Wet Reprieve in a Dry Yosemite Summer

Valley View in mid-July. A series of welcome midsummer storms had recharged the streams and waterfalls over the past couple of weeks, getting even the ever-seasonal Ribbon Fall going again in the midst of this record drought. When the storms first came, two weeks before this, the river turned greenish-brown with mud from the rain falling on dusty ground. Thankfully, the mud didn't last, but the rains did. A welcome reprieve in the midst of this unnaturally dry year.

Cathedral Meadow

Happy 100th Anniversary to the National Park Service! From one of my favorite spots in my favorite park.

Tropical California

Gold Country Barn

Shasta Blue

Tuolumne Water & Stone

Yosemite Off the Chain

A Merced Minute

Late Spring in the Yosemite High Country

Fly Fishing in Yosemite

Ahwahnee Meadow in May

Reflecting On Morro Rock

Guardians of Tenaya

Pining For Yosemite

Ladies on Display

Springtime in Yosemite

Falling Water in Northern California

Yosemite Backcountry Bonsai

Yosemite Ice & Sky

Lassen Meadows

Painted Ladies

Yosemite High Country Reflections

Mt. Dana (l) and Mt. Gibbs (r)

Illuminated Span

California Golden Oaklands

Yosemite Covered Bridge

Yosemite Whitewater

The Tuolumne River rushing headlong across miles and miles of granite steps in the Yosemite high country on its way down towards Hetch Hetchy and ultimately into the bathtubs, kitchen sinks, and water bottles of the citizens of San Francisco.

Return to Yosemite

Natural HDR work in Photomatix

Falling Water in Southern California

Tuolumne Cathedral

In the heart of the high country of Yosemite National Park, the peaks of the Cathedral Range look down upon the the waters of the Tuolumne River and its eponymous meadows.

The Streets of San Francisco

Yosemite – Toward the Falls

Starr King Blue & Green

White Cascade, Blue Sky

In the Yosemite high country, the Pacific Crest Trail runs alongside the Tuolumne River as it thunders across countless granite shelves in little cascades and waterfalls on its way down to Glen Aulin. This is the aptly named White Cascade, which plunges some fifty feet or so into a nice little swimming hole right alongside the Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp.

Yosemite After the Rain

Volcano Road

Yosemite – Off the Beaten Path

Yosemite's Eastern Gate

Lassen Reflections

Huntington Chinese Garden

San Simeon Seascape

Looking out into the Pacific from William Randolph Hearst Memorial State Beach, near San Simeon, California. A 30-second exposure.

Springtime Along the Dana Fork

Yosemite's high country in late spring of a very dry year. The snow was almost gone from the peaks even though it was still May. This is the Dana Fork of the Tuolumne River right above where it joins with the Lyell Fork, just upstream from Tuolumne Meadows, at over 8,500 feet of elevation (about 2600 meters). The main peak visible at the back of the image is the north end of the Kuna Crest, Mammoth Peak, at 12,117 feet (3693 meters).

Yosemite – Al Otro Lado Del Río

Looking across the Merced River towards the southeast from Valley View on a beautiful summer day in Yosemite after recent rains had recharged the waterfalls and streams.

Springtime in Yosemite

Even in the midst of prolonged drought, if you go early enough in the year, you can see Yosemite as it should be, where the summer gold and granite glare is replaced by lush greens everywhere, with water in all the falls. Here's hoping that this year's El Niño brings the park and all of California some much-need relief.

Yosemite Cathedral Summer

The blue skies, green trees, and gray granite of a midsummer meadow in Yosemite Valley, looking southwest towards Cathedral Rocks.

Valley View Reflection Blue

A surprisingly still moment on the banks of the Merced River, at Valley View in the heart of Yosemite. Taken with my iPhone as my main camera was busy on its tripod doing its thing.

The Mouth of Tenaya

Looking back towards the northeast from the outflow of Tenaya Lake, at 8150 feet (2482 m) in the Yosemite high country. This was in the midst of yet another dry year, when an area that usually would still have snow all around in late May was already looking like it was midsummer.

Tuolumne Bridge

The Pacific Crest Trail crossing the Tuolumne River on a double bridge several miles downstream from Tuolumne Meadows, in the Yosemite high country.

Tioga Pass Blue & Green

This little lake or tarn sits at the top of Tioga Pass, at almost 10,000 feet of elevation, just before you leave Yosemite National Park. The mountain behind is Mt. Dana, the second-tallest peak in the park, at 13,061 ft (3,981 m).

Tuolomne Flow

The Tuolomne River rushing across a wide bed of granite downstream of the meadows that bear its name. On a beautiful, blue-sky midsummer's day in Yosemite.

Shasta Blue & Green

Looking south towards California's tallest volcano, and at 14,179 ft (4,322 m) the second-highest peak in the Cascade Range: Mt. Shasta. I took this in early July of this year, when there was still plenty of snow on the mountain, despite the plus-100º F temperatures in the valleys below.