Obviously, Yosemite‘s treasure trove of sights isn’t just limited to its huge granite monoliths – there’s plenty of other things to see around the valley floor. Easily accessible by car, you can drive around to a number of the different viewpoints and snap away with your camera or just soak up her peaceful ambiance. As I said previously, this year had been so dry that virtually all the waterfalls were non-existent and most of the lakes and rivers had virtually evaporated. On the recommendation of my brother-in-law, I made the short-ish hike out to Mirror Lake only to find tall grass and sand where the lake should of been. That was a disappointment – plus I had made the walk longer than it needed to be by accidentally taking the horse trail too 
. Despite these whinges though, Yosemite still manages to impress. Its wonderful to look back at these photo’s while searching for images to post on the blog and still feel in awe at its beauty. I can’t wait to go back someday.
Above: Bridalveil falls. Of all the falls in the valley, this one was the only that had any water flowing over it. Unfortunately it was just a trickle and what little fell down mostly evaporated before hitting the bottom. The falls themselves are in the centre of the shot, plus you can see how low the water is by the riverbed in the foreground.
Above: The Merced river running on empty.
Above: Fungi on a fallen tree as I walked the trail out to Mirror Lake.
Above: Umm, this is Mirror Lake; minus the lake. I went out here in the hopes of capturing a glorious sunset with the mountains reflecting in its famed tranquil waters… Next time eh?!
Above: Yosemite Valley’s Post Office.
Above: This was taken with the intention of making it into a B&W. I’ll get to it soon I hope…
Above: View from Swinging Bridge.
In the next post we’ll leave Yosemite for some of the sights along California’s Highway 1.
wooow, nature nature
Nature at its finest, that’s for sure. Thanks for visiting too, much appreciated.
yeah its sad how humans eventually will ruin it…
Sometimes all we have are photos and memories of good places
Lovely photos, Distan!
If you like photography, we’d like to invite you to participate in our next Travel Photography Competition. Here are the details:
http://hitchhikershandbook.com/your-contributions/travel-photography/
Happy travels!
Thanks very much, I’ll check it out. Appreciate you visiting as well.
Gorgeous nature shots Distan!!!!
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Thanks heaps Xandré.
Breathtaking!
Cheers Michael. It’s worth the visit, that’s for sure.
Beautiful photos!
Thanks Janet, that’s very kind of you. Appreciated.
I can tell you were disappointed with the lack of water, but your images are still stunning, and I even want to go and check it out, I don’t even like nature that much, haha. Now when you do go back, you will know to make sure it is after a lot of rain, and what you will get will be so different and so much more the wonderful.
Yep, that’s true. Next time, I will go in an open top car and at the tail end of spring (after the snow melts) and the flowers are all in bloom. Stunning!