Tag Archives: overlook

Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Morning, Merced Canyon and Bridalveil Fall

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Morning, Merced Canyon and Bridalveil Fall
Morning, Merced Canyon and Bridalveil Fall. Yosemite National Park, California. May 16, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Black and white photograph of morning light on the Merced River canyon leading into Yosemite Valley with Bridalveil Fall in the distance.

If you enter the park via state route 120 and head toward Yosemite Valley, after passing the exit to Foresta you cross a ridge and begin the descend toward the Valley. I almost always stop at this location right after the longer of the three tunnels on this section of roadway and enjoy the view straight up the Merced Canyon toward Bridalveil Fall and a point where the Valley bends to the right.

The more I see this photo, the more I like it. Yosemite is, obviously, a place with quite a few famous and iconic photographic subjects, but I don’t think this view – at least not in these conditions – is one of them. But it is a view that many of us know well, as it is along the main northerly entrance to the Valley and is one of the first open views down into the Merced River canyon and the Valley itself, albeit the lower section.

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Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Cloud Shadows on North Dome

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Cloud Shadows on North Dome
Cloud Shadows on North Dome. Yosemite National Park, California. May 16, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Late afternoon cloud shadows race across the top of North Dome with Mount Hoffman beyond and Yosemite Valley below. Photographed from Glacier Point.

Mt. Hoffman is one of the most historic locations in the park. It was from Hoffman’s summit that members of the California Survey Party did much of their early mapping work in the 1800s. Today there is almost a trail to the summit – a steep but not overly difficult route (if you are used to off-trail alpine travel) from May Lake.

keywords: california, national park, Sierra Nevada, Spring, Yosemite, valley, north, dome, basket, mount, hoffman, ridge, mountain, snow, glacier point, forest, rock, outcrop, cliff, boulder, overlook, travel, scenic, landscape, stock

Photographs: Death Valley, Photographs: Desert

Southern Death Valley from Aguereberry Point

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Southern Death Valley from Aguereberry Point

Southern Death Valley from Aguereberry Point. Death Valley National Park, California. April 3, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Late afternoon view of southern Death Valley from Aguereberry Point.

Aguereberry Point is a high overlook to the west of Death Valley, reached by a long drive from the Valley, the last part of which is on a decent gravel road. The view is, to state the obvious, tremendous. It includes the highest peaks of the southern Sierra Nevada range far in the west, essentially all of Death Valley National Park including a good portion of Death Valley itself and points beyond.

keywords: late, afternoon, evening, view, panorama, overlook, death valley, southern, national park, aguereberry, point, mountains, desert, playa, travel, scenic, landscape, stock, california, usa

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: People, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

People, Evening, Glacier Point

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People, Evening, Glacier Point
People, Evening, Glacier Point

People, Evening, Glacier Point. Yosemite National Park, California. June 11, 2006. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small group gathers at Glacier Point to watch the sunset over Half Dome and Tenaya Canyon, Yosemite National park.

A small group of people gather along the edge of the cliff at Glacier Point to watch the sunset. This had been a much less wet winter than the current (2011) winter, and little snow is visible at the higher elevations even though it is early June.

Any visitor to the Valley should make a point of watching the sunset from this vantage point. Park visitors have been doing it for decades, and with good reason. From here the view includes the depths of Yosemite Valley, including some of the waterfalls and famous granite faces, Half Dome, the gorge of Tenaya Canyon, Mount Hoffman and the domes around North Dome, and out of the frame to the right the crest of the Sierra.

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Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM at 17mm (at B&H)
ISO 100, f/18, 1/60 second