Last Light on Half Dome from Mirror Lake

I was ten years old when I first walked to Mirror Lake. In the stillness of that morning, the lake’s surface reflected a perfect image of the granite walls towering above it. There was a sign at the primary viewpoint which explained how the lake would slowly silt up and be transformed into Mirror Meadow. I remember feeling sad that such a beautiful place would eventually disappear.

In the intervening years I’ve returned to Mirror Lake many times to witness the prediction slowly become reality. Now, thirty-one years later, this process of transformation is nearly complete; only a small, shallow body of water remains. The rest is meadow. It is from this meadow that I captured the last light on Half Dome.

Meanwhile, elsewhere along the trail to Mirror Lake, The Boy was experiencing his first close encounter with a bear.

Yosemite Falls by Moonlight

Having discovered the amazing possibilities of moonlight photography three months earlier in Arches National Park, I planned our entire summer itinerary around the idea of being in Yosemite during a full moon. It turned out that I was not the only one who had this idea. By the time Yosemite Falls was fully illuminated, a small crowd had joined me at its base.

Moonbow

“Are you here for the moonbow?”

This is the question that everyone kept asking. Truth is I’d never even heard of a moonbow -- although it wasn’t hard to imagine what a moonbow was. If the moon is bright enough and the waterfall is generating enough mist, a faint rainbow becomes visible in the mist.

Unfortunately, due to a lack of snow the previous winter, Yosemite’s falls were already pretty languid by this first week of summer. There was little mist and no moonbow – or so it appeared at the time. Imagine my surprise when I reviewed the evening’s images and discovered a small moonbow at the bend in the lower fall. It turns out that moonbows are often invisible to the eye because they are not bright enough to excite the eye’s color receptors. With the right exposure settings, the sensor in a digital camera has no such limitation.

Gates of the Valley by Moonlight

A moonlit El Capitan is reflected in the flowing waters of the Merced River. On the south side of the valley, the eerie orange glow is being generated by the remnants of a controlled burn which was set a day earlier. That portion of the valley floor was covered by glowing embers.

Tunnel View by Moonlight

Sentinel Dome Sunset

No trip to Yosemite is complete without a sunset hike to the top of Yosemite Valley’s second highest peak. Sentinel Dome’s 360 degree view leaves you feeling like you are standing on top of the world.

The Mom & The Boy Arrive at the Top

The last time we were in Yosemite, Lewis had just turned three; the walk to the top of Sentinel Dome was too much for him to handle. Now that he was nearly five, The Boy was willing and able to make the trip. We just had to promise him one thing: that we weren’t going to see any bears. This was an easy promise to make since bears don’t typically live at this altitude.

Fortunately, The Boy didn’t think to ask about cougars.

Sentinel Dome Family Portrait

The Final Pink of Twilight

The Boy & His Red Rock

Full Moon Under a Ponderosa Pine

Dead Trees Under Moonlight

Previous stop: Sequoia National Park
Next stop: Monterey, CA