Dedicated to the memory of Davide Jude Cooper

Y O S E M I T E Here'll you'll find piccies of my trips to Yosemite National Park, described as one of the most beautiful mountenous regions on earth. Yosemite valley is unique in its formation(s) due to a very lucky set of fracture planes, glacier activity and rock composition. Hiking and Climbing are yours to be had, along with camping. I do agree, it is uber-beautiful... Alas, like Banff, its beauty is its undoing, for there are hordes of visitors each year, and with each little neglect by those uncaring the damage accumulates. Here are the photos, in preservation of this marvelous place: Half Dome Hike - 16.5mi Round Trip, 4500'+ Elevation Chilnualna Falls - 8.5mi Round Trip, 2200' Elevation Mariposa Grove of Big Trees Sentinal Point to Glacier Point Lower to Upper Yosemite Falls (nearly) - 6mi Round Trip, 2800' Elevation Upper Yosemite Falls to Eagle Point - 13.6mi Round Trip, 3800' Elevation Smoke&Haze&DRY! Tenaya Lake to Clouds Rest - 12.8mi Round Trip, 3000' Elevation Half Dome Redux - 16.5mi Round Trip, 4500'+ Elevation   Begin your journey here, with the valley spread out before you...

H A L F   D O M E   2 0 0 0
Frith on the hills! You can see the whole world from here!  
 
  Vernal Falls... yes, really, it is... right... there...
  Upper Yosemite Valley Creek
  I choose... this glove! (Very cool, communal gloves)
  The infamous cables!
  I'm on top of the... rock!
  A contemplative moment
  Looking accross the valley, and the one tree atop Half Dome
  LooOOOoooong way down...
  Looking towards El Cap
  A climber on ascent up the Half Dome face! (Middle of Picture, silhouette)
  Proof!   Frederick, Christine, Oliver...
  At the trailhead, during the return

  The Y2K Yose Trip Gang!
 

C H I L N U A L N A   F A L L S   2 0 0 1  
 
  The river at the bottom of the hike
  Scenery along the way
  Upper river scenery
  The plateau--our destination
  One of the many water falls/chutes
  The one and only Chilnualna Falls


M A R I P O S A   G R O V E   2 0 0 1  
 
  the BIG tree... (for scale, look at little people)
  Base of said tree
  Upper part of the same tree
  Loooooking up


S E N T I N A L / G L A C I E R  P O I N T   2 0 0 1  
 
  Half Dome and Nevada Falls! (wow, we went up that! :P)
  The high Yosemite Falls
  The raging Nevada and Vernal Falls
  Snow! Lynx is happy!

  Deer!
  Deer!
  The Y2K+1 Yose Trip Gang!
  The infamous Windmills along the pass near Livermore...


Y O S E M I T E  F A L L S  &  E A G L E  P O I N T   2 0 0 1
Different Gang o' Folks! Very hazy/smokey, hot and dry...  
 
  Yosemite Dry... the theme of these hikes
  Lower Yosemite Rocks, er, Falls
  Bridge over the river Dry (ouch-pun)
  Looking accross the valley...
  Hey, its Half Dome!
  The valley's splendour of green despite the dryness...
  Yep, that really is Upper Yosemite Falls
  Groovy... where the falls would spout
  Stairway to higher ground... nice trail pic
  The evening sun's rays accross the haze...

Day 2
  The bridge atop Upper Yosemite Falls, er, Waterway
  Where the water usually runs
  Elevation marker!
  The water is this deep??
  DANGER! DANGER! REALLY!
  Along the trail...

  Panorama from atop Eagle Point! BIG! SCROLL!

  Half Dome from atop Eagle Point - Notice the fire at the top right
  The valley floor. The first step's a doozie...
  Nice rocks...
  Even nicer rocks

  Ahh a train... on the trip home


C L O U D S   R E S T   2 0 0 4
Starting out from Tuolome Meadows -- Hazy and Firey and Dry again  
 
  The rocky scramble to get to Clouds Rest
  The lynx, the crane stance, the Half Dome in the distance...
  The rock shorn away
  A vista of unending proportions
  And another vista
  The quick way down!
  A look back at our starting point, Tenaya Lake
  The reverse-view of Yosemite Valley: Half Dome, El Cap, and more
  It's time for Half Dome's closeup -- Can you find the cables?
           (Here they are)
  The rocky ridge from Clouds Rest image one...
      ...image two...
          ...image three
  The fires responsible for all the haze
  Chipmunk!
  The beauty just speaks for itself sometimes


H A L F   D O M E   2 0 0 7
Complete with OVEREXPOSED MODE! Oops -- from Vernal Falls to the top of Nevada Falls. Then all good again.  
 
  The sun alights upon the Valley's mouth. Welcome!
  We begin! Rocks amongst the light and lazy river
  The ever beautiful sculpted rocks of Yosemite

  Vernal Falls through the morning trees
  Not being very misty yet a delicate a ribbon of water
  Where the water leaps
  The shapes and patterns never cease to wonder
  The beautiful pool at the base, with beautiful sound and water split

  Just plain beautiful
  The path, the tree, the greenery...

  Stairway straight to the beauty of Nevada Falls
  Nevada Falls making its mark on the rugged cliffs
      ... and again

  A squirrel! With the coolest markings (they all had 'em)

  More ever beautiful rocks of Yosemite
  Amazing red cliffs along Little Yosemite Valley
  Half Dome in sight! Our path is clear...
  A view back to the many formations that encompass the Yosemite Valley...
      ...in several directions...
          ...and back into the Valley itself (and El Cap)
  The one, the only, Half Dome, reaching towards the sky

  The 2007 Half Dome Panorama (big, scroll!)
  Atop Half Dome, looking down at shadow, and wayyyy beyond
  Clouds Rest, in the distance
  Awesome layers of Half Dome edging the view of infinity
  The view down to the valley below
  Another beauty shot of Clouds Rest and the rock of Half Dome

  Killarney Camera Mode: Nevada Falls as Venus perches overhead

  Not flat slabs by any means
  El Capitain standing guard...
         ...ever alert and unmoving

  Hetch Hetchy Reservoir -- the valley under water
  Earlier, there would be falls there...
            ...as evidenced by this poster
  Outlet for the dam -- that's some water pressure!