Exploring Yosemite Valley
Everywhere you go in Yosemite Valley people run around with eyes bulging out, pointing cameras and craning heads upward. You and me and everyone else.
Some view this magnificent masterpiece as a divine creation. Others ponder chaotic geological forces carving and shifting the land over eons. Either way, Yosemite inspires an awe rarely so universal in effect.
What is extraordinary in this valley is a matter of scale. Similar shapes and rock faces can occur in a tide pool. A trickle of water from a tidal surge is a tiny waterfall. Yosemite is a compact archetype of superlative quality. El Capitan and Half Dome awe with their imposing façades. Yosemite Falls is the highest waterfall in North America. All around us nature soars and dominates and we casually stroll through in a dreamlike state, finally free of rolls of film with limited exposures.
Of course, photos simply do not capture the experience any better than a video of hang gliding from Glacier Point capturing the feeling of flying over all of this on a bright morning.
Photographs may capture, but often their intent is to tide one over until one actually arrives at the scene and experiences for oneself... or to recall that dreamlike state and the inspiring environs.
This Particular Trip
We arrived early Sunday morning amidst the growing traffic of motorhomes and busses and met up with my mom and Jay for a hike up to bask in the refreshing spray of Lower Yosemite Falls. May is a good time to visit but it means campground choices are somewhat limited. Tioga Pass is still closed and other sites do not open until mid-June. We opted to stay at Hodgdon Meadow and spend a day up at less-frequented Hetch Hetchy Valley. On the way back down we snaked up to Glacier Point to take in a bird’s-eye view of the valley. That was a Tuesday and the park was noticeably less crowded.
Tags Driving, Hiking, Valleys, Mountains
Yosemite Series | All United States Locations
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