I’ve been going to Yosemite for a good number of years and have spent endless hours in advance pouring over a whole pile of guide books and maps. My goal is to scout out potentially interesting photo spots, looking to see what kind of day hiking trails to park summits that might be of interest.

My first successful summiting was to Sentinel Dome -oh boy was it an incredibly exhilirating feeling that left me spiritually touched for the grandeur of what was in front of me – I was so glad that another summiter humored me to snap a shot of me overcome with absolute JOY!

Speaking of fellow summiters, the panoramics from Dewey Point was taken with my iPhone using PANO mode – I was so happy to email this image to the JOYfull couple. BTW: Most likely next on my list is the Clouds Rest trail, above Tenaya Lake.

If you do go, I strongly recommend to stay for a night or two at Curry Village – it’s an incredible community of fellow nature lovers that don’t mind getting disconnected from our cushy lives and to “almost” rough it; somewhere between using a sleeping bag on the ground and a motel just outside the park.

The absolute highlight of my time in Yosemite was to get the special Ansel Adams Gallery tour of his house, which is right behind the Gallery. They run free private tours on Thursdays - you need to sign up in advance. Most amazing was to be in the ACTUAL place where the master lived and worked. So just imagine from these two images taken during the tour in his backyard: he had a chair carved into a tree stump that he could look out over his roof to take in the wonders of Mother Nature – it must have been ABSOLUTE JOY 😊