2014 Road Trip - Yosemite

Yosemite has good points and bad points. There is some interesting scenery in the park. The big drawback is that it’s not a place to go if you need to get away. There are crowds everywhere.


We were early enough that we could find parking at the Mariposa Grove. Some of the Sequoias were impressive. We also paid attention to the wildlife and recorded some White-headed Woodpeckers. Perhaps insignificant to locals, this was a first for me.

Our next stop was Glacier Point. My sister wasn’t too pleased in the parking lot when a car in front of her started backing up to claim a spot. The driver got fairly close before my sister resorted to honking her horn. What did he do after realizing he was close to backing into a car? He backed up some more, forcing my sister to keep moving to avoid contact. We have some other issues with the local drivers. I may have to write a blog post to vent.

Okay. I’m off topic. So what? Back to foggy Glacier Point. We had a hard time seeing anything. We tried to take shots between the breaks in the fog. I considered taking shots of Half Dome with waterfalls using a slow shutter speed. I rushed instead so I could get away from the crowd.

Bridal Veil Falls #4 was next. Due to the dry conditions this year, the falls were just a trickle. Perhaps better conditions could move it beyond #4 on my list of Bridal Veil Falls. Similar to Glacier Point, I didn’t set up a proper shot due to the crowds.

Our final stop was along the Valley. We decided to skip the tougher waterfall hikes due to the heat. And to think the day started so well. At times, I thanked trees for providing shade. At other times, I would tell the sun to go back to Calivermia. Then I would remember where we were.

There I go again. Please stop me the next time I go off topic. The only waterfalls we checked out while in the valley were Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls. I was still having problems with the crowds. I rushed my shots. I at least threw on a neutral density filter, but I didn’t bother with the tripod that would be necessary to keep my camera steady. While on this walk, we found Acorn Woodpeckers, another species that we had never identified before.

I kept counts for Mariposa Grove and the Valley, but Glacier Point and Bridal Veil Falls weren’t worth the effort. My bird checklists will not include all of today’s Douglas Squirrels, Steller’s Jays, Ground Squirrels, Junco, or Raven.

UPDATE 1: I have added pictures from Stanislaus National Forest.

UPDATE 2: I have added pictures from Yosemite National Park, an eBird checklist from Mariposa Grove, and an eBird checklist from Yosemite Valley.