Yosemite National Park & the Eastern Sierras Photography, Photos, Pictures

Yosemite National Park covers an area of 1,189 square miles over the Western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It is one of the first wilderness parks in the US, and is best known for its waterfalls, though you can find deep valleys, grand meadows, ancient giant sequoias, and a vast wilderness area. Yosemite's granitic rocks and remnants of older rock are a predominant part of its geology. About 10 million years ago, the Sierra Nevada was uplifted and then tilted to form its relatively gentle western slopes and the more dramatic eastern slopes. The uplift increased the steepness of stream and river beds, resulting in formation of deep, narrow canyons. Then about 1 million years ago, snow and ice accumulated, forming glaciers at the higher alpine meadows that moved down the river valleys. The downslope movement of the ice masses cut and sculpted the U-shaped valley that attracts so many visitors to its scenic vistas today.

Bound by the Sierra Nevada on the west, and the Inyo and White Mountains on the east, is the Owens Valley. The valley is approximately 75 miles long, and the floor is at 4,000 feet, making it one of the deepest in the U.S. The Sierra Nevada Mountains casts the valley in a rain shadow, which makes Owens Valley "the land of little rainÓ. Within the Owens Valley lie the Alabama Hills, a rocky formation near Lone Pine. Managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management as the Alabama Hills Recreation Area, they are protected. The rounded contours of the Alabamas contrast with the sharp ridges of the Sierra Nevada to the west, however, the Alabamas are no older than the Sierra. Different patterns of erosion account for the difference.

Mono Lake is an alkaline and hypersaline lake that is a critical nesting habitat for several bird species, and is an unusually productive ecosystem. Mono Lake is believed to have formed at least 760,000 years ago, dating back to the Long Valley eruption. The lake is in a geologically active area, caused by faulting at the base of the Sierra Nevada, and is associated with the crustal stretching of the Basin and Range Province. The lake contains approximately 280 million tons of dissolved salts, with the salinity varying on the amount of water in the lake at any given time. The lake is famous for the Mono Lake brine shrimp, a tiny species of brine shrimp, no bigger than a thumbnail, that are found nowhere else on earth. During the warmer summer months, an estimated 4-6 trillion brine shrimp inhabit the lake.

There are many incredible and well known locations to photograph in Yosemite National Park. El Cap, Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, and the Merced River provide countless opportunities to every photographer who makes the journey to "The Valley". The eastern Sierras will capture the imagination of even the most well-travelled photographer.