It seems like Honey oil labs go bang every other week or so around Fresno/Clovis. But I'm not in a National Park so the OP should feel much safer in Yosemite!
It seems like Honey oil labs go bang every other week or so around Fresno/Clovis. But I'm not in a National Park so the OP should feel much safer in Yosemite!
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
Well, there's Yosemite Valley, and there's the larger Yosemite Park. All the pictures I've taken in the Valley itself could be counted on one hand, even though I've been through there many many times "commuting" from backpacks on the East side of the range via Tioga Pass to my place not far from the south entrance. The back country is a different story. With a few obvious exceptions like the Tuolumne Mdws area and the Muir Trail, solitude is the norm and not the exception. But so as not to discourage anyone by implying they have to walk for days on end to get solitude, one could simply drive to the parking lot below Tenaya Lk where all the tour buses etc pull over for the view of Clouds Rest, walk up the granite slabs the other direction, and get the same view with nobody around.
That kind of experience is routine in most Natl Parks. I can go to the Bear Cr trailhead over at Pt Reyes, right beside the Visitor Center, when two hundred cars are in the parking lots and 90% of the hikers headed down Bear Cr trail, go the opposite direction, and maybe not see more than two other people the entire day - and it's equally beautiful. Otherwise, just wait for a rainy day and even the popular trails will be mostly empty. One needs to be willing to seek out their own little slice of wilderness and not get bogged down in the notion that a spot has be on a postcard or designated by a scenic turnout sign to be worthwhile photographically. Those things are just like big golden arches telling you where millions and millions are served; it doesn't mean the food is any better.
Well said, Drew!
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
I have many fine images taken in Yosemite Valley. Some were taken right next to the road where millions of visitors pass by and see every year, such as the image below. Solitude is not a requirement of a good landscape image.
"Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China
In my youth in Carolina I found a few pot fields, but back in the 70s it was just hippies growing it. They didn't have guns.
20 years ago I was hiking to an old mining ghost town in the Gila region of NM. There were still some standing buildings and dugout cabins back then. I was walking past an open door of one, it was dark inside but I saw something moving towards me from the back. I instinctively reached for my holstered pistol thinking it was a bear - stupid thought but that's what hit me in the 100 miliseconds before I knew what it was and stopped from pulling it. It was a grizzled man, not a Grissly bear. He had a folding stock rifle. Both of us had a start, but we both backed down and he put the rifle aside. We talked, he was camping up there with his son, living in the dugout from what I could see from the open doors (cans of food, a fire going in a rigged up stove). Exciting stuff for a few seconds.
Last edited by goamules; 7-Nov-2019 at 05:11.
Garrett
flickr galleries
One of Drew's bears---
https://www.kron4.com/news/californi...ahoe-dumpster/
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
That's a fat bear!
I've hiked and backpacked in a number of places, and outside of campgrounds, only ever seen one bear (black bear), and he ran away as they often do. In the areas of California you guys have been talking about, lower elevation than the high alpine, what really scares me is poison oak. I hate that stuff.
I had a bear that fat sniffing around my truck and pack one night last yr at an "official" campground returning from a hiking trip. The only way they get that big is by eating junk food and garbage. No big deal. He ran off once I yelled at him. But it's unfortunate acquired behavior, and probably a very bad diet health-wise, just like it is for people. And I agree with Vaughn that you don't necessarily need solitude to get a good picture. But it sure helps to keep your sanity. What's the point if you return to home or your workplace with your nerves all jangled? There are enough traffic jams on the freeway; don't need em in a Natl Park too, like Summer in Yos Valley. Plenty of other places to go, way less crowded. Once an NP starts acting like a Theme Park, I scratch it off my list, at least during peak season. Timing can have a lot to do with a quality experience.
Bookmarks