Yosemite locals are often asked, “Do you ever get tired of the beauty?” I would answer when living in the Valley for nearly a decade, “When you stop looking up, you’ve been here too long.”
I never tired of looking up.
Yosemite Valley is the most beautiful 2.12 square miles on Earth. Everything about it is perfection.
Elliot McGucken and Steve Arita visited this weekend and each said three words, “Peak, GO NOW!”
Their words may remain good for another day or two, but not much longer. Beyond that, you’ll miss the “at peak” visceral context expressed within America the Beautiful.
Steve noted that the bomb cyclone has “definitely brought back to life the famous waterfalls at Yosemite…the water was just thundering across the valley floor…and not obviously just the waterfalls, but the Merced river and all areas throughout the valley there was water, that combined with the gorgeous fall colors at peak…just made for a beautiful place to be.”
1. The parking area near Yosemite Falls “was simply gorgeous, very bright and intense, more than I’ve seen in past years, so definitely a place folks may want to take time to see.” A forest of black oak extends from the base of Yosemite Falls, east to the Yosemite School and can frame the falls beautifully with orange and black.
4. The trail to Mirror Lake along the river is at peak all the way to the lake, with the river running fast and high. The lake (more correctly called a lagoon) was high. One of the few disappointments park visitors have in visiting Mirror Lake is that the mirror, which used to reflect Half Dome, is no longer seen. It was manmade. The marsh would be dredged by park settlers to create the mirror reflection, and since this was not a natural process, the National Park Service stopped the practice and the lake has succeeded to meadow. Steve got to experience “Mirror Meadow” as a lake, and one whose trail is now peppered with bright fall color.
- Yosemite Valley (4,000′) – Peak (75 – 100%) GO NOW!
Wow! Thank you for sharing these magnificient views of fall in Yosemite. I live near the entrance of Sequoias. I grew up in the Yosemite Valley through out my childhood summer vacations, then hiking as an adult with my children. The fires and smokes of this last month scared me into thinking it would all be gone in flames. You photos brought back hope and love of the beauty of our forests and a reminder they were here before humans were. Thank you!!! SK from Three Rivers, CA
How do you get prints of these pictures?
Your email has been forwarded to the photographers.
So beautiful. Thank you for letting me “be” in one of my favorite places at my favorite time of year!
Gorgeous! Convinced me, got a campsite in the valley. I’m going to ride up on my motorcycle tomorrow and see it for myself.
WE have a cabin at Fish Camp and have always tried to see Yosemite in the fall.
It has to be very beautiful this year with the falls all running so fast and thundering
through the valley. We cam no longer travel and really appreciated the
wonderful photography. They brought back many pleasant memories of
the most beautiful place in the world. Shirley Hewlett
Thank you for illuminating nature’s beauty that leaves one in awe.