Week 18 | Aug 31 - Sept 6
Yosemite National Park
Previously on...
Last week I jumped off a cliff in Crater Lake National Park,
and said goodbye to a friend visiting from Philly.
I took a trip to Lassen Volcanic NP and hiked to the top of a volcano.
Had an epic drive from Reno to Yosemite,
and finally arrived in the park!
I'm spending most of the week in Yosemite with my friend Kyle. I met Kyle on a hike in AZ a few years ago. He and his wife live and work in the park. He extended an invitation for me to come visit and I couldn't pass that up.
Sunday, August 31. Day 119
Tourons of Yosemite
Yosemite National Park
Started the morning with a latte Kyle made. I could get used to this!
My hosts headed into town for groceries and I had the day to myself. I did some laundry and journaling, then walked around Yosemite Village for most of the day. Including checking out the Ansel Adams gallery - It’s hard not to be inspired by his artistry. So I grabbed my camera and headed over to Lower Falls.
Thanks to torrential rains last week the falls are flowing a lot more than normal this late in the summer. Normally they’d be nearly dry by now.
Lower Falls was flowing and looked impressive, it was also overrun with oblivious tourists. I don’t want to begrudge anyone for trying to enjoy their vacation. I’m just as much a tourist as everyone else, I don’t think I’m special in that regard. There were 100 families at the falls, and every one acted like they were the only people there; standing across walkways, taking 10 minutes for a family portrait in everyone’s way, kids running around (literally) screaming.
I climbed around on the rocks for a bit but got overwhelmed by the chaos and headed back to the house.
In the evening Kyle and I rode the bikes to a couple sunset spots he liked.
From one spot we saw the light looking appealing a little down the way. We rode like a bat outta hell to get there before the light faded!
Good: Taking a day to just be in a place. No agenda, no hurry.
Bad: The lower falls was crowded. Not surprising given its Labor Day weekend. But the people were all so loud and self absorbed.
Unexpected: barreling down narrow paths at 20 mph on an electric beach cruiser to get to a spot for sunset!
Monday, September 1. Day 120
Labor of Love
Yosemite National Park
It’s Labor Day and the park is hoppin!
I wanted someplace with fewer tourists, a moderate hike on a less popular trail. Kyle helped me pick the perfect trail - middle Yosemite falls. There’s upper and lower falls, but there’s a little known path off the main trail that goes to the top of lower falls. This seemed doable for a warm morning.
I knew better than to try and drive (ie, park) anywhere. Instead I borrowed Kyle’s e-bike and headed out for a hike.
The hike was lovely, but challenging. Very steep, and the warmth of the day was sneaking up on me. I got about 2/3rds of the way to the top and had to turn around. I thought about pushing through, but for every step up I have another one down, and figured this was enough. At the bottom with my quads and calves burning, I knew I made the right call.
After the hike I went over to Yosemite lodge for a bite and to sit in the AC. Got a surprisingly good salad, and a fountain drink that I refilled until I thought I’d float away.
At the lodge’s gift shop I saw an image of a spot of visited when I was here 4 years ago. I showed it to Kyle and said I want to go there. It’s called Valley View, not to be confused with Tunnel View.
Of course I absolutely confused them.
Kyle and I headed over to Valley View for sunset. We got some nice reds on the rocks, but the smoke diluted most of the sunset.
Good: My hosts made delicious burgers on the grill, ‘California style’ topped with cheese, tomato and fresh avocado.
Bad: After hiking to the Lassen Peak last week I was all full of confidence about my hiking ability. That confidence was overrated as I struggled to do a very similar hike here and had to bail out about 2/3rds of the way up.
Unexpected: While out shooting sunset at Valley View we met a couple visiting from Philly, and I happened to be wearing my ‘Bad Things Happen in Philadelphia’ t-shirt!
The last photo below is one I took at Valley View on my previous visit to Yosemite in 2022.
Tuesday, September 2. Day 121
This is a no smoking area
Yosemite National Park
Drove out to the far side of the park to see the giant sequoia trees. It was an opportunity to drive through and see more of the park, but also to get away from the smoke and bad air quality in the valley.
I stopped at Tunnel View, a famous vantage point in the park. It was hazy and the light wasn’t great, but I’m an advocate that there’s no bad light, it’s all a matter of how you use it. I got a moody B&W photo I like.
Tunnel View was obnoxiously crowded and I didn’t linger long. Heading up to the sequoia grove.
The sequoias defy description. They are enormous and magnificent. I walked around for a couple hours taking pictures. On the way out of the grove I met a woman who joined up with me walking and we finished the hike together. She’s visiting from Austria for 6 weeks and touring the west coast.
On the way back I spotted a view very similar to Tunnel View, but with almost no people! And I think the way the mountains line up is more interesting. I hung out and shot for a bit, also shooting a roll of medium format. I’m in Yosemite, it’d be blasphemous not to shoot film!
Daily Listen: Pink Floyd’s ‘Breathe’ came on my rotation, at the same time there was a wildfire alert. Seemed ironic.
Good: *gestures broadly at Yosemite park*
Bad: My throat is raw from the smoke, like taking a drag from an unfiltered cigarette.
Unexpected: Finding a better version of Tunnel View! With fewer people and a better picture!
ps, I took 590 photos this day! (A lot of 5-pic brackets)
It took a while to go through them!
Wednesday, September 3. Day 122
Please supply 3 references
Yosemite National Park
Started the day off with a latte and a soak in the hot tub with a view of Yosemite Falls.
I didn’t have any plans for the day and felt guilty about squandering my time in Yosemite National Park. But as the day went on I realized I'm being hard on myself and I don't need to have an agenda and a plan for every hour. It's ok to just be.
So I spent the day walking around Yosemite Village, looking at all the magnificent mountains rising up around me, and basking in nature.
I also submitted a job application to the Ansel Adams Gallery! They do photo walks and workshops in the park, and hire a seasonal staff photographer every summer. It could be a cool experience. I chatted with the manager for a while and seemed to vibe, it also came up that they don't currently have anyone skilled in night skies photography and I might be able to bring that skillset.
I spent the afternoon at the Ahwahnee Hotel chilling and blogging. Then in the evening Kyle and I stayed in and hung. We nerded out watching the Ready Player One movie and splitting a pint of ice cream.
Good: burgers, movie night, ice cream.
Bad: I’ve wondered what happens when my waste water tanks over fill, today I found out. Fortunately it was anti-climactic. The gray water tank was full and a little water came up out of the shower drain. I drove over to one of the campgrounds and used their RV dump.
Unexpected: Filled out an actual paper application for a job at the Ansel Adams Gallery. It’s been at least 30 years since I’ve filled out a printed paper job application. It’s like I was 16 applying to Sam Goody!
Note from the future!
I got an email from the Gallery in Feb 2026 asking if I was still interested. They interviewed me over Zoom and a couple weeks later offered me the job! Staff Photographer at The Ansel Adams Gallery. I spent 6 months in 2026 living in Yosemite. Unsurprisingly, I also blogged about that experience.
Thursday, September 4. Day 123
In the footsteps of Ansel Adams
Yosemite National Park
I'm coming up on a week in the park. My timeframe to be here is flexible, but I decided a week is just right and I'll head out tomorrow.
In the morning I attended a photo walk with the Ansel Adams Gallery. I didn't realize I needed to sign up in advance, but in the shop yesterday I mentioned it and they told me I could join even though it was officially 'full.'
The walk was nice. Unsurprisingly, Ansel Adams was woven into the photo walk, talking about his process and his history with the park. Then using his images to teach technique like composition, framing, and flow. The walk was pretty basic, which I expected, but it was good to see what the gallery does with these.
In the afternoon Kyle surprised me by very generously offering to lend me his motorcycle to ride around the park! I was so very tempted and couldn't decide. In the end the decision was made for me when we found that his helmet was too small for my big melon.
Instead of a motorcycle ride I went back to the Gallery for the afternoon photo walk that was longer and more in-depth . This one I signed up and paid for! Like a real tourist.
It was an extended version of the morning walk. More history and a deeper dive into Adams' images for technique. I didn't learn a whole lot on the walk, but that's not a bad thing. It shows that I know this information, which is reassuring! And I did learn about teaching a class like this; how to structure the material and present it to beginners.
In the spirit of Ansel, I brought along the Mamiya C3, medium format camera and shot a roll of b&w. It'll be a little bit before I get to see how it came out.
In the evening Kyle and I went out to shoot the sunset. I showed him the alternative 'Tunnel View' spot I'd found, and he was surprised. I patted myself on the back for being able to show him something new in the park.
We pretty much had the place to ourselves.
Afterwards, once again Kyle and his wife invited me to dinner, and once again it was excellent.
I said my good nights and headed back to my van. But decided I wasn’t quite done for the night. I really wanted to try for some night skies pics at Valley View (not tunnel view!), even though it's an 80% moon this is my last night in the park and my last chance!
Good: On Tuesday I spotted an alternative spot to the extremely popular ’Tunnel View’ area. Two miles up the road offers a better view of Half Dome, a lesser view of El Cap, and literally 99% less people. Tonight we went there to photograph sunset and were one of just 2 cars there!
Comparison photos below of the popular ‘Tunnel View’ spot (first two photos) and my alternative (Photos 3 & 4).
Bad: Waiting an interminable amount of time before I get to see how my film photos came out! (As of this writing, I haven’t even sent them out yet!)
Unexpected: Usually I write my journal entries on or close to the day. The photos take longer to get to, usually one to two weeks before I sort through and edit them. In this case I had prematurely written in the ‘bad’ entry that it was a fool’s errand to photograph night skies photos with the bright moon. Then I actually processed the pics and they came out! They’re not stellar night skies full of stars and the milky way, but I got distinct stars, and the mountains look fantastic. This is wholly unexpected!
Friday, September 5. Day, 124
Today’s dystopia will be 72 and sunny
San Francisco
Started the day with one more dip in the hot tub, then I offered to make breakfast, my “famous” cheesy scrambled eggs.
Did a bunch of errands while I had the opportunity; laundry, vacuumed the van, shower - everything is clean!
A friend keeps telling me I need a dog with me in the van, so I got a pic of Kyle's pup Sidecar with me. He's a very good boy and was wonderful company for the 5 minutes he was here.
Said my goodbyes and thanked them for their generous and wonderful hospitality! I’d mentioned earlier this was an ‘anchor destination’, one of the places I was most looking forward to, and it lived up to my hopes. Thank you Kyle!
On the way out of the park I spotted some people climbing Half Dome. Photos of people climbing in Yosemite was on my ‘to get’ list, and I got it at the last minute! See if you can spot the climbers -small dots in the enormous rock face- in the pics below!
Then it was out of the park and on to San Francisco!
On the way I passed huge fields of wind turbines. Their enormous blades spinning lazily. Maybe it’s just the novelty because there aren't many of these out East, but I always think fields of wind turbines look cool.
Traffic was bad going over the bridge into San Francisco. Not surprising since it was rush-hour on a Friday night. The slow traffic allowed me the opportunity to admire the scenery. Looking out at the bay and the city skyline.
Driving through the city was an experience. It’s similar to any other big city, but also not.
Billboards advertising AI services outnumbered lawyer* billboards three to one - Cheerfully inviting corporations to get rid of their cumbersome humans in favor of AI customer service reps, data processing, and many other “mundane” jobs.
Men in business suits were riding rented scooters home from work.
There were dozens of self driving Robo taxis, I saw what might have been a police drone flying overhead. Meanwhile, homelessness was rampant and San Francisco is notorious for car break-ins.
The city is absolutely on track for a futuristic dystopia where the technological haves and the destitute have-nots live parallel lives in two very different versions of the same city.
Good: Cleaned the van, my laundry, and myself. There’s a certain relief to having everything clean.
Bad: San Francisco is notoriously dangerous to park in. I very thoroughly stowed away all of my gear, but I was still low-key worried all evening while I was walking around.
Unexpected: So many robo-taxis!
* If we could replace injury lawyers with AI bots, that wouldn’t be all bad.
Saturday, September 6. Day 125
I left my heart around here somewhere
In San Francisco
Originally I was going to leave this morning for San Jose. But I procrastinated buying a ticket for a show there and it sold out. I opted to stay another day and explore San Fran.
If I’m in a town on a Sat or Sun I’ll check online for Farmer’s markets. SF had several, one was close enough to walk.
It was early in the morning.
I walked down to a farmer’s market on the bay.
The air was brisk, and the sky was gray.
On the way there I came across “The North Face climbing festival.” Competitors were doing a climbing wall that was floating in the harbor. I got a reusable bag from one of the vendors that was helpful for the rest of the day. (Now that I’m thinking about it, idk where that bag go to. I’m always surprised when I manage to lose something in the van, it’s not like there are a lot of places to put stuff!)
Walked around the marina with my 35 mm camera. Because I was extra worried about a break-in, I had stowed all of my cameras and gear. The 35 mm was the only one still accessible! Heading out in the morning I grabbed a second roll of film on a whim but was thinking. “pffff, as if I’ll shoot two whole rolls!”
Instead I had to stretch them out and be judicious with the 70 B&W shots I had.
I did make them last! By the time I finally got to the Golden Gate bridge at 5:30 I had 2 frames left!
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Well, it was a longer day than I expected.
I thought I’d just go to the farmers market and head back. But I kept getting drawn to (ie distracted by) new places and things. And I ended up spending the whole day walking around the bay.
Also, not having planned to spend the whole day out, I didn’t notice that my phone was at 30% when I left at 7:30 am!
Down at the docks, the Farmer’s market was hoppin’. I got some fruit, donuts, and a pork sandwich.
A block down there was a large group of seals having an animated discussion. One seal in particular was a real jerk and kept pushing the other seals off his platform.
My friend Gina, ever the consummate traveller, gave me a few recommendations for things to see in the city. One of them was Coit Tower, a lookout with great views of the city. The elevator in the tower was out of order and I climbed the 234 steps to the top. After having walked up probably another 200 just to get to the tower. SF is very hilly.
Further down the bay was Musee Mecanique, a museum of old coin-op games and attractions. Some were very old, and most were very weird. There were a lot of ‘action’ dioramas, like a day in the life of an old saloon, or a car race. But some were downright macabre; like an animated opium den and a minstrel show.
There was a WWII submarine and museum. Lots of boat tours of the bay and out to Alcatraz. I flirted with the idea of staying another day to do a tour, but the persistent low-key anxiety about parking my home in the city led me to opt out of sticking around.
Towards the end of the day I’d finally made it far enough north to see the Golden Gate Bridge off in the distance. I was almost out of film and had 5% phone battery left, but I snapped my pics.
It was 3.5 miles back to my van, almost entirely uphill!
The famed San Francisco trolley was nearby and I considered taking that up the hill to near where I was parked. But the line for the trolley was easily over an hour long.
All day I’d been checking my phone’s battery because I needed to save the last few % to call an uber. So I finally did that. The ride was only 7 minutes, but it was a wonderfully relaxing 7 minutes!
I made some dinner in the van (and charged my phone!) Found a club/party/music venue online and finished out the night there. Surprising myself that I still had energy to hang after the long day!
Good: Very glad I took the opportunity to explore the city. It’s a beautiful place and I’d like to go back someday when I have more time and intention. (But before the AI’s advertised takeover.)
Bad: I was woefully unprepared to spend the whole day walking around. I forgot to charge my phone overnight and started off at 30%. Didn’t bring sunscreen or enough film.
Unexpected: All of this! I went out for the farmer’s market and that was it. I didn’t bring my bag, water, or anything I’d normally be prepared with! I ended up walking around the city all day. From 8a to 5p. Walked over 11 miles!
