One of the great natural attractions in California Yosemite is only about four hours drive from San Jose, five hours from San Francisco and similar from Los Angeles. If you are going to enjoy Yosemite properly you can’t just drive in and out on the same day. You need to stay there, you can motor home camp, tent camp or hire lodgings in the valley. I recommend you bring the bulk of your food needs in with you as purchasing in the valley is expensive. In November there might be early snow but its not particularly likely. It will however be very cold at night. When I went I stayed for three nights (four days) and it wasn’t nearly enough. I hiked roughly 50km in those days. Camping is currently all pre booked, you cannot just turn up presently though that might change later in the year as its get colder. Currently due to Covid 19 you even need a reservation to enter Yosemite.
On my first night I pulled over to the side of the road and stared in wonder at the glowing granite cliffs reflecting the moonlight. Even though it was already late and I knew that finding my campsite would be hard and I was very tired I could not resist doing some light painting in that magnificent vista. The curls are from my LED poi that I spin to make patterns. The bright red foreground glow was from the tail lights of a park police cruiser that had stopped to see what I was doing.
This first photo demonstrates why you need to stay, if you want to see the park before it fills up with the cars laden with day trippers you need to start hiking at first light. When its early the valley can be chilled quiet and misty like this. Its the kind of sight that does weird things to you.
Later on my first day I hopped onto my pre booked bus trip up to Glacier point. Lots of people hang around the bus depot hoping for someone to not show up but generally everyone does. You can walk up to Glacier Point. Its only a 4 mile trail. Straight up. Actually do it, I did the same day in the afternoon and loved it.
Make full use of the free shuttle buses that run around the park. Your park fee covers their use. You can get all the way up to El Portal to see back down into the valley if you didn’t come in that way. The view from here is quite staggering.
On my second day there I reviewed the map of the park and the hike guide and decided I could do both Vernal and Nevada Falls by lunch time if I left at 6am which would give me 7 hours or so before I was too hungry. Being an experienced hiker you’d think I would have taken the terrain into account, well like a noob I didn’t. It took me until nearly 11am just to climb to the top of Vernal Falls. I went up the Mist Trail which starts out pretty easy but then goes up, straight up, endlessly on slippery slimy rock stairs. I was fortunate in that I took 2 litres of water and a pile of fruit and muesli bars because I needed them.
At the top of Vernal Falls there is a large sort of flat area with plenty of open rock to lie in the sun and let your muscles recover as the fatigue is leached out. I explored around here for a while and despite the time I went on to Nevada Falls which is easily the same climb over again. Of course me being me decided to rock scramble rather than use the path because you get much closer to the falls.
If you’re not getting a moist lens you’re not close enough to the waterfall to take photos. This would have been a nicer shot int the early morning but the bright sun did make for some nice bokeh in the shot. If you don’t understand rock scrambling please don’t attempt something like this, leave the dangerous and stupid to the people who are stupidly dangerous like me ;).
Once you achieve the top of Nevada Falls the pain is all worth it. The vista is absolutely incredible. You can see nearly the entire Yosemite Valley and a some of the meadow lands. I filled up my water sack at the top of the falls which horrified some of the locals. Yes you could get giardia but its not really likely and this water is about as clean as any you will find on the planet coming out of that enormous natural filter that is Yosemite National Park. If it really worries you then take a life straw or filter. I then flaked out on the rocks with my shoes off revelling in the feeling of my feet being able to expand. If I do this hike again I will take lunch with me!
I probably stayed up there for an hour or so before heading back down along the John Muir trail which is somewhat easier than the Mist Trail. That consumed another three hours so it was after 5pm by the time I got back to my motor home. Naturally enough I made a quick dinner then flaked out for an hour or so before getting up to do some night photography.
One of my favourite things about this park is the contrasts. Solid rock where a tree or plant has gained some tiny foothold with its roots growing in the finest crack or small pool of dirt.
From the Muir trail I copped this vista perhaps 30 minutes walk away from Nevada Falls with the majestic half dome and the falls together. An absolutely amazing sight. You need to just lean on the wall and take in this visual feast. It takes a while.
On my last day I took it easy and just wandered around the valley getting some basic landscape shots with the wonderful Merced River that frolics through the valley on its way to supply the people of Northern California with drinking water.
My final shot on that last day happens to be my single most viewed Maps photo with roughly 1.5 million views. I love this image. I actually think this is probably one of the best landscapes I’ve ever shot.
When you load images up to Yosemite National Park or Yosemite Valley you are competing with nearly 500,000 other photos so you’d better make them good!!
I think my bus driver on the road up to Glacier Point summed it up well, people come to Yosemite and stay for a few days then they leave. Nearly all of them want to come back from the moment they drive away. They can’t explain why but they do. Some of them come back and try to get a job so that they can live in the valley. My bus driver’s name was Jean. She first visited in the park in 1965 with her family as a teenager. She came back in 1968 at the age of 18 and got a job. First working as a cleaner and later driving buses. She’s driven the park buses and later the Glacier Point bus five days a week since. She’s well past retirement age and will sooner or later be forced out but she’s lucky. Her daughter now works and lives in the park too so Jean can stay in the park living in her daughters accommodation. All I can say about Jean is that I understand.
I might add that the year I finally got to Yosemite was 2018 and it was my sixth attempt to get to the park. I had been thwarted in the past by snow, traffic accidents, unexpected work and bushfires.
Paul