Of all the national parks we’ve visited, (33 so far), Yosemite is our all-time favorite. While we were staying in Coarsegold, California, we couldn’t resist a visit to our former “backyard.”
We entered Yosemite park through the Oakhurst entrance and stopped at the Wawona visitors’ center. In all our visits to Yosemite, I’d never been to this visitors’ center. It houses a fabulous collection of paintings of the famous landscape artist, Thomas Hill.
After getting my National Parks Passport book stamped and buying a couple of stickers for my journal, we drove on to Glacier Point. The road was fully opened recently after having been closed for a couple of years for repairs.
At over 7,200 feet in elevation, Glacier Point has the best views of Half Dome and Vernal and Nevada Falls. It also has wonderful views of Yosemite Valley and Yosemite Falls.
The weather was a perfect temperature that day. The clouds added character to the beautiful landscape.
We were driving back from Glacier Point when we found this nice meadow where we stopped to eat our picnic lunch. I took some time to do a quick “plein air” watercolor painting. It wasn’t a Thomas Hill, but it was fun and relaxing.
As we were coming through the tunnel, the view suddenly opened up and we saw this magnificent view of the valley and Bridal Veil Falls. I never get tired of looking at this view.
The clouds were really something that day. They started forming in the distance over the mountains and kept growing and growing until they filled the whole sky above.
While enjoying the view, a young lady from Utah offered to take our photo. She and her family own a campground in St. George, Utah. Since it was my birthday, I figured I should have a photo to commemorate it.
As we drove through Yosemite Valley, we caught glimpses of Yosemite Falls. They were full and beautiful from record snowfall and rainfall in the winter and spring of that year.
We continued on driving through the valley until we stopped at this viewpoint of Bridal Veil Falls and the Merced River.
By now the clouds had almost completely filled the sky above us. We turned toward home as we closed out our day with a last look at this magical place.
“I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1