Tag Archives: overlook

Three Umbrellas, Yosemite Valley View

Three Umbrellas, Yosemite Valley View

Three Umbrellas, Yosemite Valley View. Yosemite Valley, California. November 2, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Visitors with red and green umbrellas on a rainy day at Yosemite Valley View.

It was late in the day and I decided to take a quick run up to Wawona Tunnel Valley View. Although it was cold and wet and a bit dismal, there was no shortage of photographers… and even a few other visitors. Since I’ve shot this scene many times, I’m a bit jaded I suppose – I don’t photograph it unless it is really quite special. This evening wasn’t quite up to that standard, but the scene of these umbrella bearing valley viewers caught my attention.

“Jaded’ as I may be, I do understand the deep attraction that this place and this view have for visitors. Since I get to stand in this spot often, I have the opportunity to see and sometimes talk with people who have dreamed of standing in front of this view, who are there for the first time, and who have travelled great distances to get there. As someone I spoke with this weekend did, they often use words like “spiritual”to describe the experience. I understand, and I think the fact that people will stand here in freezing rain on a day when most of the view is blocked by clouds is further evidence of this.

keywords: people, man, woman, view, visitor, tourist, photographer, umbrella, red, green, overlook, viewpoint, rain, cloud, mist, forest, fog, tree, waterfall, bridal veil, el capitan, yosemite, valley, view, national park, california, usa, travel, landscape, stock, no parking, sign, scenic, weather

Morning, Merced Canyon and Bridalveil Fall

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.

keywords: california, national park, Sierra Nevada, Spring, Yosemite, valley, morning, merced, river, canyon, rapids, bend, tree, forest, rock, outcrop, cliff, boulder, water, fall, waterfall, bridalveil, three brothers, road, big oak flat, highway, 120, overlook, travel, scenic, landscape, stock

Cloud Shadows on North Dome

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

Southern Death Valley from Aguereberry Point

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