I had some fun with my DSLR on this trip. You can see the album with all the photos at http://stoked.cc/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=3540
Our trip started in the cool fog of San Francisco and moved west through the desert like Central Valley to the mountains of Yosemite. Although to call the Central Valley desert if misleading, there is ample vegetation turned golden by the summer heat. Broken only by irrigated and prosperous produce farms. The scale and awe of Yosemite was breathtaking, although the could have been the thin mountain air I was breathing while hiking up Sentinel Dome. There where heavily banked mountain roads wound and climbed their way along the sides of the mountains, huge waterfalls, sheer cliffs, and trees big enough to walk through. While we where there we also saw some crazy German tourists, college kids on holiday mountain climbing. They strung up a tight rope over a 2,000 foot drop and walked across it. We also had an awesome cabin in the village of Wawona, high up in the hills it was noticeably cooler there. We also where conveniently located near a river with a large rock to jump off of, and a swimming hole. We cooked most of our own food, but we did stop by the Wawona hotel which has an awesome BBQ Buffet, and a solid Breakfast buffet.
Group Shot on the top of Sentinel Dome
The hiking trails of Yosemite offered fantastic views and scenic vistas especially for our the armature photogrophers in our group. We hiked up sentinel dome, and hiked along the fissures. The cracks in the rock making up the fissures went down over 1,000 feet. Along our hike we also encountered some German tourists on holiday that were either very brave or completely crazy. It was a pretty breezy day, but they had set up their own tight rope between two sections of the cliff, and where walking across it. bellow them was nothing but the shear drop for several thousand feet to the valley floor bellow.
Crazy German Tourist
Dinner on the Grill
After visiting Yosemite we went back to San Francisco, where we went sight seeing. Including driving down Lumberg St., Fishermans wharf, the golden Gate bridge, riding a street car, and Coit tower. The weather was cool and mostly cloudy. Long pants and a jacket were required, despite it being mid July. Alcatraz was a really popular attraction, a mixture of crumbled infrastructure, colorful gardens, and restored structures.
Street Car in San Francisco
