After leaving San Francisco, we headed east from the Bay area to Livermore, across the Central Valley, and towards the Yosemite. On the way, close to the Sierra Nevada Range, there are a number of flooded rivers, now reservoirs for the large cities on the coast. In the case of the reservoir shown in the picture below — it covers what was once a town set in the valley by the river.

Flooded Valley. The reservoirs created by daming the rivers flowing west out of the Sierra Nevada range have covered up towns that used to exist by the rivers. Here is one such reservoir.

 

Onward to the Yosemite itself. We arrived just at the end of the season in early October and set up camp (with minimal equipment) in the valley. Then we were off to see the sights of the Valley and surroundings.  The Yosemite is dominated by large granite batholiths. These are huge volcanic intrusions the floated up into the surrounding rock long ago. After the ice ages scraped away the surrounding rock, the batholiths are left exposed.

We camped in the valley for a few days. While in Yosemite, we climbed the heights of the Vernal Falls and hiked in the high hanging valley above the falls. That’s quite a climb and particularly hard decending the stairs (12 – 18 inch steps). We also drove to the top of Glacier point for a breath taking view of the valley near dawn.

On our way out, we took the Sierra Nevada pass high up and over towards Lee Vining and Owen’s valley.

Half Dome. This is the view of the half-dome from the valley floor, near the camping village.North Valley Wall. This is a shot of the north valley wall from the valley floor. This is where the Yosemite Falls can be seen earlier in the season. In October, most of the water was gone since it is, for the most part, glacier run off.El Capitan. Also on the north end of the valley.. This is a popular rock climb. We did not see any climbers when we were there, but there were some climbing Glacier Point (on the south side of the valley).View from Glacier Point. The Point is about 6,000 feet straight up from the valley floor. You can look straight down off the edge of the point and see your camping sites. Pictures, sadly, do not do it justice. The view below is looking north-east from the Point. The valley floor is a little to the left and (way) down. You can see the North Dome at the top left and the hanging valley with Tenaya creek running up and to the right. The time is early morning and there is a considerable mist/fog rising.Tuolomne Meadows. After camping in the valley and hiking up the Vernal Falls trail, we packed up and headed out of the East Entrance of the park. This road takes you into the high Sierra's and over through the Tioga Pass.Tioga Lake. High up, just below the top of the pass, you will find a number of small lakes. The crystal clear blue colour of Tioga Lake shows very well in the photo below. The view is eastward to the crest of the Sierra Nevada range.Tioga Pass Crest. After you reach the top of the Sierra Nevada, you have to go down into Owen's Valley and Lee Vining. The steep road is cut into the side of this valley -- you can see it starting from the middle of the picture on the left and heading on down!

 

Yosemite, Death Valley, Grand Canyon 1991 Launch!
Death Valley 1991