Storm at Yosemite

This is a selection from an amazing series of pictures taken from Glacier Point, Yosemite, the evening of June 22, 2006. A storm blew across Yosemite Valley, giving us spectacular views of the area around Half Dome. There was lightning (I didn't even try to catch on camera), and the lighting conditions around sunset were unbelievable. A park ranger was supposed to narrate the view at sunset, but instead he chased everybody off the tip of Glacier Point because people's hair was starting to stand on end. He also admitted he couldn't compete with nature's show.

These are preview images only. Click on the photos for the full 6 Megapixel images from our Sony DSC-H5, but be warned they are each about 3 Megabytes, and my hosting provider (Hi, Steve!) doesn't have a very fat pipe to the 'net. None of these images has been post-processed in any way.

6:29 pm: overview showing Half Dome, Nevada Falls, and Vernal Falls.

6:58 pm: zoom in on the top of Half Dome. The rangers must have chased people off because of the upcoming storm.

7:00 pm: zoom in showing Nevada Falls and Vernal Falls

7:10 pm: zoom in on Vernal Falls

8:15 pm: rainbow and Half Dome. It's not so obvious in the picture, but we could also see a second rainbow to the left of Half Dome.

8:30 pm: rainbow and Half Dome. Also notice here the rivers coming down the face of Clouds Rest. These rivers lasted only as long as the rain kept falling, since they are fed from solid granite.

Larry Doolittle
August 19, 2006