Nov. 15, 2015 - Yosemite Scenery - Part 2

Here are some more photos from our recent trip to Yosemite National Park. California is in the middle of a 4-year drought so there isn’t much water going over the famous waterfalls. It did rain the day before this photo was taken so there was at least a trickle flowing over Bridal Veil Falls.

BridalVeilFallsYosemiteNationalPark20151027

Later in the afternoon, we again saw Bridal Veil Falls from a different place in the park. The angle of the sun hitting the water produced a rainbow effect.

BridalVeilFallssunlightmakesprizmeffectYosemiteNationalPark20151027

This photo shows Upper Yosemite Falls (upper right) and Lower Yosemite Falls (lower left).

YosemiteFallsUpperandLowerNationalPark20151027

The Road Scholar program was held at a conference center outside the park. We had classes there and took bus tours into the park. After the program was over, Diana and I extended our trip and stayed for two nights at the historic Ahwahnee Hotel, which is located inside the park.

AhwahneeHotelYosemiteNatlPark20151027

Here’s a view of the Ahwahnee Hotel from high above it on Glacier Point. The hotel was built in 1927 to encourage rich guests from the East to visit the park.

AhwahneeHotelseenfromGlacierPointYosemiteNationalPark20151029

Yosemite is home to some of the largest trees on earth, the Giant Sequoias. Here I am next to the base of a Sequoia.

EarlbasegiantSequoiatreeShadowtheGiantsTrailYosemiteNationalPark20151029

This is the Merced River flowing through a valley. Notice the brown, dead trees on the left side of the photo. It’s really sad to see how many trees have died because of the drought and an infestation of Pine Bark Beetles. Forest experts, however, take a positive view of it and say the trees that survive are the strongest ones and will have the best chance to endure a drought in the future.

MercedRivernearYosemiteNationalPark20151101

Yes, we were typical tourists and had our picture taken with the Yosemite Valley in the background.

EarlandDianaYosemiteValleyNationalPark20151027