Recommendations for Yosemite Trip

Brendan

I'm planning to take a trip to Yosemite in the first week of September (mid-week to try to avoid most of the Labor Day crowds as much as I can). I've been once before, but I was about 8 years old, so I remember basically nothing.

My plan is to spend the days just resting and hiking around to scenic locations and trying to get some good photographs during the dusk hours. I don't need to cover a lot of ground, but would like to at least hike Half Dome, as I've never done it before.

I've love some recommendations for hikes to do, things to see, good photographic spots, and where to stay (everything, basically). It seems like the available campgrounds are Hogdon Meadow, Tuolumne Meadows, and Wawona.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

--Brendan

craig_d

I was in Yosemite for a photography workshop in May. I could suggest some fairly obvious things to see (El Capitan, various waterfalls, etc.) but perhaps the simplest thing would be for you to glance through my Yosemite galleries and ask me about anything that you're curious about:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

If the rainbow over Yosemite Valley before sunset (while the sunlight is still on the floor of the valley) is still as nice now as it was in May, then you really must see that:

Brendan

Thanks Craig. Where were you when taking the photo you posted above? I gather that's "Tunnel View", but is that the name of a hike, a road, or..?

Also, where were you for this view of Half Dome?

Last question for you: Did you camp, or stay in a hotel/lodge? If you camped, I'd love to know where you stayed and how you found it in terms of proximity to the things you did.

Thanks again!

craig_d

Right, that rainbow picture was shot from Tunnel View, which is a vista point at the eastern end of the Wawona Tunnel along Route 41. There's a fair-sized parking lot there and a low stone wall along the rim, below which the land drops down into Yosemite Valley.

The Half Dome sunset sequence was shot from a large meadow, but I don't know its name. In that same gallery, you'll see some pictures of the Yosemite Chapel, one of which shows the Yosemite Falls in the background. A bit after that you'll see a picture of a small bridge, which is not far from the chapel. Walk across that bridge and the path will take you along the edge of the meadow where those sunset Half Dome photos were taken.

We weren't camping; we stayed at the Cedar Lodge outside Yosemite in El Portal. Nice place.

CWSkopec

I stayed at Wawona about 2 years ago. It's a great campground, very close to the Mariposa Grove, but it's about an hour drive to the Valley itself. Not sure how far the other spots are from the valley, but I would guess they're at least an hour drive. If I had it to do again, I would stay a couple nights at Wawona and a couple nights up in the high country at Tuolumne Meadows and hit the Valley the day I "moved" from one to the other.

You definitely shouldn't miss the Valley, but don't expect the waterfall conditions to be anywhere near what they are in Craig's shot. I was there the first week of September also and the dry, hot summer really saps the water out of the system. For comparision this is what Bridalveil looked like in September 2 years ago:



Everything I've heard is that it's been an extra wet year in Yosemite this year so you may find better conditions this year but there will still be considerably less water in September.

The rest of this gallery are also from that trip.

SimpsonBrothers

I would do:

A: Glacier Point (sunset)
B: Mirror Lake (sunrise/sunset, but may be dry)
C: Mono Lake (sunrise/sunset before they fill it up for good)

BTW, Sunrise is an hour late in the valley, Sunset is an hour early in the valley. You can shoot Sunset/Sunrise at the valley floor, then drive up to Glacier Point and shoot it again.