Sequoia to the Pacific

The weather forecast Friday night was for up to 16″ of new snow.  Since Friday was my last night at John Muir Lodge I worked for about 45 minutes with another traveler to build a nice big fire in the main room of the Lodge.  Then we all enjoyed some good conversation and adult beverages.… Continue Reading

The Giant Forest

Within Sequoia National Park lies the Giant Forest.  Named so by naturalist John Muir for the abundance of unbelievably big trees, Sequoias as well as Pines and Cedars.  Walking in the Giant Forest is surreal.  Seeing trees over 275 feet tall starts to seem normal.  The pictures today are both from the Museum located within… Continue Reading

Super sized

Welcome to the land of giants.  We left Yosemite National Park just after breakfast and made the 4 hour drive to Sequoia National Park.  The largest living things in the world are in Sequoia National Park.  The General Sherman tree is 311 feet tall and is guestimated to weigh in around 2.7 MILLION pounds.  I… Continue Reading

Yosemite Search & Rescue in action

Today we were treated to an up close encounter with the Yosemite Search and Rescue Team.  Fortunately it was a non-emergency situation.  They were doing a combined training drill with some members of a Canadian Search and Rescue organization to share techniques.  The situation was designed to retrieve someone stranded in an area that could… Continue Reading

Frosting covers Yosemite

Well, as I had hoped, this morning I awoke to the entire Yosemite Valley coated in a thick coat of fresh snow.  Everything looked like it had been covered in frosting.  Truly amazing.  When shooting in conditions like this you have to constantly monitor your exposures and dial in exposure adjustments to compensate for the… Continue Reading

Let it snow!

It was a day of mixed rain and snow with nothing accumulating down in Yosemite Valley.  Sunrise and sunset were cloudy and wet, but still fun to be out.  Kristen arrived today for the workshop and together we saw a couple getting married out in Cook’s Meadow.  It was snoaining, or maybe you would call… Continue Reading

Sun, Rain and Snow – Perfection!

Sunday started cold but very promising.  After a lackluster  sunrise on Saturday today’s was more rewarding.  Clear blue skies and crisp shadows to highlight all the great texture on the assorted rock formations surrounding the Yosemite Valley floor.  The sun warmed the valley floor and by Noon I spotted several people in shorts and t-shirts.… Continue Reading

Up and out nice and early

Since my body is still on Michigan time it was no problem to get up at 4:30AM PST since it felt more like 7:30AM to me.  Sunrise was a cloud fest so I used the soft even light to shoot some details of the lichen and moss growing on the Cedar Trees and Ponderosa Pine.… Continue Reading