Right Place, Right Time
This is another image from the trip we took with friends in May to the National Parks out west. We arrived at our Yosemite NP lodging in late afternoon. After unpacking and sitting around talking, I saw there was still a lot of light left and cloud banks were forming and breaking up. We were only twenty minutes from Tunnel View so I decided to drive over to the Valley. My friend Bill wanted to come along. I did give him fair warning… I told him if the light was great, there’d be no rushing to get back for dinner! He reluctantly agreed.
We drove the twenty minutes on winding mountain roads through snow squalls and sunlight. It was unusually cold and with the altitude, the conditions were right for snow. No amount of snow on the steep, winding mountain roads was going to stop me from seeing what the valley looked like in these conditions.
We arrived to magnificent late evening light, partially blocked by constantly changing clouds and snow squalls. First you could see all the way up the Valley, then that view closed and El Capitan and Bridalveil Falls would magically appear. It changed every ten minutes. I knew instantly that my friend Bill had no chance of getting back for dinner! I finally settled on a composition where you could see the granite face of El Cap and Bridalveil Falls, with snow squalls opening just enough to show the golden light on Half Dome far up the valley. It really was the right place at the right time.
After pulling myself away from the fading light, it was time to head back home. I drove a bit fast for Bill, who kept telling me he didn’t mind getting home ten minutes later! But we needed to get back before dark, since the location of our VRBO was not easy to find. We finally made it and we arrived at our darkened house. How could they all be asleep at 8:30? They weren’t… we found the power was out to the entire neighborhood! Bill did manage to eat a Subway hoagie and then we called it a night!