It has been over seven years since I have visited my favorite National Park in the US but that is about to come to an end. I will be spending a few days there next month. I have always visited the park in June when the days are long and the water is flowing in spectacular manner. I have heard from friends that the drought over the past few years has been bad and the water has been gone by mid-summer. I hope the rainfall this past year will change that for my visit. I went on Yosemite's webcam and it looks like there is still water flowing, albeit not as strong as in June. Let's hope that it continues for another month or so.
Yosemite has a long history with great men. It was actually created when Abraham Lincoln signed a bill in 1864, creating the Yosemite Grant. This is the first instance of park land being preserved for public use by the US Government and was the precedent for the creation of Yellowstone as the first national park in 1872 (Yosemite was the third national park established in 1890). Other famous men associated with Yosemite are famed naturalist, John Muir and perhaps the most well known photographer in the world, Ansel Adams. Muir was a preservationist that was instrumental in making Yosemite a national park. Adams helped put Yosemite on the map in the late 1920s and thereafter. His stunning black and white images of Yosemite mesmerized the American public and made it a must-see destination.
This photo of El Capitan reflected in the calm waters of the Merced River was taken shortly after sunrise.