It's cold in Yosemite
Thwack
Registered Users Posts: 487 Major grins
I spent most of the Christmas holiday within thirty miles of Yosemite so my son and I just had to make time to get down to the valley floor to see how much snow there was and to field-test the new lightweight tripod Santa brought me.
We came in on Hwy 120 from the west-northwest (Big Oak Flat Road) and had to engage four-wheel drive at the entrance. Two-wheel drive vehicles had to put their chains on before leaving the gate area. I didn't pull over to get any shots at the entrance because there was already a line of cars and I had 4-wheel drive.
Speed limit down to the valley floor was lowered to 25 mph but most cars were going well below that. The roads were interesting (but not difficult)....cleared up for a while below about 5,000 ft but that was because that stretch is in the sun. Just before the valley floor, the layer of packed snow and ice returned (due to being in the shadows).
We arrived mid to late afternoon and grabbed a quick snap of Half Dome and El Capitan before heading all the way down to the valley floor:
It didn't look like much snow from up there and the Ahwahnee webcam's pic wasn't clear enough to be certain either. But when we got to the valley floor, it was just perfect. Enough snow to be very interesting but not enough to make you miserable trying to get around.
We took this along the first pullout we found before Bridal Veil Fall:
Bridal Veil Fall was flowing kind of thin which had allowed lots of ice to build up around the edges and made it a little difficult to tell where the water stopped, the ice started, or where the trees began (too much white everywhere):
We took that shot from the parking lot since the drive down from the entrance had taken so much longer than normal and we wanted to try to catch the late sun on either Half Dome or El Cap.
As we crossed the river near the base of El Cap, there was a cool looking blanket of fog in the meadow. We stopped long enough to grab a few shots and every time we looked up from the camera, the fog was noticeably thicker. Since there was a convenient little peak between us and the sun, I was able to shoot sort of into the sun for this shot:
By the time we got to the "River View" pullout, the fog was really starting to pile up:
The light on El Cap wasn't very compelling so we focused on other things for a few minutes. There were cool snow covered rocks in the river, ice along the banks, snow-laden trees... I was out there in November before the weather turned cold and it was amazing how different it looks in such a short span of time. Here's a quick shot taken across from River View while waiting to see if we'd get better light on El Cap. This was before I read a suggestion in another thread thread that landscape shots like this can look cooler if shot from really low (so I want a rematch with that spot to see if the tip helps):
Remember the fog I kept mentioning? It just kept coming...
We normally would try a long exposure shot across the water at that spot right as it gets dark. But with the fog steadily increasing, it would've just been a big grey blob.
So, we headed home a bit earlier than usual. On the climb back up above Cascade Falls, looking down the valley to the west (over the top of that old barn in the big meadow with the burned out trees), we saw a fantastic sunset.
The only place to pull over and try to capture it was the road to Foresta and I didn't think blocking the road would go over well if a Park Ranger happened along. There's a pull out just above that...which we discovered was one of the un-cleared/closed pullouts. :cry
The next pullout we came to had a completely wrong angle for the shot. Aw well, at least we got to see it even if we didn't get to shoot it. Maybe next time...
We came in on Hwy 120 from the west-northwest (Big Oak Flat Road) and had to engage four-wheel drive at the entrance. Two-wheel drive vehicles had to put their chains on before leaving the gate area. I didn't pull over to get any shots at the entrance because there was already a line of cars and I had 4-wheel drive.
Speed limit down to the valley floor was lowered to 25 mph but most cars were going well below that. The roads were interesting (but not difficult)....cleared up for a while below about 5,000 ft but that was because that stretch is in the sun. Just before the valley floor, the layer of packed snow and ice returned (due to being in the shadows).
We arrived mid to late afternoon and grabbed a quick snap of Half Dome and El Capitan before heading all the way down to the valley floor:
It didn't look like much snow from up there and the Ahwahnee webcam's pic wasn't clear enough to be certain either. But when we got to the valley floor, it was just perfect. Enough snow to be very interesting but not enough to make you miserable trying to get around.
We took this along the first pullout we found before Bridal Veil Fall:
Bridal Veil Fall was flowing kind of thin which had allowed lots of ice to build up around the edges and made it a little difficult to tell where the water stopped, the ice started, or where the trees began (too much white everywhere):
We took that shot from the parking lot since the drive down from the entrance had taken so much longer than normal and we wanted to try to catch the late sun on either Half Dome or El Cap.
As we crossed the river near the base of El Cap, there was a cool looking blanket of fog in the meadow. We stopped long enough to grab a few shots and every time we looked up from the camera, the fog was noticeably thicker. Since there was a convenient little peak between us and the sun, I was able to shoot sort of into the sun for this shot:
By the time we got to the "River View" pullout, the fog was really starting to pile up:
The light on El Cap wasn't very compelling so we focused on other things for a few minutes. There were cool snow covered rocks in the river, ice along the banks, snow-laden trees... I was out there in November before the weather turned cold and it was amazing how different it looks in such a short span of time. Here's a quick shot taken across from River View while waiting to see if we'd get better light on El Cap. This was before I read a suggestion in another thread thread that landscape shots like this can look cooler if shot from really low (so I want a rematch with that spot to see if the tip helps):
Remember the fog I kept mentioning? It just kept coming...
We normally would try a long exposure shot across the water at that spot right as it gets dark. But with the fog steadily increasing, it would've just been a big grey blob.
So, we headed home a bit earlier than usual. On the climb back up above Cascade Falls, looking down the valley to the west (over the top of that old barn in the big meadow with the burned out trees), we saw a fantastic sunset.
The only place to pull over and try to capture it was the road to Foresta and I didn't think blocking the road would go over well if a Park Ranger happened along. There's a pull out just above that...which we discovered was one of the un-cleared/closed pullouts. :cry
The next pullout we came to had a completely wrong angle for the shot. Aw well, at least we got to see it even if we didn't get to shoot it. Maybe next time...
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Cheers,
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Take care,
Dwayne Oakes
I really like the 4th one!!
I'm insanely jealous you made it to Yosemite... my girlfriend and I spent last week about an hour and a half drive from the park but didn't make it over there... even though I tried my best...
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And everything there changes so quickly! Here's a shot of Bridal Veil Fall from the beginning of last month from the same general area of the parking lot (this one is probably a half dozen parking spaces closer and shot from a lower tripod setup I think):
A smallish cold front had come through and leaves were changing color it seemed from one day to the next. Here's another view of the same waterfall a mere two weeks earlier (mid-October) when it was seemingly about to stop flowing completely:
The really surprising thing in the November pic was the amount of flow in the Fall (it didn't seem like we had a meaningful amount of rain from that front but it made a huge difference in Bridal Veil's flow!).
I was curious what the flow would be like this week given that we'd had a couple good cold fronts move through this month. I'm hoping to get back down there about New Years. There's another waterfall further back in the valley that really builds up ice around where it hits. I didn't have a camera with me a year ago when I noticed that so hopefully I can soon add it to my photo collection...
Sorry you didn't get out there. Next time, tell her how romantic Yosemite can be (though maybe you want to avoid mentioning "Bridal Veil" when discussing waterfalls...
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I went back today and the roads have cleared considerably in the three days since I shot the pics that started this thread. Chains aren't needed until about 3 miles past the entrance gate instead of right at it. Most of the road to the valley floor is clear though the valley floor's roads are still icy.
Didn't get a chance to take pics this time. Camera goofed (something ate my battery's charge...should have still have plenty of life left). Poked around the shops, grabbed a burger at Yosemite Lodge, etc. Skies were very clear so I don't think I missed any cool sunsets.
Looked like Half Dome had enough moonlight after sunset to make an interesting long exposure shot (which is when I discovered the battery croaked).
It still amazes me how quickly things change there.
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No good shots from around Badger Pass, but got the following from the parking lot of the ice rink at Curry Village about 5:30pm (long exposure with very minimal post processing):
Temps were in the twenties in lots of places. Very icy in the parking lot by Curry Village. But worth it I think.
Back to the grind tomorrow. It was fun vacationing near enough to Yosemite to be able to hit it several times (got my money's worth out of my annual pass in just the last week or so).
And excellent shots all the way around!
Good luck getting back into the grind... it's tough after such a great vacation!
SmugMug QA
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Thanks for the kind words. Yeah, going back to work after that much time away from the pace of Silicon Valley has been a huge grind. Too bad there's no "snooze bar" on life that works for situations like this....
I'm hoping to get back out there in late Feb to try for a classic "firefall" shot at Horse Tail Fall!
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Cheers,
-joel
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Thanks for the kind words! Even when none of my shots are worth showing, it's still great to get down there.
Thanks for taking a look and for the feedback. Sorry about making you homesick though...