:: Yosemite Spring 2005 ::

I've been to Yosemite many times, but this trip was timed perfectly as the area had seen rapid snow melt and rain fall, flooding the valley just a week before our arrival. Given there was so much water, the various falls along this amazing gorge were all flowing at record levels.

This first photo was the view from the famous Inspiration Point. I like this photo because the sky has my favorite cotton ball clouds and the vegetation is vibrant green. Best of all, Bridal Veil Falls is spectacular, with so much water it produced a giant mist that carried across the road to the Merced River beyond.

No photo does this place justice. You have to be there to truly appreciate how amazing it really is. It's easy to understand why Ansel Adams was drawn here, and John Muir before him.

The two granite rock formations, Half Dome and El Capitan, are without a doubt some of the most recognized, photographed and visited natural monuments in the world. Standing at opposite ends of the Yosemite, they stand like giant gate keepers to the valley. Here are my humble attempts to capture them through my eye.

As of this journal, I have never climbed to the top of either, though I understand it's a 12 hour hike to the top of Half Dome, and if you're even more adventurous, you can rock climb the face of El Capitan (On this trip, you could see people camped on the face, preparing for the 2nd day of their journey to the top!).

One of my favorite places to go when in Yosemite is the 16 mile drive up to Glacier Point -- an outlook 3000 feet above the valley floor. From this vantage point, you can overlook, literally, the entire valley floor with a dramatic parallel view of Half Dome directly across from you. (If you enter the Yosemite Valley from the east, over Hwy 140, there is an equally stunning view from the other side of Half Dome).

As we were leaving the park we spotted a bear in a small marshy area on the side of the road. After a few photographs and a short observation, we left him to dine on his roots. He really didn't seem to care we were there and though the photo may make you think I was close, trust me, I was up a steep embankment with a 500mm super telephoto lens, at a safe distance!