Yosemite National Park
Be prepared to crane your neck, rub your eyes and shake your head. You’ve come to a place sculpted by stone giants, where the air shudders from the thunder of torrents unleashed by the gods of snow-capped summits. The horizons of its valley are outlined by granite walls thousands of feet tall. You must look way up to see the sky.
The view from the crest of Vernal Fall. In the background, spray-stained granite walls tower above the Mist Trail.
Half Dome viewed from Snow Creek Trail, elevation 6,800', across Tenaya Canyon at a distance of 2 miles.
A good day to be gliding on Tenaya Lake's cooling waters, 8,149' above sea level.
Nevada Fall provides the backdrop for the Merced River’s canyon-carving descent toward Vernal Fall.
Mountain pride penstemon adorns the John Muir Trail.
Merced River and Cathedral Spires.
The pilothouse and prow of the granite battleship known as North Dome and Washington Column.
A stream below Bridalveil Fall.
Crimson columbine along the John Muir Trail.
Tuolumne Meadow viewed from Lembert Dome.
Interlude at Nevada Fall.
The Merced below Vernal Fall.
Bridalveil Fall at full force. June, 2011.
Bridalveil in low flow and high wind. June, 2022.
Pacific stonecrop, Lembert Dome.
Half Dome viewed from Mirror Lake in early evening.
Don't forget to wear a poncho on the Mist Trail.
Great red paintbrush, Snow Creek Trail.
Viewed from the valley floor, the iconic face of Half Dome dominates the horizon. But from Glacier Point, above, Half Dome is revealed as the mere tip of a colossal granite iceberg.
The Merced cannonades off the rim of Nevada Fall.
Mountain dogwood, Yosemite Valley
The largest exposed mass of granite on planet Earth, El Capitan rises 3,500 feet above the 4,000-foot floor of Yosemite Valley.
Snow plant, Snow Creek Trail.
The Upper Cascade of Yosemite Falls, the tallest waterfall in North America.
Leafy aster, Tuolumne Meadow.
Bridalveil Fall.