Turning a lemon into lemonade...

Sometimes we take a trip where things don't, um, work out as planned. Such was my 37-hour foray from Las Vegas to California's Yosemite National Park--and back.
The weather was glorious, and driving into Yosemite Valley is richly scenic. Above, flowers carpet the floor of the valley, and the walls glisten in the Sun. The El Capitan formation is in the distance on the right.

The Merced River flows through the valley

This spectacular promontory is directly above the road from which the prior two images were taken. And yet, I had to drive 32 miles to gett from that road down there to the overlook up here.

This video is of the major peaks that surround Yosemite Valley. You can't see them from distance, but there are climbers standing atop Half Dome in this video.  More of a hike than I can handle, that!

Here is a still shot of that scene. There are two 500-foot waterfallsjust to the right of dead center in the image, but they are completely dwarfed by the peaks.

Of course, The waterfalls are among the attractions in Yosemite. Some are fed by rivers and flow all year 'round, Other large falls are essentially ice melt that disappears over the Summer. Since I was there in September, the falls were mostly slow, as in Bridal Veil Falls below, or dry.

So, even a short visit in the off season can provide stunning visuals. Yes, there are a lot of people, and I prefer parks with few. However, we photographers do what we can with what is offered. Yosemite offers some heady scenery!