Travel Blog #6: Yosemite Part 2

Leaving our parking spot after our hike to Vernal Falls was a terrible mistake. We had heard parking was difficult, but had no clue how hard it would be to find something close to our next destination. We were about a mile away from Yosemite Village and figured we would pop in, spend a little time at the Ansel Adams Gallery and then head out to the Lower Yosemite Falls trail. Instead, we spent the next hour driving and circling in every visitor parking lot we came across. There is not enough parking in this park, and the NPS.gov website recommends finding a spot before 8am and remaining in that spot. If we had paid attention to that we would have walked only slightly further than we drove.

After finally finding a spot at what I think was the Ahwahnee Hotel, we were on our way. There is a large section of the lot that is hotel parking only, but on the two extreme ends it is open to everyone. Other than the parking situation this was the absolute highlight of the trip for me. The walk back to the village was about a mile, and it took us past the two main things I had wanted to shoot with my Leica. Before we left, I took some time to relearn how Ansel Adams shot Monolith, and basically it was his usual film with a deep red filter to darken the sky. About halfway to the gallery I was able to get the exact angle I had been looking forward to. Beforehand, I had honestly not looked at any maps to know where it would be, so I am so happy I saw this piece of rock and it looked every bit as majestic as I imagined. I took this same photo with a bare lens, a yellow filter and of course a red filter. As I suspected, the red filter version is my favorite and could be my favorite photo I’ve ever taken.

Getting to the gallery was literally a dream come true. I made sure to look at the other artist’s prints first and they were amazing, but when you’ve been looking forward to seeing something in person for 30 years, those extras are simply a distraction to the main event. Unfortunately, they do not allow photos in there…but I snuck one of the display cases with his original equipment (one of the employees didn’t seem to mind). It was kind of a humbling experience to be standing in front of prints he had made and signed himself. They still have his original assistants come in several times a year to make new prints from his original negatives but were sold out of the one I really hoped to bring home. They had the original Moonrise over Hernandez available but spending $79,000 seemed like a poor investment on my part so I left with a small reproduction and 4 postcards. If we ever go back, I think I will try to convince my “financial advisor” it would be a wise investment to get one of the museum prints if they have them available. One of the curators, Ken, was listening to me talk with one of the other customers about this blog (he was also shooting film in the park) and then he spent the next 45 minutes walking me through the history of several of the photos, showed me details about a few of my favorites I had never seen and generally gave me a masters class on Ansel Adams’ life I never expected when I walked in the front door. If you ever have the chance to go talk with Ken, plan on spending at least an hour with him and be prepared to learn.

The final planned part of the day was Lower Yosemite Falls. The paved trail is an easy and accessible loop. I believe it was about 1 mile and there were so many different spots with amazing views it’s hard to choose a favorite. Most places you’re only able to see either upper or lower falls, but in a few you can see both. Then when you get to the bridge over the river it feels like you are standing right inside the falls. It’s a few hundred yards away from the bottom but the spray is incredible and was really fun to stand in. I didn’t spend much time on the bridge because my cameras aren’t weatherproof. But if you aren’t worried about it yourself, please take the time to stand there and let one of God’s great creations envelope you. I would love to make the 8-mile hike to Upper Falls someday, and if we get back there to see Glacier Point it will be right there at the top of my list.

As we were going back to the car, we were trying to figure out what souvenir we wanted to remember this trip by. One of the guys we were walking near recommended the gift shop back at the hotel and we weren’t disappointed. It was definitely the best selection within the park, and for those of you that are going to camp there they had a really nice selection of local beer available.

On the way out of the park traffic was light. It seemed like once we got past Yosemite Falls there wasn’t nearly as much crowding. Plenty of spots on the side of the road and in pullouts. Since the road through the valley is just one big loop, it put you right at the base of the mountain and can get incredible views of El Capitan, Three Brothers and what I am pretty certain is the Merced River. If you have time at the end of your day to stop and watch climbers as the sunlight turns to Golden Hour, it would be worth the time to sit and have a snack for a while. I was able to get a few shots with the experimental film I had in my Nikon, and I really like the way they turned out. I waited 30 years to be in this valley and it was worth it. I cannot wait to get back there because we barely scratched the surface of how awesome this place is due to the multiple road closures from snow and road work.

Travel Blog #7: California Coast Rte. 1

Travel Blog #5: Yosemite Part 1