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A shot of Cathedral Rocks, from El Capitan Meadow in Yosemite.

“Yosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space.”
-Ansel Adams

As if we didn’t get enough beauty and natural wonders in Alaska, our next stop was Yosemite National Park. Now I’ve been to a lot of places, but Yosemite is by far one of the most spectacular locations I’ve ever seen. I had been to the park once before, as a teenager, and was eager to return with a better-developed eye for photography. This was Ben’s first visit, so he was in for a treat!

We parked the bus at Yosemite Pines RV Park, which was about an hour away from the park entrance, so it was a lot of driving, but the scenery was beautiful and the twisty roads were a blast in the Mini.
The majority of our time in Yosemite was spent in the Valley, where some of the most spectacular sights are. I’ve gotta say, it’s hard being the one behind the wheel when you’re driving through Yosemite. You’ve got to keep reminding yourself to keep your eyes on the road because there are so many insanely gorgeous things out the windows that it’s easy to wind up in a lake if you’re not careful!

Lower Yosemite Falls. You almost have to include something/someone in there for scale.

Our first stop in the Valley was Lower Yosemite Falls. It’s a short hike to the base of the falls and once you’re there, you can climb on the rocks for better vantage points. There are two things that make the lower falls tricky to photograph. One is the ridiculous number of people there. Since it’s an easy hike, lots of people go and it’s hard to keep them out of the photographs. I had to shoot up and basically cut out all the tourist-covered rocks at the bottom. The second tricky thing is figuring out how to capture the sheer scale of this waterfall. It’s huge. And I mean HUGE. In the shot above, I included one awe-struck little dude, and I really think he made the shot.

Bridalveil Falls in Yosemite Valley. Spectacular!

Bridalveil Falls is the other massive waterfall in Yosemite, and we managed to photograph this one from lots of different angles. One of the awesome things about Bridalveil is that you can see it from all over the park. Even when you’re driving in, there are some nice vistas of the Valley, with this waterfall as the centerpiece.

El Capitan at night. This giant is awe-inspiring no matter what time of day it is.

And of course, you can’t go to Yosemite without marveling over, and photographing, El Capitan. The largest granite monolith in the world, this badboy rises over 3,000 feet over the valley floor. It’s also a favorite among insane really dedicated rock climbers. Since there are thousands of similar photos of El Cap floating around, we decided to shoot at night for a little variety. To be honest, though, no photograph could possibly do this formation justice. You truly have to see it in person to be able to take it in.

A shot of Half Dome from a lookout close to Glacier Point.

Half Dome is another iconic view of Yosemite, and there are lots of places to get nice views of it. One of our favorites was Glacier Point. This lookout takes about an hour to drive to from the valley, but is well worth it, especially at sunset. The view is outstanding! Once again, we tried to create a little variation from the classic Half Dome shots you commonly see, so we decided to partner it with some car streaks after the sun went down.

Here, Ben looks so tiny compared to this Giant Sequoia tree.

Within Yosemite, there are three groves of Giant Sequoia trees. The most popular is Mariposa Grove, but we actually hiked to Tuolumne Grove to avoid some of the crowds. It was a good hike (especially on the return trip, which is all uphill) but was worth it because of the lack of tourists. These sequoia trees are beyond huge. It’s actually kind of funny because they make you feel like you’re in a scene from “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.”

Fern Springs, a hidden gem in Yosemite.

Another lesser-known jewel in Yosemite is Fern Springs, and it’s proof that a waterfall doesn’t have to be huge to be beautiful. The falls are no more than five feet wide and four feet tall, but we spent more time shooting there than most of the other park locales. If I could have named it, I would have called it Storybook Falls, because it looks like something out of a fairytale.

Another view of fern springs.

Another lesser-known jewel in Yosemite is Fern Springs, and it’s proof that a waterfall doesn’t have to be huge to be beautiful. The falls are no more than five feet wide and four feet tall, but we spent more time shooting there than most of the other park locales. If I could have named it, I would have called it Storybook Falls, because it looks like something out of a fairytale.

Ben, myself and Russell outside the Ahwahnee Lodge after a long Sunday brunch.

While we were in Yosemite, we were actually able to meet up with another bus nut! We originally met Russell in Arcadia, FL for a bus rally in January, and now that we were in his neck of the woods, we got in touch and met up at the Ahwahnee Lodge for a nice brunch. (Note on the Ahwahnee brunch: It’s very nice, and the lodge is beautiful but it’s DAMN EXPENSIVE. Just a heads up there.)
It was nice to catch up with Russell, and he was the one who clued us in to Fern Springs. He used to drive the tour buses in the park, and knew all the little secrets.

We obviously had a wonderful time in Yosemite, and we’re both eager to return. After our week there, we had to hitch up and make our way to the Reno area. Ben and I both had to catch flights out of the city. He had some seminars to teach on the east coast, and I was Jersey bound to visit family and friends. More to come!