CALIFORNIA

I know, I have been loading this blog of posts about Yosemite National Park. But then, I am not done yet, before I leave Yosemite, I would like to share all the features that I’ve experienced in the park. And let me warn you, there would still be about 3 more posts about Yosemite, after this one.

When you are entering Yosemite Valley from the South, you will pass through Wamona Tunnel. As soon as you emerge from Wamona Tunnel, slow down and find parking to your right or left immediately or you will pass this spectacular viewpoint. In front of you is probably the most photographed viewpoint of Yosemite National Park, the Tunnel View.  

The Wamona Tunnel was constructed in 1933 to provide easier access to the hoards of tourists coming into Yosemite Valley. It took 2 years to drill the tunnel, using 275 tons of blasting power progressing to 20 ft a day.  The tunnel is about a mile long and of solid rock. Some parts of the tunnel are concrete, but the other parts appear to be part of the rocky hillside.  The viewpoint after you emerge from the tunnel is probably one of the most well known views in the world. It has beautiful view of Yosemite Valley and its major features.  To quote Ansel Adams, 

 ” Yosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space.” 

  Ansel Adams iconic images of Yosemite are great art; excellent photographs of a very important landscape. Yosemite, and all of the Sierra is overwhelming. There is no clear feature to describe the Sierra, but it testifies to nature’s beauty and diversity: immense mountains and valleys, rugged foothills, glacial-polished giant granite rocks sparkling under the sunlight, glacial lakes, tall waterfalls and world’s largest trees.  But I don’t want to shrink the Sierra to these group of majestic features, it feels more than that. 

  The features at Tunnel View includes El Capitan, the largest granite monolith in the world, that rises 3000 ft. Rising 3000 ft, this height is the elevation of some mountains already! From a distance and to the right of El Capitan, the Half Dome can be seen, and then,

 the Cathedral Rocks on the rightmost with the 620 ft tall Bridalveil Falls. And the forested valley is beneath all these geological features. This is a popular viewpoint, there are plenty of cameras out and clicking. Worth the stop to take in some of the wonders of the park.