Journeys and Beyond.........: El Capitan

If telling you that I’m in awe of this place is an understatement, that’s because it is just that. After fourteen years of not stepping into this majestic place, I decide that it was time to visit once more with my wife and two preteen children. While most people visit the park during the spring and summer, a rare wintery wonderland beckoned all of our senses.

Let me now review some well-known facts on this awe-inspiring place. For one, Yosemite National Park is home to the world’s largest granite monolith, El Capitan. It is also home to one of the tallest waterfalls in the world, Yosemite Falls. As you enter the park, you are quickly absorbed into winding roads that are contoured by a variety of pines, oaks, firs and cedar trees to name a few. There is even one lone Elm tree in one of the meadows in the valley floor. The elevation ranges from 2,000 to 13,114 feet!

I traveled during the month of January in the New Year and it was a beautiful winter wonderland to say the least. The snowcapped landscape made the geological landscape all the more incredible. The snow covered the meadows but the waterfalls were still flowing from the immense cliffs. If you pause to admire the wintery waterfalls, you could see the cold water transforming into snow while piling up at the foot of the waterfall, which then it turns into ice.

As a writer and a photographer, I wanted a one-on-one experience with nature. Therefore, I contacted a couple of good friends that have vast experience all through out the park. I explained to them my many restrictions and my endless wish list. John and Gabe at www.yexplore.com, listened and for the next couple of days, they proved me wrong.

John and I enjoying the beauty of Bridelveil Falls.

They first took us on a gentle hike, into a wintery landscape along the Merced River. As we hiked and stopped to take photos of the beautiful snow capped mountains above us, they enchanted us with the history of the park by telling us the many stories of the Native Americans, John Muir, the Gold Rush, the glaciers and the first pioneers that helped protect this park from the pillaging of the land. Their expertise in the region was priceless as they are very aware of the weather and its patterns. To make a long story short, we were caught-up so much so on the place that we even forgot to eat! Now, that’s a rarity. But as the old saying goes: a picture is worth a thousand words…here are some landscape photos courtesy of me, Joseph Gutiz, to prove my love for this wondrous place. Enjoy!