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Yosemite trip  February 10- 20, 2016
Lake Crawley Columns
Frozen Lake Crawley from the dam
The Pillars
The hike down to the lake from the end of the Jeep trail took a while. The was some snow on the north facing way down. I had just heard about them from my friend Dave around new years and had to check them out. They are a newly exposed reminisces from the last time the Long Valley Calderas was active. Crawley is shallow and frozen. Mono Lake is shallow but not frozen because it is too salty. Tahoe wasn't frozen either because it is so deep. The columns are about two feet in diameter
View from parking
Mono Lake Tufa
The route to my camp at the edge of the Jeffery Pines was a little tight but got around the closed 120 gate. Didn't get back on the pavement until it was legal. Did a afternoon and next morning shoot at the tufa formations. The lake hasn't risen since I saw it last even though it's been warm and there has been a lot of runoff from the early snow storms. I wonder how much water LA is still diverting. Their chances of filling it back up to the mandated level are slim. LA would have to disappear first.
Just a few years ago water was up to these formations
Yosemite
Hetch Hetchey
Un named falls to the left of left structure                               Tueeulala Falls (above left structure)                            and Wapama Falls (above middle structure)
Tueeulala Falls (left and right picures)                                                                                         Middle pictures is before you get to Tueeulala Falls
After hiking around the Hetch Hetchey area I camped a second night at the Hodgdon Campground. Out of 104 campsites I was it.  Weather was perfect but the holiday weekend was over. Sunny with day time highs in the 70s, night time lows in the upper 30s. Sunday night the campground was about one quarter full but everyone bailed on Monday.
The cliffs are thousands of feet high (from down the trail on the far side of the dam)
Yosemite Valley
A good February flow over Yosemite Falls.
They raised the campground rate last year. $26 night, it was $20 for as long as I can remember. They are now on a winter reservation system for Upper Pines which starts just before the President's Day Weekend, The last few years have  been really mild and they have had large crowd for the weekend. The last two years we came a week early, this year  we were late, although I was up at Hodgdon Campground for the last two nights of President's Day Weekend.
Bridelveil Falls                                                                                                      Ribbon Falls at 1,600' is the highest in Yosemite
Horsetail Falls near the North American Wall of El Capitan                                          Upper section of Horsetail Falls                                      Lower section of Horsetail Falls reemerging into view
Horsetail falls is a very tenuous multi thousand foot drop off the side of El Capitan which only became popular a few years ago. With a small window of a few days around President's Day Weekend at sunset the sun shines through the falls causing it to glow orange. (I believe you need a telephoto of the upper part from the right angle from down on the valley road. I've seen cars and photographers lining the roadside but I have never joined the throngs.
Never seen a rainbow so low with so little arc
Photographers looking for the perfect shot                                                                                                                                                                              The stables
Upper Yosemite Falls from the clouds  (Taller than the Empire State Building)
The weather for the 11 days I was out was unseasonably warm for February except for a few inches of snow in Yosemite Valley Wednesday night. Campsite 96 was available for three nights so I took it.(Mike & Vickie were there for the last two) Friday we moved over to Wawona. I ended up spending 6 days in the park.
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