Falling 2425 feet (730m) in three sections, Yosemite Falls is the tallest waterfall in North America and the fifth tallest in the world. During winter, a cone of frozen mist forms at the base of Lower Yosemite Falls. A strenuous hike takes visitors from the valley floor to the precipice of the falls, offering impressive perspective of the falls and their enormity relative to the valley itself. Yosemite Falls flows year round; May and June are most impressive, while flow slows to nearly a trickle during winter months.
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Yosemite Falls at peak flow in late spring, viewed from Cooks Meadow. Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA.
Image: 12632
Location: Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA
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Rafters enjoy a Spring day on the Merced River in Yosemite Valley, with Yosemite Falls in the background. Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA.
Image: 09214
Location: Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA
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Upper Yosemite Falls. Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA.
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Location: Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA
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Keywords: Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Valley, Waterfall, photo. picture, image, photograph.
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Spring is the time to visit Vernal Falls and the famous Mist Trail in Yosemite National Park. Vernal Falls is at peak flow in late May and June, the weather is usually pleasant and the dogwoods are in bloom on the valley floor. We try to make a springtime visit to Yosemite each year to hike the Mist Trail with our daughters. We get soaked by the falls on the way up, soak in the sun and dry off at the top, enjoy a lunch of trail mix and Clif bars alongside other hikers, and leisurely make our way back down the trail later in the afternoon. If one times his visit to Vernal Falls at midday, a rainbow is often visible in front of the falls when viewed from the trail just 100 yards away.
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Fern Springs, a small natural spring in Yosemite Valley near the Pohono Bridge, trickles quietly over rocks as it flows into the Merced River. Fern Springs, Yosemite National Park, California, USA.
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Location: Fern Springs, Yosemite National Park, California, USA
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Vernal Falls at peak flow in late spring. Hikers are seen at the precipice to Vernal Falls, having hiked up the Mist Trail to get there. Vernal Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA.
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Location: Vernal Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA
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Mountain dogwood, or Pacific dogwood, Yosemite Valley. Yosemite National Park, California, USA.
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Species: Cornus nuttallii
Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA
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Keywords: Vernal Falls, waterfall, Yosemite National Park, photo, picture, image, photograph.
Recently we had a chance to photograph mountain lions in the red rocks of southern Utah. Here are a few images:
Keywords: puma, cougar, mountain lion, puma concolor, photo.
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On a recent visit to Utah I had a chance to spend some time in Zion National Park. A number of ephemeral waterfalls were flowing, the result of rainstorms that had passed over Zion Canyon a few days before. The Temple of Sinawava, a widening in Zion Canyon at the end of the paved road, featured a fine waterfall that I am told is typically dry but which had been seen most of the past winter and spring due to the amazing amounts of rain southern Utah has seen this year. That same morning I photographed two other emphemeral falls above nearby Weeping Rock. My tram driver informed me that those two almost never flow and that they were due solely to the rain that had fallen the preceding night and not to any snow melt, and that they would be dry by afternoon. Heavy cloud cover allowed for a long shutter speed, softening the appearance of the falls and accentuating the color in the rain-slicked red sandstone cliffs and cottonwood trees.
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Waterfall at Temple of Sinawava during peak flow following spring rainstorm. Zion Canyon. Temple of Sinawava, Zion National Park, Utah, USA.
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Waterfall at Temple of Sinawava during peak flow following spring rainstorm. Zion Canyon. Temple of Sinawava, Zion National Park, Utah, USA.
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Keywords: Zion National Park, Temple of Sinawava, Waterfall.
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