Dewey Point Hike (Yosemite)

**BlackMagicPanther** · May 18th, 2009, 07:32 PM

As I indicated in my blog, I made a hike this past Saturday that I had been working on for quite some time. The specific goal of this hike was to get a picture of Bridalveil and Ribbon Falls in the same shot, but I found quite a few great views along the way. It was a challenging hike due to the snow, higher waterflow in the creeks, and boots that I hadn't used on a hike of this magnitude. I had a few layers of skin peeled off both of my heels. Let's just say that walking right now sucks.

The first interesting obstacle encountered was newly fallen tree that hadn't been cut yet:

The second obstacle was the aforementioned higher waterflow. Remember boys and girls always wear hiking socks that wick water from your feet:

After the uphill portion, the mountain clears the tree line and opens into a heck of a view of the Clark Range, which if you read my blog is my main goal hike:

From this vantage point you get a quick glimpse of Clouds Rest and Half Dome:

Just up the way from the clearing, you get your first glimpse of Dewey Point:

This is view looking down into the valley from Dewey Point:

From Dewey Point, you get a better view of Clouds Rest, Half Dome, with Unicorn Peak and Tenaya Peak in the far background:

Just before leaving Dewey Point, I decided to get a shot of Ribbon Falls. At the bottom right hand corner you can see a peak jutting out. Just below that peak is Bridalveil Falls, so I was definitely on the right track:

When I got to Crocker Point, I finally got satisfaction on The Picture quest. Bridalveil is in the bottom right hand corner, Ribbon is in the center. I also got El Capitain just to the right of Ribbon with Touloumne Peak being the snow covered peak in the far right hand corner:

I am an adrenaline junkie in certain ways, and one of them is standing on peaks, cliffs, or boulders and looking over the edge. This is a shot of about a 2500 foot drop. Due to the recent pair of rock slides in the park I wasn't willing to push it too far though:

Getting down to Stanford Point gave me the best view of the two falls. I was even able to include Clouds Rest in there:

On the way down by a few miles, this view of both Bridalveil (bottom left) and Silver Strand Falls (little above center on the far right) came along. I was not expecting to get both in frame:

All in all, I thought it was a great hike. Imagine my surprise when I got to the car and pulled off my boots. My socks were covered in blood, but it was still worth it. I have every intention of going back to Yosemite next week when I am on vacation. With the heels, I won't be able to do the Half Dome hike as I planned, but I will still be taking a lot of pictures. I have gotten FitnessPhotos permission to do some pictorials here of my pics (primarily Yosemite), and I am looking forward to any comments, including criticism from the real Photographers here.

If you look really closely at the pic of the two falls from Crocker Point, you will notice that there seems to be a trail through the rockslide area on the left hand side towards the bottom. It was the first thing I noticed when I started looking in that direction, cuz there is no trail on the maps in that area. This intrigues me greatly. It's like I'm the moth and it's the fire. I hope to share pics from that trail in the near future.

**FitnessPhotos** · May 19th, 2009, 08:29 PM

Very nice. My own taste leans toward greater contrast - looks like quiet the enjoyable trip!

**Weeble29** · May 19th, 2009, 08:50 PM

The pics are great! I really thought you did a nice job capturing what you were most excited to see. I agree that looked like one heck of a hiking trip!

**linemanpaul** · May 19th, 2009, 10:08 PM

BMP, I love South Florida, but your photos make me want to stray!!

**BlackMagicPanther** · May 19th, 2009, 11:05 PM

FP, could you please elaborate as far as the contrast. I'm not really sure how it could be achieved with nature photos.

**FitnessPhotos** · May 20th, 2009, 08:30 PM

I wasn't there, but were the levels correct or did the location look a little more like this? I set a black point down in the very bottom, so it might be a little too much.

**BlackMagicPanther** · May 20th, 2009, 10:09 PM

Your colors look a tad darker than the actual, but yours is much closer than mine. I rarely mess with my settings more than choosing what "scene" setting. All my shots on this hike were with the landscape setting. I definitely like the way your alteration came out, but I'm not sure how to accomplish it with my camera. I have stopped using photoshop to alter my photos, since I began to look at it as cheating with nature pics.

I'm going to have to play around with the camera to see if I can get that look, BMP.

**FitnessPhotos** · May 21st, 2009, 07:27 PM

Even a simple Auto Levels in PhotoShop will give you this (less dark)...

**RunningMan27** · June 15th, 2009, 03:21 PM

I'm only just now reading this thread. Great pictures, BlackMagicPanther!

Hiking in the early spring is the most beautiful time of year - everything is very green and the snow melt streams are amazing. I am back-packing in the Sawtooth Mountains in a couple of weeks and expect to see some snow in parts (it will probably be very similiar to Yosemite). I will try to take more pictures this go-around and post.

**raijin1** · June 15th, 2009, 03:23 PM

I have always wanted to visit Yosemite park... Seeing these pics makes me want to even more... nice work!

ptrper · June 18th, 2009, 10:53 AM

Really awesome pics! I love taking my son out to Yosemite for our annual camping trip. There's a really nice lake on the backside called Lake Ellory which often is full of German Brown trout which my son and I love to fish for. I'll try to post pics of it soon.

**SAINT_X** · June 18th, 2009, 01:07 PM

WOW! I wanna go there....

**gYmgIrL** · August 6th, 2009, 08:21 AM

wow! so incredible!!!! i dont think we have anything like that here! I cant wait to show you my walkaboot vid! you'll love it! its almost a shame theres a GG in it! hehe

**BlackMagicPanther** · August 6th, 2009, 09:51 PM

GG, I have heard that the Northern Territory of your country has some very beautiful scenery. Mostly like a rain forest and not so mountainous as these shots. A walkabout vid sounds very cool. Your presence is never a shame. :-)

To answer your question about the fear of heights, I have only ever had one problem and that was immediately after I almost walked off a 3000 ft cliff. Took me about 45 seconds to get over the vertigo and walk right back to the edge. Got a couple of pics of it too.

ptrper, did you ever find the pics of Lake Ellory. I got a few pics of it a couple of months ago, and I loved the place. I didn't spend much time unfortunately as I had to drive back almost as soon as I got there, but it was beautiful.