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Best time to visit Death Valley AND Yosemite?

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I just saw and replied to a forum post asking about the best time to try to visit Death Valley, the eastern Sierra, Tioga Pass/Tuolumne Meadows and Yosemite Valley in one trip that starts in Las Vegas and ends in Sacramento. I’m reposting my reply here since I’ve heard others ask similar questions elsewhere. Note that despite the lengthy post, this doesn’t by any means completely answer this question. So, with minor edits, here is what I posted:

When to do a trip that includes Death Valley and Yosemite Valley and everything in between? This is a very tough question.

The “best” time to visit Death Valley is generally thought to be in the November to early April time frame – but that coincides with closure of the Tioga Pass entrance into  Yosemite National Park, typically lasting from possibly (but not always) late October or mid-November until (usually) sometime in May.

So, I think it becomes a question of which end of the trip you want to compromise. Do you want to deal with Death Valley during the very hottest time or do you want to deal with the potential for a very long drive around the southern part of the Sierra (and missing the “east side”) in order to get to The Valley after the pass closes?

I travel and photograph throughout this area a lot, so let me offer some ideas. Continue reading Best time to visit Death Valley AND Yosemite? →

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Dogwood Blossom, Branches, and Leaves

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Dogwood Blossom, Branches, and Leaves

Dogwood Blossom, Branches, and Leaves. Yosemite Valley, California. May 9, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A spring dogwood blossom cradled in dogwood leaves and branches, Yosemite Valley.

I photographed this single dogwood blossom nestled among branches and leaves against the background of a shaded tree trunk. I found this flower in upper Yosemite Valley right beside the road/trail to Mirror Lake. Although I shot in the middle of the afternoon – not exactly a time of favorable light – the forest canopy was thick enough here to diffuse the light.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Rocks, Stump, Spring Runoff – Tenaya Creek

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Rocks, Stump, Spring Runoff - Tenaya Creek

Rocks, Stump, Spring Runoff – Tenaya Creek. Yosemite Valley, California. May 9, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Tenaya Creek spring runoff flows over and onto rocks and tree stumps, Yosemite Valley.

This is one more in my sequence of photographs of spring runoff flow in Tenaya Creek below Mirror Lake in Yosemite Valley – photographs made during the second weekend of May. In this one I thought I would combine the flow over the streambed rocks with the water running up against the more or less immovable object of the old tree stump. The colors in the water are a combination of the intrinsic green of the water itself, the colors of the rocks over which the creek flows, and light reflected from sunlit vegetation on the opposite bank of the creek.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: california, sierra nevada, travel, Yosemite, valley, national park, tenaya, creek, stream, flow, runoff, melt, water, rock, stump, tree, trunk, usa, nature, landscape, scenic, season, spring, blur, abstract, sierra, nevada, mountain, range, stock, lichen, green

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Dogwood Tree in Bloom, Detail

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Dogwood Tree in Bloom, Detail

Dogwood Tree in Bloom, Detail. Yosemite Valley, California. May 9, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Light filters through the branches of a blooming dogwood tree, Yosemite Valley.

The dogwood trees were blooming all over Yosemite Valley when I was there on May 9. (Unfortunately, the place was swarming with other park visitors as well, but that is a story for another time.) After entering the Valley very early on a Saturday morning I decided to head across to Northside Drive and photograph trees in El Capitan Meadow, one of my favorite photography locations. After finishing up there I thought I’d head back up into the Valley which, with the one-way road layout there, required me to first drive back down the Valley to cross over to Southside Drive. On the way the route passes the famous and iconic "Gates of the Valley" site – and I can hardly ever resist at least a brief stop there. I stopped, got out, and reassured myself that this was not the time to shoot this scene. (I’ll photograph it, but only if the conditions are very, very special.) However, across the road and a bit to the west I spotted several big dogwood trees in full bloom… and in soft partial sun created by the shadows from taller trees nearby. Usually I am not looking for dogwood blossoms so late in the morning, but these looked interesting – I ended up spending some time shooting them from underneath and trying to capture the backlit translucent blooms.

This photograph is not in the public domain. It may not be used on websites, blogs, or in any other media without explicit advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

keywords: dogwood, tree, leaf, flower, bracht, bloom, blossom, petal, twig, branch, sky, blue, stem, season, spring, new, california, usa, sierra nevada, travel, Yosemite, valley, national park, nature, foliage, travel, scenic, stock, light, filter, bokeh