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After breakfast we made the very short drive along Glacier Point Road
and did the McGurk Meadow hike.
After the hike we drove down to Wawona to pick up some extra groceries. To
get to Wawona, we drove back along Glacier Point Road and then made
a left turn onto Wawona Road. It's about a 35 minute drive from the campground
to Wawona. If you're looking for a nice campground near a body of water, the
Wawona campground looks inviting. It's right next to the South Fork of the
Merced River, with lots of gravel and rock along the shores for easy access.
Looks great for the kids. The campground is reservable, and was completely
full when we passed it.
Wawona has a gas station, so I filled up the car there. It also has a grocery
store, which is why we'd come. But it was such a hot day that we decided to
get ice cream first. After that we picked up the groceries and ice and returned
to Bridalveil Creek campground. As expected, the campground was filling up with
a few more campers on this Friday night. However, it didn't fill completely.
After dinner, we cleaned up and made the 15 minute drive to Glacier Point.
This was my third trip to Glacier Point, but the first near sunset. I'd also
forgotten one of the most amazing sights -- the bend in the road just before
you reach Glacier Point, where Half Dome rises up and shoves itself into your
face. You're driving along in the forest, and then you turn a corner and all of
a sudden the trees disappear and you find yourself driving straight toward Half
Dome. It's probably an optical illusion since it's framed by the trees, but it
appears bigger, like the moon looks when it's low on the horizon. It's all you
can do to prevent yourself from driving straight off the cliff instead of veering
left to stay on the road.
We arrived at Glacier Point around 7:30pm. The parking lot was half full, but
it's a huge parking lot so this means there were over a hundred people there
despite the late hour. The lighting at this time of day is beautiful. I set
up my tripod and attached my best lens, a 100mm macro lens. This provided the
perfect framing for Half Dome, which is clearly the star of the show in this
view. Of course you can see Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls and pretty much
the entire valley 3000 feet below, but Half Dome is the main attraction. In fact,
I pretty much neglected to photograph anything else (the direction of the sun had
something to do with that). I figured I'd taken other photographs from the top on
previous trips.
Nathan and Madeline looking out at Half Dome from Glacier Point
Half Dome from Glacier Point
While we were there we saw one guy with his 8x10 view camera taking images of
Half Dome. If I recall there was also someone with the same type of camera
the last time I'd visited Glacier Point. There's always one person trying to
channel Ansel Adams. After enjoying the view, we started the walk back, stopping
along the way to take in the view from different vantage points. One person
said they saw rock climbers on Half Dome, but we weren't able to spot them
with binoculars. After taking in the views, we headed back to the campground.
Half Dome from Glacier Point
Looking out at Half Dome from Glacier Point
While daytime temperatures were very warm, at night it got a bit chilly, especially
on Friday night. It was slightly colder than on Thursday. Still, it was
bearable. Just don't expect to sleep comfortably without a tent. Valley
temperatures are a bit warmer, so you might be able to get away without a tent
there, or at least dispense with the rain fly.
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