Yosemite National Park

We drove to Yosemite National Park after our tour of San Francisco. From a viewpoint along the descending road into the valley we got our first look at the distinctive shape of Half Dome in the distance.

The unmistakable shape of Half Dome is seen clearly in the above shot. Rod is standing at the viewpoint on the descending road to Yosemite Valley.

When we drove into Yosemite Valley we were delighted with the picturesque chapel on the loop road. The lush green trees made a nice contrast with the golden meadows.

It was interesting that you could see Half Dome behind the chapel as shown below.

We drove from the valley loop up to the Wawona Overlook just past the Wawona Tunnel and got another view of Half Dome down the valley.

We certainly got dramatic views of Yosemite Valley with Half Dome standing over it. This was from the Wawona Overlook. It was a day with brilliant sunshine and blue skies.

The shot above is a view of the side of Yosemite Valley opposite to Half Dome.This map gives a great perspective of the valley where we had been exploring.

We drove on up to Glacier Point, which can be located on the map above. The view above is a telephoto shot of Half Dome from the Glacier Point lookout. From its 7024ft altitude we were looking right at Half Dome toward the east.

The map shows the location of the Wawona Tunnel and Overlook, from which we got some of the views above. It was a considerable distance to Glacier Point, up a winding mountain road that is closed in winter.

We loved the huge Ponderosa pines in the area of Glacier Point. Brenda is leaning against one of them and you can see another giant toward Half Dome.

We got unique views of Yosemite from Glacier Point. Above is a wide-angle view of part of Yosemite Valley from where we were. At right is a view eastward to the ridge of the Sierras.

We had a relaxing time at Glacier Point and leisurely explored everything in the area, always in view of Half Dome. The view at left has Brenda framed by the wall of the geology exhibit at Glacier Point.

We returned down the winding Glacier Point Road and turned southward on the Wawona Road to get in position for a trip to the Mariposa Grove tomorrow.

The winding Wawona Road southward was lined with a nice forest of large Ponderosa pines.

We spent the night at the pleasant Wawona Hotel. We had had an active day of exploration, and looked forward to a trip to the Mariposa Grove tomorrow.