Half Dome at sunset with a bright moon in front of its face

Here's a full moon rising next to Half Dome, Yosemite National Park. I, Rick, was actually leaving Yosemite after a day visit and decided to stop at the Tunnel View for one last look at the valley. Some people off to the left were pointing somewhat excitedly, but I couldn't figure out why, at first. Then I saw the moon rising, so I rushed to a spot where I could get the best angle. The red light of the setting sun contrasted well with the bright moon.

I did some adjusting of brightness and contrast and worked specifically on the area within the moon to bring out the details, but nothing was repositioned or added to the image.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Half Dome approach from the east

Here's Bob posing at the western end of the Sub Dome before we start on our way up to the top of Half Dome. You can see the famous cables going up the eastern side of Half Dome that give people a secure way to make it to the top. From this side of Half Dome, you can clearly see the way that granite erodes. The process is called exfoliation, which means that granite slabs flake off and eventually fall down the cliff.

Bob and I backpacked into the Little Yosemite Valley the day before, then finished the trip to the top on this day. Before hiking to the top of Half Dome, you have to climb to the top of the Sub Dome, which is very steep and a little scary. Then you drop down a little bit to a notch between the two domes. That's the spot behind Bob, where a couple of people are walking. Farther along, you reach the base of the cables. Sometimes, the Park Service leaves a basket full of gloves for hikers to use if they didn't bring their own. You can see people about half way up to the top, using the cables to make the ascent.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Roaring River Fall, in Kings Canyon NP, plus a huge boulder

In Kings Canyon National Park, there aren't as many waterfalls as in Yosemite Valley, but this one is in a special setting. Roaring River Fall gets its name because of how loud the water is as it drops down the canyon. The shape of the canyon at this point actually helps to amplify the sound. Also in this image is a huge erratic boulder that was left behind after the glaciers melted during the last ice age. You can get to this feature by parking along the main road and walking a short distance. During the spring, you'll be able to hear it. This image was taken in September after a very wet winter earlier in the year. So there was still a lot of water in the river. During the spring, though, the water can be as high as the whitish line of the rock face that you can see to the right of the waterfall.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Half Dome with a cloudy scarf

Got this image on a winter trip last February to Yosemite Valley. The clouds formed small puffs of cotton around Half Dome and slowly drifted around it. This cloud moved into just the right spot as the sun was getting lower in the sky, that its shadow went all the way across the face of Half Dome. Another nice feature was the snow on top of Half Dome and on the ridge west of Half Dome, too.

The ISO was set for 100, shutter speed at 1/250 sec, and the f/stop was 5.6. This was taken right about 5 PM so it was getting close to sunset for the third week in February. Taken from the Sentinel Bridge in Yosemite Valley.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Half Dome with a cloud on a bright sunny day

Half Dome is Yosemite's most iconic feature. It has many moods depending on the lighting, the presence of clouds, the season, and the angle from which you view it. This photo was taken from Sentinel Bridge, a popular spot from which to photograph Half Dome. The bridge connects the Southside Drive to the Northside Drive over the Merced River in Yosemite Valley. The face of Half Dome is in shadow in the mornings and isn't lit up by the sun until the afternoon.

Normally, we avoid visiting Yosemite in the summer because of how crowded it can be, but from time to time, we do make a summer time visit. This image was taken in early June, 2010. Rick lives close enough to Yosemite that he can make a day trip to visit the park. This was early enough in the season that there was still some snow on Half Dome. This was before the big five-year drought that California experienced. the dark trees in the image provide a nice framing effect and the cloud capping off Half Dome adds interest.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Half Dome from the east, looking west

This is the view of Half Dome from the east along the trail that leads to the top of Half Dome. We took two days to reach the top.  On the first day, we hiked past Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall to set up camp in Little Yosemite Valley. This second day we continued the hike, unencumbered by backpacks, to the top. After enjoying some time at the top of Half Dome, we headed back down, packed up our gear, then made it back out to Yosemite Valley. From the other side, the side most people see, it looks like solid rock. From the east side, though, Half Dome looks like a big onion with layers peeling off. That's the way granite erodes, through a process called exfoliation.

Photo of Rick on his way up the cables to the top of Half dome

We heard some other people who were headed to the top exclaim at this view and decide to give up and turn around. Before reaching the base of Half Dome, the trail leads to the "Quarter Dome", also known as the "Sub Dome" seen at the left edge of this image. In some ways, the part of the hike that goes up the Quarter Dome is the scariest part of the hike, because it's steep but there's no railing or cable to hold on to. Plus, hikers are going in both directions. Upon reaching the saddle between the Quarter Dome and Half Dome, you arrive at the base of the cables that lead to the top. Some other hikers made it that far, but after looking up at how steep the way to the top was, decided to head turn around. It is rather intimidating, but we've made it to the top three times...so far.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

El Capitan and a leafless oak in silhouette, Yosemite

April showers in Yosemite led to this formation of clouds that has the peak of El Capitan looming above and below the clouds, while the lower cloud provides the proper background for a bare oak tree's silhouette. This picture was originally taken in April of 1984 with slide film, specifically Kodachrome. Rick stood in El Capitan Meadow to get this photo.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Yosemite's Indian Rock Arch from the south, looking northward

Indian Rock Arch is a granite arch. The only one in Yosemite National Park. Granite arches are rare. Arches are much more likely to form in sandstone and other easily eroded material. But arches can form in granite and Yosemite does have one. Surprisingly, few people seem to know about it. The map for the area only lists the feature as Indian Rock and doesn't include the word "arch" to let hikers know what a unique feature they can visit. The arch is just off the North Dome trail which starts at the Porcupine Flat parking area along Highway 120 that crosses over the Sierra in Yosemite National Park. It involves about three miles of hiking to visit. You can hike right up to the arch itself and we've even passed under the arch from one side to the other. Such a formation is believed to result from granite eroding through a process called exfoliation, where plates of granite break away from the main rock.

This particular view is from south of the arch looking northward to see the feature set off against the blue sky. We've hiked to the arch a number of times, including once when we carried an extension ladder, hoping to get a better view of it up a tree on the north side. Several people gave us funny looks along the trail that day, so we simply assured them that we were working on a photography project, and they seemed satisfied with that answer.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Ribbon Falls, Yosemite's tallest seasonal waterfall, 2004 & 2017

The above picture shows Ribbon Falls, in Yosemite Valley, in March 2004. This is Yosemite National Park's tallest seasonal waterfall. The water in it actually freefalls a greater distance than the water in Yosemite Falls, which has a Middle Cascade before the water freefalls off of the lower falls. By summer, it is usually dried up, but this year, 2017, had a lot of precipitation, so the picture below shows Ribbon Falls in June, still with plenty of flow. The water falls 1,612 feet (491 meters). In contrast, Yosemite Falls' longest drop is 1,430 feet (436 meters), before cascading over 5 smaller plunges in the Middle Cascade. So, it turns out that the longest single plunge for a waterfall in America is Ribbon Falls.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Half Dome in the winter with clouds all around

To get this image, we skied out along the Glacier Point Road in Yosemite National Park. The road is open during the summer for people to drive to Glacier Point and look down at the view of Yosemite Valley and across at Half Dome. During the winter, the road isn't plowed, so getting to Glacier Point means skiing or snowshoeing, usually. You would park your car at the Badger Pass Ski Area, then ski or snowshoe 10.5 miles (about 17 km) to reach Glacier Point. This view is from along the road but before reaching the point itself. A couple of turnouts before the point offer spectacular views, as well.

This image was captured on film years ago and scanned more recently for inclusion on our blog.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Yosemite Falls and the Lost Arrow, Yosemite National Park

From this view along the Four Mile Trail, you can see almost all of Yosemite Falls, the Lost Arrow (to the right of the falls), the Merced River below, and parts of the trail that leads to the top of the falls. You can see that trail by basically starting at the middle of the left edge of the frame, following the line of trees that leads from the ledge up to the rounded top of granite to the left of the falls on the granite ridge.

ISO 100, f8, 1/180, 37mm focal length, taken during February, 2014.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Half Dome at sunset in Yosemite Valley

Sunset at Yosemite Valley with the magnificent Half Dome as the main subject. There's North Dome at the left in this view. We've posted a photo of Half Dome as seen from the top of North Dome in an earlier section of our blog. We've been to the top of Half Dome three times, and Rick has been to the top of North Dome twice. One thing about the angle that Half Dome's face has in relation to the sun is that it is very often in shadow in the morning and isn't fully lit until the afternoon. There are now people hiking to the top of Half Dome at all hours of the day. We've met people started their hike to the top of Half Dome late at night because they wanted to witness the sunrise from the top the next morning.

Camera settings were 1/125 sec. f/5.6, ISO 100, 32 mm focal length.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Half Dome accompanied by a nearly full moon

Yosemite National Park's most famous landmark, Half Dome, accompanied by a nearly full moon in spring. On Half Dome, the small feature that protrudes from the top edge is called "The Visor." We've been to the top of Half Dome three times and each time we've heard people refer to that feature as "The Diving Board". But the "Diving Board" is a feature along the same ridge as Half Dome but is well below and not part of Half Dome. Ansel Adams took a famous photo of Half Dome from the Diving Board called "The Monolith."

To get this image, we stood in the Ahwahnee Meadow 2 nights before the actual full moon hoping to line up the eastern edge of Half Dome with the moon as it rose. A night or two before the full moon is often best for these kind of shots because the sun will still be up enough to light the scenery you want to include with the moon. Especially in a steep place like Yosemite Valley, waiting until the night of the full moon to try a get a photo that combines the landscape with a rising moon will be more difficult since the sun will have already set by the time the moon is high enough to be seen with the landscape.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Indian Rock Arch, Yosemite's only granite arch, viewed from the south looking north

This photo shows Yosemite National Park's only granite arch, called Indian Rock. It's not identfied on maps or even by the signs along the trail, that this feature is an arch. It forms through the process that erodes granite features generally, exfoliation. Sheets or plates of granite peel off through the the freeze and thaw process. Arches are rarely made of granite because the exfoliation process would have to leave the arch behind as other parts of the rock peel away. Reaching Indian Rock involves hiking three miles from the Tioga Pass Road starting at Porcupine Flat. This view of the arch is from the trail to its south looking northward during the morning. We've posted another picture of this arch in our gallery looking at it from the north looking south, with Half Dome appearing underneath the arch. We've camped near and hiked to this arch more than 5 times. This photo is 2 photos that have been merged to a proportion of 2x1.

There is another granite arch in the Sierra south of Yosemite along a route known as the Sierra Vista Scenic Byway.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

This picture shows Bob sitting by the arch on the north side.

Hinkey Summit Arch, Humboldt/Toiyabe National Forest, north of Winnemucca, Nevada

 This is a natural arch formed in granite.  It is located in the Santa Rose Range of the Humboldt/Toiyabe National Forest north of Winnemucca, Nevada.  According to the late Robert Vreeland, a geologist who cataloged many of the natural rock spans of the United States, this is a young, cave-type arch.  It has a span of 20 feet, a height of 15 feet, a thickness of 40 feet, and a width of 15 feet.  The top of the arch is over 8000 feet in elevation.

Natural rock spans are a particular interest of ours and we have traveled to many parks and wildlands looking for them.  Although this arch doesn't have an official name, we would like to call it the Hinkey Summit Arch, after the nearest named feature.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.