Yosemite Valley cuts deeply into the granite of the Sierra Nevada for several meandering miles. The park is convenient to population centers such as Sacramento and San Francisco, so all along the park’s roads and in the parking lots are a plethora of cars. For those who wish to relax and/or hike in splendid surroundings, it is a fine park.
For the photographer, it is possible to avoid the crowds and photograph vistas of valley vegetation with soaring cliffs of almost-white granite behind them.
My visit in September was definitely off-season, since many of the waterfalls which are fed by snow melt had run dry. During the Spring the falls would be running full, which of course will attract even greater crowds. Bridal Veil Falls had a small flow, and some falls at the end of lengthy hikes also had some water.
As you enter the valley, you can look high to your right and see Glacier Point towering above you. If you want to ascend that commanding overlook with its spacious view of the entire valley. You must take a thirty-two mile drive down the Wawona Road and up Glacier Point Road. As you will see, the view is well worth it, and it is remarkable to look down on the very road you were driving into the valley.
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