Saturday was the first day of our visit to the park. We came through the south entrance. It is about a 25 mile drive from the south entrance to Yosemite Valley. Your first view of the valley is just before the tunnel, after going through the tunnel you are greeted with Tunnel View. This is an amazing view of the valley floor. You'll see El Capitan to your left, Bridalveil Falls to your right, and Half Dome smack dab in the center. I'm sure just about everyone has seen Ansel Adam’s "Clearing Winter Storm" photo of this view. This is the first place you’ll learn just how many tourists are there to see Yosemite. We parked the car and I hopped out like a giddy school boy. I quickly gathered my tripod and camera pack and walked over to the wall where the tourist congregate to photograph Tunnel View and start setting up my camera. If I haven’t mentioned it before I’m a hybrid photographer, which means that I use both film and digital cameras. So I’m standing at this beautiful vista, looking out as I set up, which takes about 5 minutes or so. I take out my light meter, get the reading, and set my shutter and aperture accordingly. In the time that it takes me to go through these steps several people have come up, taken their snapshot and ran back to their car and drove away. While I’m composing my shot and checking my settings, I had several people come up and ask me if I’d take their picture. I am always happy to oblige, but what cracked me up is that four out of five times they feel the need to point out to me which button trips the shutter.
Well most of Saturday was spent taking photos of all the popular spots. Then something happened while I was taking some shots from Sentinel Bridge, I thought I had taken 9 or 10 shots but when I checked the film counter was blank. Apparently when I had reloaded the film I forgot to completely wind the camera. So all the shots I took, didn’t actually get recorded. Which I feel, ended up being a good thing because right then I decided that I needed to take photos that weren’t like everyone else’s. I started looking for My Yosemite and not the one I had seen and read about in books. Don’t get me wrong Ansel Adam’s photos of Yosemite are amazing, but I didn’t need to make a perfect copy of his photos. I needed to make photos that were mine, and in my style. I stopped being as concerned about the photos I was taking and started concentrating more on experiencing this beautiful place. One of the most unexpected experiences, which we don’t have any photos of, yet I doubt we’ll ever forget is of watching a coyote running across the meadow walkways.
We were on the north side of the meadow on the Yosemite Falls side, and our car was parked over by Sentinel Bridge. I had just finished taking some photos of Yosemite Falls when we decided to head back to the car. As we started across the meadow footbridge, it started to rain large cold rain drops. We started to pickup our pace when I noticed a healthy sized coyote coming from the west up to the footbridge. My Beautiful Wife looked up and saw him just as a couple that was walking towards us about 75 yards away saw him. We both slowed down, and watched as the coyote looked at both of us to judge our speed and intent. He decided that we were no threat to him and he crossed the footbridge and ran in to a heavily wooded area to get out of the rain. It was such a beautiful and natural moment that we where stunned and in awe.
Sunday was the day we almost made it to the valley floor. However the closer we got the more it snowed, so not having chains, we decided to turn around and decided to go back toward home. However we didn’t rush back, we took our time and pulled off and investigated some of the beautiful creeks on highway 41 that most people drive past at 40 mph. These little creeks and vistas are filled with natural beauty. Alder Creek has to be one of my favorites. I’ll post photos from Alder Creek on my photoblog as soon I get some film developed.
Monday we went to both Bridalveil and Verner Falls. While they were both very different, their beauty is undeniable. I do have some recommendations, if it’s less than 40 degrees, you don’t have to hike all the way to the base of Bridalveil, because it will be very wet and cold. You're hands will freeze quickly and your teeth will chatter so hard, you may have to go to the dentist afterwards. However on a hot day, I’m sure it’ll be nice and cool and just what the doctor ordered. Verner Falls is something else. I do have to warn you that it’s a good hike. I don’t mean miles and miles kind of hike, I mean it’s a good hike uphill the entire way and at a fairly steep grade. Being that I had my 50 pound camera bag on my back, it was a lot more work than I expected. One of the beautiful moments of that hike was about half way up the trail to the footbridge, on the west side we saw a beautiful, powerful spring fall that simply won’t be there a month from now. To see such a rare sight on such a hard hike was very rewarding. It was a great trip and I can’t wait to go back to My Yosemite.
Happy Trails
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