On June 10, I flew into LAX to begin a two week endeavor in California. I was able to visit Big Sur and Yosemite National Park. For the curious, most everyone talks like this out there...
Ok, maybe not. Anyways, I took a lot of pictures so take a gander. Also, this song is awesome:
Big Sur, CA along Highway 1.
California Sea Lions are pretty chill dudes.
McWay Falls of Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.
I believe if Carl from Up was a real person, he would live here.
So that was Big Sur. Lewis and Clark must have flipped their hamburgers when they arrived at the California coast for the first time. Next is Yosemite, with the El Capitan, the Half Dome, the Triple Dome, the Domes on Dome, and many more types of domes. Give yourself a short intermission with this video, or just skip to the end of the video and watch an hilarious impression Bon Iver by Justin Timberlake.
And without further ado...
Yosemite National Park
We started at an area called Rockslides just west of El Capitan. It was a tough climb because we had to reach the top of the ridge. In the picture below you can see El Capitan in the middleground and Half Dome in the distant background.
Bridalveil Falls
The next day was the big one. A 12 mile day that included summits of El Capitan and Eagle Peak. The grind of the day was definitely worth it for spectacular views.
On top of El Capitan.
On top of Eagle Peak.
On top of Yosemite Falls, which will be pictured from below later on.
The next day was lighter and included a summit to North Dome, the less popular third cousin of Half Dome. It actually gave some great views of the valley, Half Dome, and where we had come from the previous day. We camped near Snow Creek, which was right across from Half Dome. The sunset there was pretty spectacular at the Snow Creek campsite as well.
A view of the peak of North Dome.
On top of North Dome.
Looking west you can see where we had come from the previous day. The prominent rock face that juts out to the right of the valley is the top of El Capitan. The Three Brothers formation, which includes Eagle Peak, is a little closer to the right of El Capitan.
We were pleased to finally see Snow Creek, even though we had a few miles left to go. We stayed at this interesting waterfall area for awhile.
Possibly the best view from a campsite that I ever had. It's hard to beat having Half Dome in your backyard.
An outcropping allowed us to get closer to Half Dome and get better views of the valley below.
"Hello, Half Dome!"
Snow Creek
Sunset on Half Dome.
Our last day and final descent.
Mirror Lake
Operation Switchback complete.
Upper Yosemite Falls
Lower Yosemite Falls
Lower and Upper Yosemite Falls
Then a wild Shane appeared.
We cleared the area of bears and then set up camp.
Tenaya Lake from Olmsted Point
Half Dome from Olmsted Point
Tenaya Lake up close and personnel with Tenaya Peak in the background.
Tuolumne Meadows
After much deliberation, we decided to hike to Elizabeth Lake. This was a good decision. The doubters were hushed instantly.
Hunter blew his nose a lot on this trip. I thought I would take a picture of the event since it was an essential part of our experience at Yosemite. Then the camera started winding the film. Little did I know that was the last shot I would take in Yosemite.
Whelp, that's all she wrote. Stay classy.
