How We Spent Two Days in Yosemite

Hanna & I spent a few months planning this summer excursion out to Yosemite from LA after visiting family. We knew we would have limited time & a full moon, so we wanted to maximize ours views & experiences while avoiding the notorious summer crowds at the National Park as much as we could. I put together an itinerary that we ended up mostly following & it worked out really well! Most of you know our only other trip to Yosemite was last March when we get engaged! During that trip it rained the entire time, & all of the mountain passes were still closed for snow, so for this trip we put a lot of importance on getting up Glacier Point Road & really getting to experience those views.

Timing is Key!

Being conscious of the timing of your visit can make a big difference in your experience! Our success & seclusion with this trip was highly based on timing, so I do suggest for anyone visiting Yosemite in the summer to try for the month of June. June is early enough in the summer that not everyone is getting out on family vacations yet, but the mountain passes are beginning to open & the waterfalls are still gushing from snow melt! Even more, the day of the week can make a huge difference, so we arrived on a Sunday afternoon just as all of the weekend visitors were leaving. If you have any questions about this trip, purchasing any prints, or having us document your next trip, Contact Me!

Sunday // Sunset Hike to Taft Point

The first item on our itinerary was catching sunset at Taft Point. Because we arrived late in the day on Sunday, we drove straight up Glacier Point Road to park & begin the hike! We shared the sunset with maybe only 12 people, including a couple who were getting wedding portraits done. The first photos I took of the entire trip included them out on Taft Point! It was really beautiful to see & we met them & their photographer later to watch the sunset evolve & really start to glow while Hanna & I did our own photo session.

As sunset really started to explode on the horizon, Hanna encouraged me to run wild on the mountain & take all the photos my heart desired SO I DID. Just long enough to get back to her & finish our own photo session & be present in the moment. This sunset was incredible & being up there basically alone with my wife to enjoy it was one of my favorite memories from our trip.

Sunday Night // Exploring by Full Moon

After hiking back from Taft Point in the dark, we drove the rest of the way up to Glacier Point to make dinner & experience the park after dark lit by the full moon! It was cloudier than we expected this night, but the moon was bright enough to get really unique photos & we stayed up most of the night driving & even hiking around by light of the moon. It a really peaceful & memorable night!

Monday Morning // Sunrise at Glacier Point

After staying up most of the previous night & driving all the way back down to the valley & back, we decided to catch an amazing sunrise at Glacier Point. At this time of the summer the sun rises directly behind Half Dome & lights the valleys & granite mountains in ways I never expected! Sunrise at Glacier Point is worth putting on the bucket-list for sure.

Mid-Day Tip:

The heavy crowds we experienced in the summer arrived around 11am & cleared out near 5pm. We decided to use that mid-day heat & lull to refuel & refresh in the valley! We found a good parking spot, got some food, took a nice walk through the Valley Loop Trail, then a much needed nap in the van until crowds thinned out closer to sunset.

Monday Evening // Sunset from Tunnel View

After we out-napped & out-stayed the crowds in the valley, we made our way back up to Tunnel View for sunset. The actual Tunnel View viewpoint was still a little bit crowded with people coming & going, so we started our way up the Pohono Trail a little ways just to get some seclusion, then made our way back down to a place we found completely alone & with a spectacular view of “Tunnel View!” I won’t disclose information on this exact spot online (so sorry), but it is an almost identical view to the famous Tunnel View.

Monday Night // The Legendary Moonbow

Monday night had much clearer sky forecasts during the full Strawberry Moon in June. This presented us with a rare opportunity to catch a “Moonbow” in Yosemite Falls. Basically a midnight rainbow caused by the full moonlight hitting the mist of the waterfall at the right angle! We stayed up most of this night again in the valley hiking to Yosemite Falls & back across the valley for several viewpoints. It was SO worth all the lost sleep!

Tuesday Morning // Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias

After staying up most of the night in Yosemite Valley, we decided to drive to the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias where we would enjoy a morning hike & be able to get back on the road easily by noon to return our van in LA. We considered hiking to another point in Yosemite, but the Mariposa Grove ended up being an ideal situation where we had a really nice, quiet morning together & were already almost outside of the park to get on the road easily & quickly.

35mm Film // Portra 400

I only had about half a roll of Portra 400 to use on this trip & since most of our time was spent staying up at night where film was relatively useless, I tried to shoot conservatively. Here are some of the images we got back!