The Yosemite Valley section has four pages detailing scenery and rock features from some
of the most renowned locations in Yosemite National Park. The Valley Views page displays
images from Discovery View (Tunnel View) at the eastern portal of the Wawona Tunnel and
from the Gates of the Valley (Valley View), the iconic ground level view of Yosemite Valley.
The Mirror Lake page has scenes from the trail and Yosemite’s famous disappearing lake.
The Rivers and Creeks page shows scenic waterways (Merced River, Tenaya Creek, etc.).
The Yosemite Valley Assorted page details many famous rock features of Yosemite NP.

The Yosemite Valley Overview page has selected captioned
sample images and Display Composites linked to each page.

Click an image to open a larger version.
Use your back button to return to this page.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Yosemite Collection page where a Gallery can be selected.

There are 15 Galleries in the Photoshelter Yosemite Collection

For convenience, Galleries containing the images of Wildlife, Plants,
Sequoia National Park, Bodie Ghost Town, Mono Lake and Mariposa
have been copied to the Yosemite Collection from their normal locations.

Yosemite Valley Dawn Mist X0333
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Mist blankets Yosemite Valley at dawn in this scene taken in spring from Discovery View
(also called Tunnel View as it is the first view of the Valley after exiting the Wawona Tunnel).

Yosemite has been an extremely popular sightseeing destination since it was ‘discovered’
in the mid-1800s, and millions of people have visited since it became a Park. The spectacular
granite monoliths towering thousands of feet over the narrow valley are awe-inspiring sights, and
Yosemite has provided inspiration for artists over the years to create some of their finest work.

Yosemite Valley Tunnel View 2793
(691 KB)

A dramatic early afternoon wide-angle from Discovery View in May shows the U-shaped contours of
Yosemite Valley and the hanging valley above Bridalveil Fall, carved by glaciers during the Ice Age.

Discovery View, or Tunnel View, is one of the most spectacular views of Yosemite Valley, where
many of its most famous features are laid out in one panorama. The view is slightly different than the
first view encountered by the Mariposa Battalion from Old Inspiration Point (1851), or that seen by early
visitors who traveled the original Wawona Road, which entered the valley from Inspiration Point up on the
rim, following a steep treacherous set of switchbacks down the cliff. The Wawona Road was re-routed
from its original entrance to the Valley to reduce the grade by passing through the Wawona Tunnel,
so Tunnel View is 1000 feet below Old Inspiration Point where the Mariposa Battalion first saw the
magnificent spectacle. Inspiration Point can be reached via a steep hike from the south parking
lot at the east end of the Wawona Tunnel. Old Inspiration Point is further up the Pohono Trail.

Yosemite Valley Wawona Tunnel Airshaft X2387
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This is a rather unusual view, taken from the airshaft about 200 yards from the
eastern end of the Wawona Tunnel. This view is not often seen. To get there, you
have to walk back down the tunnel from the eastern end, into the fathomless dark.
Beware of monsters. Just about the time when the hairs on your neck begin to twitch
you will sense an opening on your right. Enter here and duck to avoid the vampire bats.
Travel down this tunnel a few hundred feet to the opening. Do not run out of the opening
no matter how many monsters are chasing you, or you will find yourself treading air.
Once outside, look to your right. Don’t forget to pick your jaw up off the ground.

El Capitan Cathedral Rocks Valley View 3765
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El Capitan, Cathedral Rocks and Bridalveil Fall from the log in the Merced River at Valley View.

Valley View, also known as Gates of the Valley, is the iconic ground-level Yosemite view.
It is on Northside Drive just before the Pohono Bridge at the western end of Yosemite Valley.

El Capitan Ribbon Fall Valley View X2377
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Ribbon Fall, El Capitan and the Merced River in May during a year with exceptional snowfall.

Just to the west of El Capitan is Ribbon Fall, one of the tallest sheer-drop waterfalls on Earth.
Ribbon Fall drops 1612 feet, and is the tallest uninterrupted waterfall in North America. It is on
the north wall directly opposite Bridalveil Fall. The Paiute name for the fall was Lung-yo tocoya,
which means Pigeon Basket. This name caused Lafayette Bunnell of the Mariposa Battalion
to call it Pigeon Creek Fall. James Hutchings translated the name as “long and slender” for
the tourist parties he led in the early years, and named it Ribbon Fall. Ribbon Fall is an
ephemeral fall that dries up as soon as the snow has melted in early to mid-summer.

Cathedral Rocks Autumn X6404
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Cathedral Rocks and Autumn foliage beside the banks of the Merced River in October.
This image was taken a few hundred yards east of Valley View (Gates of the Valley).

Click the Display Composite above to visit the Valley Views page

Half Dome Sunset Cloud 2589
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A cloud settles over the shoulder of Half Dome at sunset in March.

Half Dome (Tis-sa’ack, Cleft Rock) overlooks Tenaya Canyon. The most familiar rock
feature in Yosemite National Park, it rises more than 4,700 feet above the valley floor.

Half Dome Olmsted Point Tioga Pass 3171
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Half Dome from Olmsted Point on the Tioga Road. Olmsted Point, named for the landscape
architect Frederick Law Olmsted, overlooks Tenaya Canyon from the Tioga Road at 8400 feet.

Royal Arches Washington Column 2990
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Royal Arches, North Dome and Washington Column from Stoneman Meadow in May.
Royal Arches (Choko’ni, or Shade of the Baby Basket) is below North Dome (Tocoya, The Basket).
Washington Column is the protruding shaft of rock at the eastern end of the Royal Arches formation.

Ephemeral Fall Ice Cone 4604
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An ephemeral fall above El Capitan Meadow in March. The ice cone below is caused by water freezing overnight.

El Capitan Autumn Dawn X6377
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El Capitan and the Merced River in October. The 3000 foot granite monolith glows pink in the soft early morning light.

El Capitan 2836
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The enormous 3000 foot granite monolith of El Capitan on the north side of Yosemite Valley
is the largest granite monolith in the world and one of the world’s favorite climbing challenges.
This shot was taken just before sunset in March (use the Land Rover below the prow for scale).

Click the Display Composite above to visit the Yosemite Valley Assorted page

Mossy Rocks Mirror Lake Trail 2344
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Boreal forest moss and lichens cover boulders strewn amongst the forest litter on the Mirror Lake Trail.

Mirror Lake Guardian Driftwood Knight X0870
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A piece of driftwood naturally shaped in the form of a Chess Knight
guards Lower Mirror Lake during an exceptional spring flood in May.

Mirror Lake Boulder Ahwiyah Point X2161
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Mount Watkins (left) and Ahwiyah Point overlook the Boulder in Lower Mirror Lake,
late afternoon in May during a year with exceptional snowfall and resulting flooding.

Mirror Lake Ahwiyah Point Last Light Autumn X6343
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Ahwiyah Point and Mount Watkins overlook the Lower Mirror Lake sandbox at last light
in autumn. By October, Mirror Lake is completely dry until the first heavy rains fill it again.

The soft subdued light on the landscape and the pink and blue sky make a wonderful scene.

Mirror Lake Boulder Ahwiyah Point 3614
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The Lower Mirror Lake Boulder, dappled with shadows and light, and Ahwiyah Point in the late afternoon in May.

Mirror Lake Mount Watkins X2172
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Mount Watkins and Ahwiyah Point reflected in Mirror Lake, late afternoon in May during a year with exceptional flooding.

Mirror Lake Mount Watkins X2170
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The renowned reflection of Mount Watkins in Mirror Lake in the late afternoon in May,
during a year with an exceptional snowfall and the resulting flooding from melting snow.

When the waters which run down from the Yosemite Wilderness and Tenaya Lake reach
Mirror Lake, which was formed by landslides (like the Ahwiyah Point Rockfall) crossing and
damming up Tenaya Creek hundreds of years ago, they drop much of the sediment they carry.
Mirror Lake is gradually silting up from the sediments deposited during the spring runoff and is
eventually going to become a small pond. After its extinction Mirror Lake will be a meadow.

Click the Display Composite above to visit the Mirror Lake page

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Yosemite Collection page where a Gallery can be selected.

There are 15 Galleries in the Photoshelter Yosemite Collection

For convenience, Galleries containing the images of Wildlife, Plants,
Sequoia National Park, Bodie Ghost Town, Mono Lake and Mariposa
have been copied to the Yosemite Collection from their normal locations.

Lower Tenaya Creek Dawn X0687
(369 KB)

Close detail of water flowing over rocks just below the outflow from Lower Mirror Lake on Tenaya Creek.

Lower Tenaya Creek X2159
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Lower Tenaya Creek falls and turns left as it enters a forest grove in the mid-afternoon.

Merced River Vernal Fall Mist Trail X2131
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Vernal Fall and the Merced River in May, with Liberty Cap in the background, from Lady Franklin Rock on the Mist Trail.

Merced River Sentinel Rock Dawn X0345
(432 KB)

The Merced River and Sentinel Rock at dawn in May from the Swinging Bridge, a superb spot to greet the sunrise.

Yosemite Falls Sunrise Swinging Bridge X0814
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Yosemite Falls and the Merced River at sunrise from the Swinging Bridge in May.

Sugar Pine Bridge Merced River 3641
(815 KB)

The historic Sugar Pine Bridge (1928), on the Merced River above the North Pines.

Click the Display Composite above to visit the Rivers and Creeks page

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Yosemite Collection page where a Gallery can be selected.

There are 15 Galleries in the Photoshelter Yosemite Collection

For convenience, Galleries containing the images of Wildlife, Plants,
Sequoia National Park, Bodie Ghost Town, Mono Lake and Mariposa
have been copied to the Yosemite Collection from their normal locations.

Click the Display Composite above to visit the Yosemite Select page

Click the Display Composite above to visit the Yosemite Section Index page