Yosemite Final Day

Today is my final post on my recent Yosemite trip, and I am planning to include images from our side trip to Bridalveil Falls on day two, as well as parting shots from our last day at work in the Park.


I noted the other day that we made two detours on the way back to our hotel after we finished working on day two in the Park. The first stop was at Bridalveil Falls, which is one of the waterfalls in Yosemite that flows year round – although towards the end of summer the amount of water in the stream can be low enough that the flow appears to not even hit the ground.

Wikipedia has this one at 617 feet in altitude. There is a short walk from a parking lot up to a viewing area, altogether less than a mile, much of it accessible, to the base of the falls. This path has a slight climb and is not very steep – and we were rewarded with a light spray coming off of the falls on the hot day we visited. The photos are of the stream at the base of the falls and a close up view from the observation area.

When we drove up to Glacier Point after this stop – the subject of an earlier post – we crossed Bridalveil Creek near a meadow, the source of the falls. The creek is fed by Ostrander Lake, which apparently is part of a network of cross country ski routes and hiking trails…maybe a future destination in the Park.

On the last day in the Park we continued working in the Lodge area, and as before, I found myself catching glimpses of the Half Dome or Yosemite Falls every time I looked up from my note taking and photography tasks. At one point, we walked down a paved path and found this sign, which shows the high water mark of the 1997 floods – one of several Merced River floods that have occurred over the years.

I asked my colleague to take the picture to illustrate how those glimpses of the famous landmarks were omnipresent – that is upper Yosemite Falls behind me.

To wrap up this series, I’ll mention the Tunnel View shot above. This is another of the famous views that you can see when visiting – it’s taken from a viewing area that has been built on Route 41, one of the main roads that runs through the Park. Route 41 was under construction during our visit, and we had to drive the length of it to get back to the hotel – a drive that took up to two hours on one of the days.

From the tunnel view, El Cap, Half Dome, and Bridalveil Falls are easily visible. Most of the peaks in the photo have names – but these are the main icons.

I’ve said it a few times. Even though we finished early and our visit to the Park wasn't longer, I was very lucky to get this assignment – and now that we are back in our offices the work is going on, documenting our assessments and completing analysis. But it’s a work trip I won’t forget for a long time.