Yosemite

It had been a while since we had visited Yosemite. We used to try to go every year, but when The Queen started school full time we found it much more difficult to go. They last trip we made was when one of her classes took a field trip there. Meg and I took my parents there for their first time. That was about four or five years ago.

We were due for a trip to Yosemite and I wanted to try to stay in Yosemite Valley. We had never done that before. I started trying to book our stay in February. I really wanted to try Housekeeping Camp, but it was booked so I opted for Curry Village. I didn't know much about it before we got there. All I knew was that it was located near the Vernal Falls trail head and that we would be staying in tent cabins. The tent cabins have a wooden floor, frame and door and canvas walls and roof. As our trip got closer I read online that they include cots, linens, towels and pillows as well as a bear locker.

When we arrived on Friday, we were greeted by our neighbors almost immediately. They told us that the night before there was a bear sitting on our bear locker. That got us a little excited, but I did not completely believe them.

We saw six deer in the meadow just outside our campground on Saturday evening. They did not care that people were all around them taking photos. When we returned to the campground, The Queen and Chels saw a bear walking through.


The view of Half Dome from the Curry Village parking lot.

This is Lower Yosemite Falls.

On Friday evening we watched a presentation and slide show given by Lewis Kemper, a photographer who worked with Ansel Adams. It was a great slide show that really made me think about light and composition. At the end he mentioned that between eleven and twelve o'clock that night a moonbow would be visible at Yosemite Falls. I decided to try to photograph it. He also mentioned that he would be leading a photo tour the next morning at eight-thirty.

I went out that night at about eleven-thirty and had absolutely no luck seeing the moonbow. I went back to our tent cabin and decided I would go to Lewis's photo tour the next morning.

I woke up in time and got ready to go. I ended up leaving later than I wanted to because I was talking to The Queen. I drove out of the parking lot and searched for the Ansel Adams Gallery to no avail. I just did not know where I was going. I gave up and decided I would take the tour on Sunday morning instead. We found the gallery on Saturday afternoon and I signed up for the tour.

On Sunday morning I woke up in plenty of time. I decided to take the free shuttle to the gallery. I had a long wait of about twenty minutes. Some of the deer were back in the meadow, but I resisted taking more pictures because I was running low on memory card space. The shuttle finally arrived and got me to the gallery in plenty of time.

Canon in the park was working the tour in conjunction with the Ansel Adams Gallery. They were allowing people to try their camera bodies and lenses free of charge. I decided to try the Canon 5D Mark II and a 24-105mm lens. I was very impressed with the camera.

The tour was just around the meadow near the gallery, but I think I took some great photos. At the end of the tour they let us print a few photos for free and then let us know that they would email us all of our photos. I can't wait to see them all.

I love Bridalveil Creek and Bridalveil Falls. The area is just picture perfect. The only downside is that it is the first waterfall you see when entering from the South so it is always busy. It is a very easy hike to the falls and to the creek. I usually get pretty good photos in this area, and Sunday was no exception.