Journeys›Photograph

Hazy Weekend Drive Through Yosemite Valley

·Mariposa County, California·#road-trip#california#fall#landscape-photography#yosemite-national-park
Rear view of a white Tesla parked, facing hazy mountains under a yellow-orange sky.

Weekend drive up to Yosemite, and the whole valley was sitting under wildfire smoke. From Tunnel View you could see the granite walls fading into haze layer by layer, the sun a small orange disc over the ridge. Not the postcard version of the place, but the smoke gave everything a strange depth — you could see how far back the valley goes.

Drove down onto the valley floor after that. Bridalveil Fall was barely running, just a thin thread down the cliff face, which I suppose is October for you. Pulled over near the meadow below El Capitan for a while. Even through the smoke that wall is absurd — you crane your neck and still can't take in the top of it.

The air smelled like a campfire the entire time. Long haul back for a weekend, but worth doing.

The rear of a white Tesla car parked facing a panoramic mountain valley under a hazy golden sky at sunset.The rear of a white Tesla car parked at a viewpoint overlooking hazy mountains and a setting sun.Hazy mountain valley with towering cliffs, evergreen trees, and a sunset peeking over a distant peak.A hazy mountain landscape with a prominent large rock formation on the right and dense green trees in the foreground.Hazy, towering mountains dominate a valley with numerous green trees in the foreground.Tall grey mountains and a waterfall visible above foreground trees with green and brown leaves.A white Tesla is parked on a roadside next to a forest, with a massive, hazy mountain filling the background.A white car is parked on the side of a road, with large hazy mountains and green trees in the background.

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