boon's log 2106.05: Yosemite National Park

Couple of weeks ago, DM, YY and I decided to take a drive down to Yosemite. It was supposed to be one of the best times to visit YNP with all the snow melting and there will be ample supply of water down the various waterfalls. And true enough, it was. The last time I visited YNp at the end of fall/beginning of winter everything was stone cold and the waterfall... what waterfall? more like pee-fall!

DM offered to drive the 2-hr journey... we took off at about 4:30-ish in the AM and reached there about 8AM - after DM and his "excellent" navigator YY got us all lost with her MapQuest directions - oh by the way, for the record, I do think that MapQuest did a very bad job in prividing the directions/travel-distances. For anyone traveling in the States, please choose Yahoo! Maps or Google Maps (or Earth). MapQuest really did screw us up a little - well, at least that is what YY claimed...

Anyway, it was the perfect day to visit YNP with clear blue skies and 80-ish degree ambient temperature. Just nice. It was a scenic and picturesque drive and stop routine throughout - until DM and YY started to complain... "Waterfall, again?", "What? Rocks again?". Then they went "What happened to the wildlife?". Well, the wildlife did not emerge until very late during the day - we caught sight of some deers, and finally before we left the park a bear.

All in all quite a nice, fulfilling day at the National Park. I was hoping to do some biking or hiking around the park a little, but the other two guys were not really dressed up for real national park activities. Perhaps another time...

Here are some photos of the trip, as usual, click on the images for a larger view.


At the foot or Bridalveil Falls. I kinda like this one. This one looks like something out of an X-Files series. That's DM and YY, or should I say, Mulder and Scully...


El Capitan - famous for it massive bulk of largely unbroken rock and sheer


Yosemite Falls


Yosemite Valley - El Capitan, Half Dome and Bridalveil Fall


Mule deer


Macroshot of the parasites on one of the huge super-sized seqouia trees.


we got pretty close to this black bear - so much so that i snapped on a branch on the ground and he looked back at me while I took this shot. What's running through my mind? Ermm... "to run or not to run?" More facts about bears - <click here>


Yosemite Valley


Merced River


Half Dome





Bridalveil Fall

boon out...