It didn't take long for Eric and most of the others to figure out the location of Sunday's Snapshot. It is indeed at Yosemite (and come on, regular readers, is that any surprise?), taken on a late January afternoon in 2007 at the Gateway View, a spot that sometimes gets short shrift by Yosemite visitors (but not the photographers). It is a small parking lot at the west end of the valley that most people pass while on their way out of the valley, tired, running late, and all "sceneried" out.
The Cathedral Rocks and Bridalveil Fall dominate the view on the right, while El Capitan looms over the left. The 'Gateway' refers to the narrow constriction of the valley formed by the cliffs of El Capitan and Cathedral Rocks. Both cliffs are primarily composed of El Capitan granite, which is relatively unjointed and therefore was resistant to plucking and quarrying by glaciers.
It was plenty cold and a mist was rising on Bridalveil Meadow.
El Capitan dominates the west end of the valley with a 3,000 foot sheer cliff. You wouldn't have the calm water if you visited Yosemite Valley this week...it was a cool month during May and the snowpack was melting slowly until a series of hot days this last week. The Merced River is flowing at close to 7,000 cubic feet per second, a bit above flood stage (normal for early June is around 2,000 cfs). Check out the Yosemite Nature Notes Blog for some up to the moment reports on the status of the rivers and runoff.And here are some clumps of frozen grass, just because I liked the way they looked...
