"......walk away quietly in any direction......"

"Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of nature's darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. As age comes on, one source of enjoyment after another is closed, but nature's sources never fail."

-John Muir

You didn't think I was done posting about Yosemite did you? Too many pictures....

views from the valley floor

Vernal Falls and Mist Trail

Views from Tioga Pass

We just fell in love with Yosemite. Standing on the valley floor feeling the walls tower above us.....it's hard to compare it. Walking through the spray of water on the Mist Trail in the summer's heat, and hearing the roar of the falls right next to us.....we loved it. We left with dirty feet and warm memories and hopes to bring our family back there soon to "climb the mountains and get their good tidings."

the end.

questions from previous post: 

Did you have to make a reservation to camp? 

YES. There are some walk in sites around the park, but we wanted to have a reservation so we didn't spend all our time searching for a campsite. All the sites right IN the Yosemite Valley seem to be reserved months in advance (plus they are sooooo cramped) we stayed outside the valley in Crane Flat (still more cramped than we are used to camping.....but more space than in Yosemite Valley). There were some great looking campgrounds further away in the Tuolumne Meadows and Tioga Pass area if you don't mind being about an hour from the park.

What shoes do you hike in?

I love my Chacos
How do you carry your camera while hiking? What lenses do you use?
I just wear my camera the whole time. If it starts to rain, or get dark, or I'm done taking photos (rarely), I usually wrap it in a jacket and put it in my pack (on top).  I usually hike with my 35mm f/1.4. It's not too bulky and I can still get a semi wide shot. Some of these photos from the valley floor were taken with my 24-70--I love wide shots but that's a pretty big lens and I don't like to carry it if we are going too far. I use my 50mm f/1.4 from time to time on hikes--it's so small and light but I'm not able to get very wide shots.

See our hike to Yosemite Falls and Yosemite Point HERE