Vernal Falls, Yosemite National Park
Photos of Vernal Falls and the Mist Trail in Yosemite National Park
Sarah and I recently made our somewhat-annual hike up the Mist Trail in Yosemite, enjoying the heights and sounds of Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls, as well as the Panorama Trail. It was not a serious photography outing since I was huffin’ and puffin’ just keeping up with Sarah who is a serious hiker and in better condition than I. We did make a stop just below Vernal Falls where we made the photo below. This is a place at which I always stop for a photo, and often there is a rainbow in the composition (see bottom of this post). On this day, however, breaking out the camera was especially difficult because of the enormous amounts of spray produced by near-record flow in the Merced River. I had about a second to get the shot before the lens would fog over with spray. I tried a dozen times and then gave up not wanting to damage the camera. I got this one keeper frame out of the attempts.
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| Vernal Falls and Merced River in spring, heavy flow due to snow melt in the high country above Yosemite Valley. Image ID: 26878 Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA |
While we were hiking, we discussed the potential pitfalls of the hike, the short sections of the steps leading up to Vernal Fall which are most dangerous, where a simple slip can lead to a deadly fall down the steep and slippery rock apron and into the raging Merced. We also discussed the danger around the top of Vernal and Nevada falls, each of which has seductive and exceeding risky brinks. She got the message and I didn’t browbeat her too much, but quietly kept her within arms reach during some of those more nervous sections of the hike.
A few weeks later I had a somewhat unsettling experience. After enjoying a family reunion in Yellowstone during which I had the phone and email turned off for a week, I returned to my office to find that the most popular images on my website for the previous week were all images of Vernal Falls. Then, catching up on messages, I found two urgent calls from news organizations asking for images of the falls to run in breaking news stories. “Uh oh.” Indeed, with a quick search of recent headlines I learned that three young people had tragically died after slipping into the Merced above Vernal Falls and going over the edge. What a terrible event, for the three young hikers but also for all the others present on the brink of Vernal Falls at the time it happened. I felt sick in the gut, knowing Sarah and I had been there just a few days prior, walking those same steps and having one of the most enjoyable days together we have ever shared. With just a small misstep, the Mist Trail can turn deadly, and indeed it does almost every year. This year the Mist Trail has claimed at least four lives. Yet, it remains one of my favorite trails and I will continue to hike it with Tracy and the girls as long as they can tolerate my slowing pace and lame jokes.
About the Hike: 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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| Vernal Falls at peak flow in late spring, with a rainbow appearing in the spray of the falls, viewed from the Mist Trail. Image ID: 12634 Location: Vernal Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA |
Yosemite Falls and Star Trails
Stock Photos of Yosemite National Park.
I’ve updated my collection of Yosemite photos, including the one below which I made at 2am a few evenings before the last new moon. One of the spring lunar rainbows that form in upper and lower Yosemite Falls — which are a lot of fun to see but which attract considerable crowd of people and cars that remain throughout the night — took place on the full moon a few weeks prior. I was not able to get up to the Valley for the lunar rainbow event, so instead took my daughter on a Sierra roadtrip a few weeks later to hike the Mist Trail as we try to do each spring. She elected to stay with Grandma at Bass Lake while I went into Yosemite Valley for some night and sunrise photography. On this night, with a nearly new moon, I did not encounter a single person in Cook’s Meadow between 11pm and 4am. The light that the crescent moon shed onto the upper waterfall was quite thin, but I was still able to make a clean image by using a 40-minute time exposure which rendered the stars as arcs in the night sky. Polaris, the “North Star”, is the bright star that lies nearly at the center of those arcs at upper right. My main interest interest in photographing in the valley was in making a few very high resolution reflection panoramas of the flooding Merced River, for potential printing 10′ wide or more. In several places I waded into the Merced to find perfectly still water and the composition I was looking for, since my 6′ tripod allows me to work waist deep or more if needed. The water was not as cold as I expected so I did not even bother with waders. Boy how I love Yosemite in early summer, so green with cool shadows and crisp water contrasting the warm dry air and blue skies! After a sunrise and morning of landscape photography I (mostly) put away the camera, spending the remainder of the trip hiking a couple favorite trails with Sarah and making iPhone panoramas with her. She really likes the immediacy of iPhone photography and enjoys seeing how in-phone panoramas turn out just moments after making them. I can’t blame her as the results are often surprisingly good. Anyway, back to my stock photography: if you like the image below, be sure to see more Yosemite National Park photos. Thanks for looking!
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| Yosemite Falls and star trails, night sky time exposure of Yosemite Falls waterfall in full spring flow, with star trails arcing through the night sky. Image ID: 26853 Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA |
The above image is a single image, not a composition. There is no masking or blending used, just a judicious choice of exposure along with curves, saturation and white balance in Lightroom. What looks sort of like a halo just above the cliffs is actually the faintest hint of sunrise I believe, since I ended this exposure just as astronomical twilight was beginning in order to obtain a true blue sky (rather than natural black sky, or a blue sky created by manipulating the colors of the sky). The Photographer’s Ephemeris app on the iPhone is a great help in determining such times, if you like apps.
A Return to Vogelsang High Sierra Camp
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 37° 47' 42.68" N, Longitude: 119° 19' 57.17" W, Coord: 37.79519°, -119.33255°
Filed under: California, Sierra Nevada, Yosemite on 9/7/2010
Photos of Vogelsang High Sierra Camp in Yosemite National Park
Last month I made a brief return trip to Vogelsang High Sierra Camp, following my first visit in 2009. This time my father joined me, and we had a chance to spend a few days together in some of the most beautiful areas of Yosemite’s high country. Our last real hiking trip together was one we did with my sister about 15 years ago in Lyell Canyon, and previous to that was our climb of Mt. Whitney about 30 years ago — so both of us were really looking forward to getting together for this outing. Yosemite did not disappoint…
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| Cathedral Range peaks reflected in the still waters of Townsley Lake at sunrise. Image ID: 25764 Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA |
We began with the usual slog up Highway 395, taking a detour to look at the ancient bristlecone pine trees in the White Mountains (which I insisted upon visiting given my father had not seen them before). Blue skies accompanied us all the way, with barely a speck of wind, and the altitude proved to be no problem. After checking out the eons-old bristlecones we were soon back on 395 and reached Tuolumne Meadows by 5pm. Our day was capped with a walk along the Tuolumne River, a visit to Tenaya Lake and Olmsted Point for sunset and a great carb-load dinner at the Tuolume Meadows Lodge. (If you look closely you can see my dad in the below panorama of Tenaya Lake.)
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| Cloud’s Rest at sunset, viewed from Olmsted Point. Clouds Rest is one of the most massive — if not the singlemost massive — granite monoliths in the world. A vast lobe of Mesozoic-era granodiorite magma cooled to rock and was gradually uplifted to its present altitude of 9926 ft. Later, glaciers cut it into its present shape. Image ID: 25761 Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA |
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| Tenaya Lake at sunset, panoramic view looking north, with Tenaya Peak (10,280′) on the right and Medlicott Dome (9,880′) on the left. Tenaya Lake lies at 8,150′ in the heart of Yosemite’s high country. Image ID: 25755 Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA Pano dimensions: 3150 x 14039 |
The following morning Dad chose to sleep in while I made a sunrise visit to Tioga Pass, a short ways up the road from the Tuolume Meadows Lodge. I was hoping to see a bear or some deer, but I had to settle for reflections of Mammoth Peak in the small tarns that are found in the meadows near the pass.
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| Mammoth Peak (12,117′) reflected in small tarn pond at sunrise, viewed from meadows near Tioga Pass. Image ID: 25759 Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA |
We hit the trail after breakfast, choosing the Rafferty Creek route to Vogelsang. Although frowned upon by some as a pack trail, Rafferty Creek is a much shorter approach than the Lyell Canyon route and my dad, at 74 years, was not sure how his legs and back would feel about long route. It must be said that one advantage to taking Rafferty Creek Trail is that the bulk of the uphill work is done in the first 3 miles, with the last 4 miles being mostly not-too-difficult uphill slope through a pleasing series of meadows and forests. The hike took a while but was not particularly challenging, Dad being prepared and well-conditioned by a month of long pre-trip walks. We reached Vogelsang with little fanfare by about 3pm, just in time for siesta. We were lucky to receive one of the two person tents alongside the creek. And to top it off, there were no mosquitoes, it being too late in the season for the carniverous demons to practice their injurious profession upon my tender flesh.
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| Panoramic view of the Cathedral Range, from the summit of Vogelsang Peak (11500′). The shadow of Vogelsang Peak can be seen in the middle of the picture. Image ID: 25751 Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA |
After a recumbent hour I remembered that one of my goals was to bag Vogelsang Peak, one of the two 11,500′ peaks that overlooks Vogelsang High Sierra Camp (the other being Fletcher Peak). I asked the camp manager to set a plate of dinner aside for me while I made a sunset hike to the peak, and she kindly complied, so I took off about 5pm. I encountered noone on the way up or down except for a few marmots. The route is not technical, being characterized as “pedestrian” in one online account I had read. I reached the top about an hour before sunset. What a view! My panoramic photo above (click it to see it larger) really does not do it justice. I really love those brief moments atop a summit, any summit, and this was no exception. I savored the lingering light as it lit the scene all around me, the Cathedral Range to one side and Half Dome in the distance on the other, alone atop this impressive granite height. The sun was still warm enough that my t-shirt was all I needed. There was no wind. The lengthening shadow of Vogelsang Peak pointed toward Bernice and Gallison Lakes and several peaks of the Cathedral Range, including Amelia Earhart peak, Parsons Peak and Simmons Peak, all about 12,000′. As one is wont to do when one finds oneself alone in a place of serene quiet and moving beauty, I pondered deep thoughts for a while. But not for too long, as I do not have the intellect of a philosopher. I ate my snack bar, recorded a bit of video, signed the peak register I found hidden in an old ammunition can among the rocks, and started back. On my way down to camp I was treated to a gorgeous view of Fletcher Peak reflecting a wash of gold across Vogelsang Lake. I gratefully wolfed down my dinner as I described the hike to my dad, then washed up and hit the sack. It was about a 10 mile day with almost 3000′ of elevation gain for me, so I slept well!
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| Fletcher Peak is reflected in Vogelsang Lake at sunset, viewed from near summit of Vogelsang Peak. Image ID: 25757 Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA |
Dad let me take off before sunrise for some photography, so I walked up to Townsley Lake and made some exposures in the mirror-smooth waters. The German grad students who shared our dinner table in Tuolume mentioned that Vogelsang means “bird song”. On this very still dawn at Townsley Lake, where the only sound that broke the silence were bird chirps, the camp’s name seemed particularly apt.
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| Fletcher Peak (11410′) reflected in Townsley Lake, at sunrise, panoramic view. Image ID: 25752 Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA Pano dimensions: 4056 x 11953 |
After breakfast, we headed out to visit several of the lakes in the area. We passed by Fletcher Lake just a few yards from camp, then up over the rise to Townsley. Of most interest to me was Hanging Basket Lake, set in a small cleft (perhaps a hanging valley) at the top of a reasonably steep talus slope above Townsley Lake. My dad was game for it, so up we went. It was not too difficult, requiring just some patience to navigate the talus boulders and not twist an ankle. Hanging Basket Lake itself is rumored to hold lunker fish, given that few people visit it. Its waters are a striking deep green, and it is surrounded on three sides by sheer granite walls. What a spot. We tried to time our visit for when the sun would illuminate the entire cirque above the lake, and we guessed right:
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| Hanging Basket Lake (10601′), with Fletcher Peak (11410′) rising above on the right, panoramic view. Image ID: 25753 Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA Pano dimensions: 4056 x 11895 |
We continued our hike up to the meadows above Townsley Lake. We met a few more marmots, and found a toad in the grass. On the plateau above Townsley and Evelyn Lakes, we wandered by a series of beautiful tarn ponds. Several of them, not connected to any streams and thus safe from introduced stock trout, were absolutely plugged with tadpoles. As we walked along the edges of these ponds the tadpoles would splash through the shallowest few inches toward the deeper middle of the water. Other ponds were connected by a stream, being part of the drainage to Evelyn Lake which was our destination. Purple lupine flowers were blooming in abundance along the this stream, and we found a group of deer. We descended the slope to Evelyn Lake, reaching the sand beach along the western shore. We went for a well-deserved swim. The water was bracing but we dried off almost immediately in the warm weather and felt great afterwards. After Evelyn Lake, a few more miles took us past a couple of meadow-bound tarns, back to Fletcher Lake and once again to camp, After another fantastic meal, we spent our second night in Vogelsang Camp. Reports had been circulating on the internet prior to our trip that Mars would be making its closest approach to Earth in recorded history during our stay at Vogelsang, but I have since learned those reports were, in the usual internet-driven fashion, fanciful. Nevertheless, Mars was indeed quite bright each evening, following a few degrees behind the full moon as the two traversed the night sky.
Both Mars and the full moon looked down on me as I made my way up the short walk to Vogelsang Lake before dawn on our final morning. I recorded a time-lapse video of the sunrise breaking over Vogelsang Peak and sweeping down to Vogelsang Lake, which can be seen briefly at the beginning of this video and in full at the end of the video. Indeed, both Mars and the moon appear in the beginning seconds of the time-lapse, at the far right, but Mars is admittedly difficult to discern in the Youtube version. The video was an experiment to test out a external microphone on my camera, and to learn a little bit about recording video with an SLR still camera. You can see it with some comments at my earlier post about it.
Our second and last morning at Vogelsang Camp was relaxed and uneventful. As it was yesterday, this morning was warm, still, quiet and mosquito-free. We enjoyed another excellent breakfast, of the sort that breakfast afficionados such as myself record in our life list of notable breaking-of-the-fast achievements. There is something particulary satisfying about eating hearty food in spectacular outdoor surroundings. I feel justified in enjoying seconds of everything, rationalizing (hoping?) that I will burn the additional calories on the coming day’s hike.
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| Vogelsang Peak (11500′) and the shoulder of Fletcher Peak, reflected in the still morning waters of Fletcher Lake, in Yosemite’s gorgeous high country, late summer. Image ID: 25788 Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA |
We returned via the Rafferty Creek trail, reaching the car in Tuolumne Meadows by about 1pm to began the long drive down 395 to Southern California. Wouldn’t you know it, the clouds which were totally absent during our time in the high country appeared just as we reached the end of the trail!
Vogelsang Reflections - Yosemite National Park
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 37° 47' 34.72" N, Longitude: 119° 19' 45.19" W, Coord: 37.79298°, -119.32922°
Filed under: Sierra Nevada, Time Lapse, Video, Yosemite on 8/27/2010
Vogelsang High Sierra Camp and Tuolumne Meadows
My dad and I spent a great several days hiking around Tuolumne Meadows and Vogelsang High Sierra Camp. Vogelsang is one of my favorite areas of the Sierra Nevada, a series of 10,000′ basins filled with beautiful lakes and boasting many 11,000′ and 12,000′ peaks. We had spectacular weather, no mosquitoes, and bagged a new peak and at least a half dozen lakes. I shot this video with a Canon 5D Mark II and the time lapse was shot with a Canon 1Ds Mark III camera, 1300+ frames over two hours to produce about 25 seconds of time lapse video. The video was an exercise to test the function of the Sennheiser MKE 400 mic in an outdoor setting. It worked reasonably well. You can tell I did not get my video perfectly level on some shots — live and learn. Life is good!
Yosemite National Park Photos
My Yosemite National Park stock photos are organized on Oceanlight.com in addition to the Yosemite pictures appearing on my Photoshelter account:
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Yosemite Pictures - Images by Phillip Colla |
If you cannot see the slideshow above, then take a look at this Yosemite National Park photo slideshow.
Keywords: Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Valley
Infrared Photo of a Giant Sequoia Tree
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 37° 30' 48.52" N, Longitude: 119° 35' 55.67" W, Coord: 37.51348°, -119.5988°
Filed under: California, Infrared, National Parks, Sierra Nevada, Yosemite on 10/1/2009
One tree in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoia trees (Sequoiadendron giganteum) is my favorite. Its huge, reasonably symmetric, and sits somewhat alone in meadow clearing so that morning light can illuminate almost the entire tree nicely. Plus, its a nice 2 mile run up through the grove from the parking lot. Usually when I arrive at The Tree I am the only person there, having seen noone on the way up the hill. It was the same this time. What a beautiful morning. I took my tiny mikro-pokket-infraredfotokam along with me and shot some photos. Below is my favorite one.
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| Giant sequoia tree towers over surrounding trees in a Sierra forest. Infrared image. Image ID: 23304 Species: Giant sequoia tree, Sequoiadendron giganteum Location: Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park, California, USA  View this Image in Google Earth! |
Like this? Here are more infrared photos.
Keywords: giant sequoia, infrared, mariposa grove, yosemite national park, Sequoiadendron giganteum.
Giant Sequoia Pictures
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 37° 30' 47.95" N, Longitude: 119° 35' 55.42" W, Coord: 37.51332°, -119.59873°
Filed under: California, Photoshelter, Sierra Nevada, Yosemite on 9/2/2009
Many of my giant sequoia pictures are now on Photoshelter, which is the source of this nifty slideshow. Sequoia trees really are the most majestic of all plants. They are the largest (i.e., most massive) life forms on earth, and they are nearly the tallest (exceeded only by their cousins the coastal redwoods in the Pacific Northwest). Giant sequoia trees are one of the longest lived organisms on earth, exceeded in longevity most notably by Ancient Bristlecone pine trees (Pinus longaeva). Enjoy images of these “pillars of the sierra”.
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Giant Sequoia Pictures - Images by Phillip Colla |
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| A giant sequoia tree, soars skyward from the forest floor, lit by the morning sun and surrounded by other sequioas. The massive trunk characteristic of sequoia trees is apparent, as is the crown of foliage starting high above the base of the tree. Image ID: 23260 Species: Giant sequoia tree, Sequoiadendron giganteum Location: Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth! |
My website also has many giant sequoia tree photos (Sequoiadendron giganteum).
Keywords: sequoia, giant sequoia tree, photo, picture, image, Sequoiadendron giganteum, Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park, California, sierra nevada.
Photos of Glacial Erratic Boulders
Some years ago I posted a blog entry about photos of glacial erratic boulders on Olmsted Point in Yosemite National Park. Well, I was recently there and got a few more. Glacial erratic boulders are so named because they are erratic (i.e., differ materially from the naturally occuring stone nearby) and they were deposited by slow-moving glaciers, sometimes after having been moved a considerable distance (e.g., tens of miles) from their place of origin. The boulders are carried by the glacier and then either fall off the side of the glacier as it slowly slides along, or are simply dropped in place if a glacier melts away. Olmsted Point, high above Tenaya Canyon, is a great location for seeing glacial erratic boulders. The same glaciers that sculpted nearby granite monoliths Half Dome and Cloud’s Rest, seen in the background of one these photos, also left behind many glacial erratic boulders on the rim of Tenaya Canyon when it passed by.
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| Glacial erratic boulders atop Olmsted Point, with the massive granite monoliths Half Dome and Clouds Rest in the background. Erratics are huge boulders left behind by the passing of glaciers which carved the granite surroundings into their present-day form. When the glaciers melt, any boulders and other geologic material that it was carrying are left in place, sometimes many miles from their original location. Image ID: 23264 Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth! |
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| Glacial erratic boulders atop Olmsted Point. Erratics are huge boulders left behind by the passing of glaciers which carved the granite surroundings into their present-day form. When the glaciers melt, any boulders and other geologic material that it was carrying are left in place, sometimes many miles from their original location. Image ID: 23265 Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth! |
See also: Yosemite National Park photos.
Keywords: glacial erratic boulder, geology, granite, Olmsted Point, Yosemite National Park, glacier, rock, stone.
Giant Sequoia Tree Photo
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 37° 30' 13.93" N, Longitude: 119° 36' 15.51" W, Coord: 37.50387°, -119.60431°
Filed under: California, Sierra Nevada, Yosemite on 8/31/2009
My in-laws live year-round very near the south entrance to Yosemite National Park. It only takes a few minutes for me to drive in and reach the Mariposa grove of giant sequoia trees (Sequoiadendron giganteum), so I will often go into the park early in the morning and take a run through the trees before anyone else arrives. This time I put my hiking boots on and brought a camera, hitting the trail about 6:30. There was nobody around, not even another car in the parking lot. I made a stop at the Bachelor and Three Graces (how can one not stop here?). Eventually, I found the most photogenic tree of the morning along the upper loop trail, lit nearly in its entirety by early morning sun while the surrounding trees were shaded.
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| A giant sequoia tree, soars skyward from the forest floor, lit by the morning sun and surrounded by other sequioas. The massive trunk characteristic of sequoia trees is apparent, as is the crown of foliage starting high above the base of the tree. Image ID: 23259 Species: Giant sequoia tree, Sequoiadendron giganteum Location: Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth! |
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| Giant sequoia trees, roots spreading outward at the base of each massive tree, rise from the shaded forest floor. Image ID: 23258 Species: Giant sequoia tree, Sequoiadendron giganteum Location: Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth! |
See more giant sequoia photos, Sequoiadendron giganteum, Mariposa Grove.
Keywords: sequoia, giant sequoia tree, photo, picture, image, Yosemite National Park, Mariposa Grove, Sequoiadendron giganteum.
Vogelsang High Sierra Camp, Yosemite National Park
Photos of Vogelsang High Sierra Camp in Yosemite National Park
Note: I made a return trip to Vogelsang High Sierra Camp with my father in August 2010.
I made another banzai speed run up to the Eastern Sierra last weekend, this time to spend two nights at reknowned Vogelsang High Sierra Camp. This was my first visit to one of Yosemite’s high country camps, and I loved it. Dating back to the 1920’s, the High Sierra Camps consist of five wilderness camps (Vogelsang, Merced, Sunrise, Glen Aulin and May Lake) at altitudes ranging from 7,000′ to 10,000′, accomodating hikers with great meals, comfortable but spartan accomodations and incredible scenery. Backpackers also camp at these High Sierra Camps, and some backpackers opt to purchase meals at the mess tent while setting up their own campsite nearby. I opted to make a reservation and pay the full price in order to stay in the tent cabins with my own bed, and was rewarded with a lighter pack and no hassles setting up my campsite or carrying a bear can. Sure, I can carry a pack with full gear, but honestly I’ve got enough heavy camera gear to deal with so why not enjoy the comforts of the full-service camp? I’d definitely opt for the tent cabin again in the future so I can spend more time shooting photos, and leave the backpacking mode to others.
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| Townsley Lake, a beautiful alpine lake sitting below blue sky, clouds and Fletcher Peak (right), lies amid the Cathedral Range of glacier-sculpted granite peaks in Yosemite’s high country, near Vogelsang High Sierra Camp. Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Image ID: 23206 Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth! |
I took the Rafferty Creek trail from Tuolumne Meadows to Vogelsang, the shorter of the two routes, since I did not get started until after 1pm. (I spent sunrise and the morning at Schulman Grove in the White Mountains looking at ancient Bristlecone Pine trees.) The Rafferty Creek trail is reasonably straightforward, with most of the work and elevation gain done in the first three miles, after which the trail wanders through the gradual incline of Rafferty Meadows with Fletcher Peak and Vogelsang Peak growing larger with each passing mile. I treated the trail as a workout, busted a move and reached the camp about 4pm, stopping once to demolish the mondo huge ham sandwich I picked up at Schaat’s Bakkery in Bishop. I washed up, greeted my tent-cabin-mates and made my way to the mess tent for a huge satisfying dinner (chicken, soup, potatoes, veggies, homemade soda bread, salad and chocolate cake). My plans to shoot star trail photos were waylaid as I realized my bed was more appealing than the meadow behind the camp, and I crashed hard.
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| Vogelsang Peak (11516′) at sunset, reflected in a Fletcher Creek near Vogelsang High Sierra Camp in Yosemite’s high country. Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Image ID: 23202 Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth! |
Next morning I made a pre-sunrise hike up to nearby Vogelsang Lake and watched the sun play upon the lake, Vogelsang Peak which rises above it, and the surrounding granite terrain of the Cathedral Range. I made it back to camp just in time for breakfast: apple nut pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, oatmeal — killer. I never eat this well; I had to venture out into the sticks to get this great breakfast. I returned up to the lake and beyond to make a Vogelsang Pass panoramic photo, then a swim in the lake. I saw very few people. Back to camp for a midday nap after lunch, then off for an afternoon hike to the other side of Fletcher Peak to visit Fletcher Lake, Townsley Lake and Nameless Lake. I nearly bumped into a deer at Townsley Lake; if it had been 100 years ago and I had been named Phil Crockett I would have bagged me some fresh venison with nothing but my Swiss Army knife ap for my iPhone. A breeze came up keeping the mosquitoes down and me cool among the brilliant summertime scenery, making the afternoon one of the best hikes I’ve had in years. After I got back to camp for dinner, I met my new tent mates for my second evening in camp, including a fellow who had undergone two shoulder and two knee replacements. I realized that if this bionic man could hike the full High Sierra Loop, anyone can!
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| Panorama of Nameless Lake, surrounded by glacier-sculpted granite peaks of the Cathedral Range, near Vogelsang High Sierra Camp. Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Image ID: 23211 Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth!Pano dimensions: 3756 x 9102 |
Dinner the second night was equally superb: steak, potatoes, string beans, salad, homemade bread and cheesecake. After dinner I made a half-hearted attempt to shoot high-ISO images of the Milky Way as it arched over the Sierra, but passing clouds made the results less than stellar. Off to bed. My second and final morning at Vogelsang meant one more dawn visit to the Vogelsang Lake, hoping for dramatic sunrise light. It almost clicked but not quite, but the views are so awesome from Vogelsang Lake that the sunrise hike was worth it even without photos. I was able to watch the backside of Half Dome light up as the sun rose, neat. Another killer breakfast, then depart camp at 9am for the all-downhill hike back to Tuolumne along Rafferty Creek. At the car by 11:30am, slurp down a ice cold Diet Coke and then buzzing south on 395 by noon.
My GPS says I made 30 miles in 2.5 days between my walk on the Methuselah Walk in the White Mountains and my hikes to, from and about Vogelsang in Yosemite. I’m not running much these days, knees giving me problems, so the hiking was not as smooth as I expected, but it sure was worth every step. The scenery was outright spectacular, mind blowing in its simplicity and beauty. It really is God’s Country up there.
Next time I visit I’ll make a few changes. First, I will visit later in the summer to avoid the thick mosquitoes. The higher meadows, including Vogelsang Camp, were full of mosquitoes while I was there. A head net and long sleeve shirts proved to be the trick, along with DEET on the legs, and I got only a few bites. But I’d rather try the camp again when mosquitoes are less dense. Another change I will make is to start my hike to Vogelsang earlier in the day so I can take the Lyell Canyon route, which is about 12 miles (compared to 7 for the Rafferty Creek route). I hiked the length of Lyell Canyon to Donohue Pass with some high school friends 30 years ago; it was awesome and I want to see some of that area again. I will summit Vogelsang Peak next time. I was most of the way there my first morning when I reached Vogelsang Pass, but decided not to make for the peak so I could bag a few lakes that afternoon; next time I’ll take the peak just so I can experience the view which I understand is tops. Lastly, I took too much stuff. I did not need all those Powerbars — the food at the camp was plentiful and delicious. I did not need three camera batteries, nor did I need those two heavy f/2.8 zoom lenses. I’m going commando next time, stripped down to the min for speed and agility. I’m going to bring my uber-mikro-pocket-digikam for shooting while on the trail, and save the big camera for when I am on dayhikes around the camp.
Vogelsang High Sierra Camp Pictures - Images by Phillip Colla |
You can see more Vogelsang High Sierra Camp photos on my website. Photoshelter also has the same collection of Vogelsang High Sierra Camp photos, along with a Vogelsang slideshow.
Keywords: Vogelsang High Sierra Camp, Yosemite National Park, photo, picture, images, stock pictures, photography.
Photo of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 37° 44' 36.63" N, Longitude: 119° 35' 22.34" W, Coord: 37.74351°, -119.58954°
Filed under: California, Landscape, National Parks, Sierra Nevada, Yosemite on 4/16/2009
Half Dome is the one feature most closely associated with Yosemite National Park. A vast lobe of Mesozoic-era granodiorite magma cooled to rock, Half Dome was gradually uplifted to its present altitude of 8842 ft. As the rock was exposed, weathering and exfoliation of shell-like outer layers of the rock shaped the dome portion of the rock to its current shape. The summit is easily attainable as a day hike in the summer, if you have the stamina to undertake a 17-mile roundtrip hike with 5000 feet of elevation gain from the valley floor. To say that the view from the summit is worth the effort is an understatement. If you like this, please see more of my photos of Yosemite National Park.
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| Half Dome and storm clouds at sunset, viewed from Sentinel Bridge. Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Image: 22744 Location: Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth! |
Photo of El Capitan, Yosemite National Park
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 37° 43' 23.41" N, Longitude: 119° 37' 18.12" W, Coord: 37.72317°, -119.6217°
Filed under: California, Landscape, National Parks, Sierra Nevada, Yosemite on 4/15/2009
El Capitan, the massive granite monolith overlooking the western end of Yosemite Valley, is my favorite attraction in the park. It is beautiful and impressive from sunrise to sunset, under moonlight, in rain and when shrouded in mist. El Capitan, the largest known exposed granite block in the world, stands on the north side of the entrance to Yosemite Valley. Its name is Spanish for “the chief”, and this rock is indeed the most prominent feature of the west end of the Yosemite Valley, rivaled in significance only by Half Dome at the valley’s east end. At 3593 feet (1096 m) high, this massive rock is a popular — though difficult — climbing spot, attracting skilled big rock climbers from around the world. Visitors with binoculars can relax in El Capitan meadow to watch the climbers slowly make their way up the epic cliffs. Each year a few climbers are plucked off the sheer sides of El Capitan by a helicopter rescue team when they get in trouble. Ribbon Falls, on El Capitan’s west side, is Yosemite National Park’s highest unbroken waterfall (1612 ft, 492 m) and indeed one of the tallest in the world. Horsetail Falls, which flows off El Capitan for a few months in winter, produces a natural “firefall” for a few weeks in winter, if the conditions are right.
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| El Capitan eastern face, sunrise. Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Image: 22745 Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth! |
As an alternative to the usual view of El Capitan above, a couple days ago I posted an infrared photo of El Capitan, in which the granite face stood in stark contrast to the tree below it and the cloud-free sky above. If you like this, please see more of my Yosemite National Park stock photos.
Infrared Photo of Yosemite Falls and Leidig Meadow
I used the same digital infrared camera to photograph Leidig Meadow with upper Yosemite Falls. The skies were totally socked in, there was light rain and virtually no color, so normal color photographs were unappealing and immediately deleted. But a black and white conversion of one of the color channels from an infrared photograph gave what I felt was an attractive rendition of this picturesque Yosemite meadow. If you like this be sure to see more photos of Yosemite National Park.
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| Yosemite Falls, mist and and storm clouds. Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Image: 22767 Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA |
More infrared photographs.
Infrared Photo of El Capitan, Yosemite
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 37° 43' 23.41" N, Longitude: 119° 37' 18.12" W, Coord: 37.72317°, -119.6217°
Filed under: California, Infrared, National Parks, Sierra Nevada, Yosemite on 4/13/2009
Here is an image of El Capitan, one of Yosemite Valley’s most iconic iconistic icons, made with an digital infrared camera. The camera senses infrared light only, rather than visible spectrum light, resulting in dark skies and foliage that glows. See more Yosemite National Park stock photos.
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| El Capitan eastern face, sunrise. Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Image: 22770 Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth! |
More infrared photographs.
Tenaya Lake Panoramic Photo
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 37° 49' 43.57" N, Longitude: 119° 28' 2.53" W, Coord: 37.828772°, -119.46737°
Filed under: California, Landscape, National Parks, Panoramas, Sierra Nevada, Yosemite on 8/14/2007
In late summer a few years ago we took the kids to spend a few nights in Tuolumne Meadows and then drive over Tioga Pass to see Mono Lake. We stopped at Lake Tenaya for a swim and a picnic lunch on the way to the meadows. This is a panoramic image, composed of 8 separate photographs stitched (on the computer) into a single picture.
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| Panorama of Tenaya Lake, in Yosemite’s high country. Image ID: 19121 Location: Tenaya Lake, Yosemite National Park, California, USA Pano dimensions: 2009 x 14383 |
Click the image to see it larger.
Photo of Nevada Falls, Yosemite National Park
Nevada Falls is one of Yosemite’s most spectacular waterfalls but is only reached with some effort. A 3.5 mile hike (one-way) up the Mist Trail, which includes a good soaking while passing by Vernal Falls along the way, is required to reach the summit of Nevada Falls, including 1900′ of vertical ascent. Nevada Falls lies, along with Vernal Falls, in the joints of narrow Little Yosemite Valley, faults in the valley that form angles and walls as the glacier-formed valley descends from Yosemite’s backcountry down to the main valley floor. It is at the joints that Nevada and Vernal falls occur, both dropping over sheer granite walls into boulder-strewn riverbeds below. Above Nevada Falls the Merced River flows placidly, green and glassy through pine forests. In the last several hundred yards before the brink, the river slopes downward a bit and increases in speed, enough that when it reaches the brink it shoots out dramatically and thunders 600′ down to the huge boulders before racing through forests to Vernal Falls 1.5 miles downstream. The hike to Nevada Falls begins at the summit of Vernal Falls, a natural resting point for the hiker who has just finished the soaking wet, thigh-burner steps alongside Vernal and needs a breather to recover and dry off in the sun. Leaving Vernal behind, one hikes through brief switchbacks open to the sun (not hot yet, since you are still wet) then through trees that obscure Nevada Falls for a while. After a half-mile or so the trees begin to open up, yielding stunning views of Nevada ahead. The trail then moves to a series of switchbacks among granite boulders that pass alongside Nevada Falls, near enough that one really appreciates the power manifest in the enormous amounts of water barreling over the cliff. Finally the summit is achieved, offering broad views of Little Yosemite Valley below all the across to Glacier Point. A bridge over the Merced River is placed just before the Merced plunges over the falls, and wide granite aprons on either side of the river make for great picnic spots. For the descent to Vernal Falls and the valley, its best to take the alternate route back down via the John Muir trail as it has superb views of Nevada Falls with Half Dome and Liberty Cap rising above it.
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| Nevada Falls marks where the Merced River plummets almost 600 through a joint in the Little Yosemite Valley, shooting out from a sheer granite cliff and then down to a boulder pile far below. Nevada Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Image: 16114 Location: Nevada Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA |
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| Nevada Falls, with Liberty Cap (center) and Half Dome (left). Nevada Falls marks where the Merced River plummets almost 600 through a joint in the Little Yosemite Valley, shooting out from a sheer granite cliff and then down to a boulder pile far below. Nevada Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Image: 16115 |
Nevada Falls marks where the Merced River plummets almost 600 through a joint in the Little Yosemite Valley, shooting out from a sheer granite cliff and then down to a boulder pile far below. Nevada Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Image: 16116 |
Keywords: Nevada Falls, waterfall, Yosemite National Park<
Bridalveil Falls Rainbow
During spring months with heavy water flow, it is easy to see a rainbow in Bridalveil Falls: just visit the falls a short while before sunset and watch as the colors climb up the plummeting water as the sun sinks behind you.
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| Bridalveil Falls with a rainbow forming in its spray, dropping 620 into Yosemite Valley, displaying peak water flow in spring months from deep snowpack and warm weather melt. Yosemite Valley. Bridalveil Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Image: 16160 Location: Bridalveil Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA |
Keywords: bridalveil falls, yosemite national park, photo, picture, image, waterfall, photograph.
Yosemite Falls Lunar Rainbow
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 37° 44' 38.21" N, Longitude: 119° 35' 28.89" W, Coord: 37.74395°, -119.59136°
Filed under: California, Landscape, National Parks, Sierra Nevada, Yosemite on 5/15/2006
After getting word that the waterfalls in Yosemite are pouring at ginormous levels right now (due to a timely combination of last winter’s deep snowpack and recent warm weather), I blasted up to Yosemite Valley for a quickie. Indeed, all the falls were huge. As I drove into the Valley in the dark I could just see Bridalveil and Ribbon Falls going pretty good. A short while later I got a glimpse of Yosemite Falls, also raging. These were high flow levels I had seen in these falls only a few times before in my life, pretty special. I arrived just a few hours before the rising of the full moon Friday night hoping to see the famed “moonbow” of Yosemite Falls. When I got to the foot of Yosemite Falls about 10pm, I joined a small crowd of others who were also there to witness the lunar rainbow. Unfortunately, as I feared, the mist (re: rainstorm) at the foot of Yosemite Falls was so heavy there was no way to keep a camera dry; I was not about to get my gear out for a series of four-minute exposures, I take enough photos underwater as it is. There were a few guys giving it a try, so if they got anything perhaps they’ll publish their shots. Instead I spent the evening hiking around the valley, admiring the walls and falls in the moonlight from the relatively dry vantages of the meadows, a singular experience. At one point I was accompanied by a coyote hunting something (mice?) in one of meadows. We were surrounded by such quiet that I could hear his breathing and digging. It turns out that I did manage to obtain a lunar rainbow photo after all. Although I could not see it with my eyes at the time I took the photo below, the camera managed to capture the rainbow in the lower section of the falls (look hard, you’ll see it).
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| Yosemite Falls by moonlight, reflected in a springtime pool in Cooks Meadow. A lunar rainbow (moonbow) can be seen above the lower section of Yosemite Falls. Star trails appear in the night sky. Yosemite Valley. Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Image: 16093 Location: Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth! |
I spent the next day on the Mist Trail. It was a spectacular day, warm and clear with lots of people enjoying the drenching spray and giddying heights of the Mist and Panorama trails alongside Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls. I got some nice snaps.
Keywords: Yosemite falls, waterfall, yosemite national park, photo, picture, image, lunar, moon, night, photograph.
Photo of Fern Springs, Yosemite National Park
Fern Springs, near the entrance to Yosemite Valley, is a quietly running spring that crosses below the road and enters the Merced River. The small cascades offer a change of composition to the photographer looking for something to focus on aside from the towering granite walls and thundering waterfalls for which Yosemite is so well known.
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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. Image: 12650 Location: Fern Springs, Yosemite National Park, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth! |
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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. Yosemite Valley. Fern Springs, Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Image: 16084 |
Fern Springs, a small natural spring in Yosemite Valley near the Pohono Bridge, trickles quietly over rocks as it flows into the Merced River. Yosemite Valley. Fern Springs, Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Image: 16087 |
Keywords: Fern Springs, Yosemite National Park, photo, picture, image, photograph.
Photos of Bridalveil Falls, Yosemite National Park
Bridalveil Falls is a classic example of a “hanging valley”. Two million years ago it was a stream flowing through a canyon that intersected Yosemite Valley. Over time glaciers carved away the intersection, leaving Bridalveil’s canyon “hanging” above the valley and turning the stream into falls that plunge 620 feet (200m). Wind often blows the falls back and forth, producing a wide swath of mist that cools visitors who take the short hike to the base of the falls. Native indians referred to Bridalveil Falls as Pohono (”blowing wind”) and considered it to be a superstitious place. Bridalveil Fall, with a large absorbant watershed, flows year round. However, spring is the time to visit Yosemite National Park if you are interested in waterfalls. We make at least one visit to Yosemite Valley each spring, usually in May or early June, to see the park’s falls at their peak flow and to enjoy crisp cool mornings, verdant forests, blooming dogwood trees, a hike up the Mist Trail and Sunday brunch at the Ahwahnee. Bridalveil Falls is the first major water fall visitors see when entering Yosemite Valley, first seen we one emerges from the tunnel entrance to the west end of the valley, as it forms one side of the Gates of the Valley, then a short drive later it is observed from the floor of Yosemite Valley. Bridalveil Falls is a short, level walk from the parking lot to the base of the falls, through shady trees. When the falls are pumping the forest around the base of the falls is dripping wet and side streams form to pull the overflow from the falls down to the Merced River a few hundred yards away. In late afternoon a rainbow often forms in the spray of Bridalveil Falls, rising as the sun sinks.
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| Bridalveil Falls. Bridalveil Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Image: 12646 |
Bridalveil Falls with a rainbow forming in its spray, dropping 620 into Yosemite Valley, displaying peak water flow in spring months from deep snowpack and warm weather melt. Yosemite Valley. Bridalveil Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Image: 16160 |
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| Bridalveil Falls plummets 620 feet (200m). Yosemite Valley. Bridalveil Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Image: 16077 |
Bridalveil Falls plummets 620 feet (200m). Yosemite Valley. Bridalveil Falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Image: 16080 |
See some other waterfalls in Yosemite Valley: Yosemite Falls, Vernal Falls and Horsetail Falls.
Keywords: Bridalveil Falls, waterfall, Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Valley, California, photo, picture, image, pho
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Updated: February 8, 2012
