Yosemite National Park Tours & Activities |
Yosemite Guided Hikes & Photo Workshops
It’s been a busy month which is a good thing. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Here are two from a recent hike up Clouds Rest. Sorry I don’t have many more words to share as I’m heading back to Yosemite for more adventures. Enjoy.
It’s summertime in Yosemite National Park and as the Major League Baseball All Star Game approaches, I can’t help but think of this classic baseball phrase. So here goes.
It’s a hot steamy day and it’s time to step up to the plate. There are two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning of your family vacation. The bases are loaded with your wife on third, your son on second, and your daughter on first. After looking at two early strikes, you’ve worked the count to full. Lembert Dome is on the hill looking in for the sign. Heck, Lembert Dome is the hill.
Here’s the pitch. It’s super hot and super crowded in Yosemite Valley and much cooler with fewer crowds in Tuolumne Meadows. Lembert Dome delivers extraordinary views with a formidable challenge that is far from overwhelming. After shaking off a sign, Lembert serves up a batting practice fastball right down the pipe. You’re sitting on the heater and take a mighty swing. Will you connect?
No matter what time you hike the Mist Trail in spring, you will be in for a treat. If you time it just right in late morning, you will see a mist bow on Vernal Fall. Here are photos from two separate recent trips up the most popular trail in Yosemite National Park.
What a week in Yosemite! Storms continued to hit the Sierra Nevada bringing much needed precipitation while creating dazzling light shows along the trails of Yosemite National Park. I was very fortunate to share the Panorama trail with two very adventurous couples from Singapore.
We hiked to Nevada Fall and received a few showers on our return trip. As we neared the trailhead back to Glacier Point, the skies opened up to let beams of sunlight hit Half Dome. A new light and interesting shadows were cast with every turn. Here are a few images from the the day. Also, check out some other photos from the Half Dome Rainbow. If you are interested, here are the Half Dome adventures.
It’s not every day you get to follow a legend. This past week I had the opportunity to follow the path of the greatest Yosemite legend of all time, John Muir. It’s only fitting that we honor him on what would have been his 177th birthday today, April 21.
John Muir wrote about his adventures in many books. In “My First Summer in the Sierra” he eloquently shared:
“Another glorious Sierra day in which one seems to be dissolved and absorbed and sent pulsing onward we know not where. Life seems neither long nor short, and we take no more heed to save time or make haste than do the trees and stars. This is true freedom, a good practical sort of immortality.”
During that first summer, Muir took a job herding sheep through wilderness above Yosemite State Park in 1869. The wilderness Muir roamed was unprotected at the time. This summer trip changed his life forever, and he dedicated the rest of his time adventuring in and later protecting the American West. Thanks mainly to his efforts, the area surrounding the Valley is now part of Yosemite National Park (established Oct. 1, 1890).
I relish every chance I have to wander on that very same North Rim of Yosemite Valley and had the good fortune to lead a private 4 Day Yosemite backpacking trip there this past week. Muir’s words were in my head as we danced from peak to peak in no particular hurry. It is a feeling of ultimate freedom and one I encourage everyone on this earth to experience. I know my photos won’t represent these landscapes with any justice, but I will share them anyway.
I owe my professional life to trailblazers like John Muir and am forever in his debt. For that, I will always honor his spirit, his teachings, and his legacy. Happy birthday John of the Mountains. Thank you for the gifts you left for us all.
If you are interested in reading about more holiday periods, then please find thoughts from New Year 2015 here as well as reflections from Thanksgiving in Yosemite.
