“The mountains are calling and I must go…”

Yosemite is gorgeous… it’s very hard to describe it apart from that.

From the moment we enter the park we are stunned…

Overwhelming vistas, crashing waterfalls, the awe inspiring El Capitan’s smooth cliff-face linking both ground and sky.

…in the distance, the iconic Half Dome.

I can’t explain… but we somehow immediately find ourselves obsessed with half smooth, half spherical granite stretching 4,800 ft above the valley floor…

Campgrounds

The first thing we want to do is get our campsite situated… but that’s a little easier said than done.

Yosemite can be a little tricky to navigate, with a mix of one and two way roads, especially if you’ve never been here before… and we’ve never been here before. There might have only been a few wrong turns. 😉

We’re finally able to ascertain the location of the campsite by asking the friendly visitor center staff.

We enter the visitor center and begin to talk to one of the ranger ladies.
She gives us camping information and shares with us several of her favorite spots for sunset views, as well as an easy hike we can probably do today!

With that information, there’s no time to waste!!

We make it to camp registration and get a site fairly easily 🙂

The giant pile of wood is always a nice thing to find in any campsite 😀

With the park ranger’s suggestions still fresh in our mind and daylight slowly dwindling, there’s no time to set up camp.

With our site registration secure, we head out to explore…

Valley View Yosemite

The first spot we head to is a riverside viewpoint called “Valley View Yosemite” with great photo opportunities.

We have the option to make this our sunset view point… but we decide to keep moving.

Bridalveil Fall

Bridalveil Fall is easily seen when you first enter the park and is probably the first waterfall you notice when entering the park.

If you take a look at the first picture in this post, the fall flowing from the cliffside to the right of the valley is Bridalveil  Fall.
It is beautiful.

I don’t even think it’s a mile hike from the parking lot to the viewing point.

Not a bad suggestion 🙂

With the sun quickening its descent across the sky, we make our way to the final viewing point.

Gotta run!!

Sentinel Drive Bridge

This is where we’re going to view the sunset.
The secret here isn’t to watch the sun going down, but to turn around and watch Half Dome glowing like a beacon.

The water reflection doesn’t hurt either 🙂