I keep in my Explorer. What a bit of ingenuity! It certainly saved me from driving to a city to buy a real tent. And, there was no way I could sleep in the Explorer there due to the incline.
  

Heading to Hetch Hetchy

After getting the tent configured I acquainted myself with storing things in the bear vault, had a bite to eat, and then decided to take the rest of that day to visit Hetch Hetchy. It was about 4:30 by the time I started on my way there.

Hetch Hetchy is another valley north of the more famous Yosemite Valley. It was dammed in the 1920's after a battle to keep it natural between the city of San Francisco and environmentalists led by John Muir was won by San Francisco. 

This battle was the last major thing John Muir was involved in and he passed away while trying to preserve the Hetch Hetchy valley. It is still controversial, due to putting a dam in a National Park. I wanted to at least see it in person and this seemed like the best day to do it. I could spend the following day in Yosemite Valley proper, and the following day at Glacier Point before heading to Sequoia / King's Canyon National Park.

The road to Hetch Hetchy exits the park briefly and crosses private land. It is hilly and twisty most of the way and would be fun in a sports car. Before you get to the dam and lake you go through the Mather Camp area which surprised me at how busy it was. I hadn't heard of it, and you just kind of come upon it, a busy, large campground and cabin area with a large store in the middle of the woods. 

There was even a little lake near there with a gazebo that would probably make a great place for a wedding or summer concert series. They didn't ask me to play.

When I got to Hetch Hetchy I parked the Explorer and got out to walk around. I parked near the top of the hill in the parking lot. When I got out I could hear loud water so looked over the bank to see the outflow of the hydro-electric generator in the river.

I hadn't known, or thought to research it earlier, but the Hetch Hetchy is fed by the Tuolomne River.

I walked down to the dam and across it. I didn't take the Nikon D610 so the only images I have are my iPhone pictures. I just didn't see anything that warranted lugging the D610 and tripod around.

The dam and lake were not entirely ugly but they gave me a bad vibe just because of the history. And possibly because everything else I'd been seeing was pretty much natural and not man made. 

I walked across the dam to where there's a tunnel through the mountain. At the other end there was a baby stroller and I could hear an infant but couldn't see anyone else. That, too, was unnerving. I'd seen the people ahead of me going in to the tunnel but they were no where in sight when I got to the other end of the tunnel.

I have a few pics of the dam area here:

A view of O'Shaughnessy Dam

O'Shaughnessy Dam

The tunnel entrance from O'Shaughnessy Dam

A view of the Hetch Hetchy valley outside of the tunnel

Tunnel entrance from the lake side

From there I headed back to my campsite where I made myself some ramen noodles and sausages along with some Ritz crackers. And I had a "Half Dome" wheat beer from the Sequoia Brewing Company that I'd picked up at the Crane Flat Store. 

My first dinner at Yosemite National Park

It was wonderful and after cleaning up I crawled into my cobbled together tent and slept. With a grin still on my face!