divisionsandprecisions | Yosemite Vacation

Here are finally some photos that we took during a 5-day vacation trip to Yosemite in February. It was the first time that we ever went there.

We reached the park late at night, so the first we saw of it was through the window of the hotel room. It was not easy to get enough concrete information about camping for someone who knew absolutely nothing about Yosemite Valley, so we stayed under a roof.

The next day we went to the visitor center to get our bearings and also saw a talk at the Ansel Adams Gallery. Late in the day, the snow began.

The next day was clear, so we headed up to Badger Pass for some snowshoeing. We didn't quite make it to the rim of the valley, but in the photo you can see across to Upper Yosemite Falls.

The next day, we hiked in the Yosemite Valley, which was 3000 feet lower and had minimal snow cover compared to the 5 feet at Badger Pass. Vernal Falls in the photo is first of a series of large waterfalls along this trail, but we encountered a lot of slush and ice as we got higher and didn't get that far.

The visible layers in the clouds here below Cathedral Spires help show how massively high these walls are.

Snowshoeing in the rain. Yum. Almost worth it to get to see the sequoias. It's nice that in the winter there is no way to get to see the big trees except by getting out of your car and walking.

Customary view of El Cap.

Upper Yosemite Falls from the place we were staying our last morning in the park. We were able to see Yosemite Falls from almost everywhere we went. We have photos from a half dozen distances and perspectives. I found myself asking myself, "Self, just how monstrously big is a waterfall if it looks big from four miles away?" My conclusion was: very big.

We finally paused for the canonical photo on our way out of the valley for the last time. El Cap on the left, Bridalveil Falls on the right, Half Dome in the middle.

On our way out, we stopped for a ranger-led snowshoe hike in Badger Pass. He pointed out this tree to us. It has claw marks from bears and holes from sap suckers. Compared to other large parks, we didn't see much wildlife.