Yosemite

Yosemite National Park is known the world over and really needs no introduction. Thousands of people fly over the park every day but few see it or recognize it if they are looking. Yosemite is quite spectacular from the air, as clearly shown below.

Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, shown near the bottom of this post, was a near twin of Yosemite Valley until it was dammed up in the early part of the 20th century to provide storage for a water supply primarily for use by San Francisco.

More information about Yosemite National Park [wikipedia].
More information about Hetch Hetchy [wikipedia].

2017 Half Dome poking through the cloud lake filling Yosemite Valley

October 2013 Half Dome

October 2013 El Capitan

March 2011, El Capitan illuminated in the late afternoon light

Yosemite valley and El Capitan peeking out from beneath the clouds.

Yosemite Valley, Half Dome at right.


Half Dome at upper right.


Close shot of Half Dome.


Stereogram of Half Dome and vicinity.
Click to enlarge; cross eyes to converge the two images to appear as three.
3-d effect will appear in the middle. Be patient - this gets easier with experience.
(1536px wide version here)


Upper El Capitan brightly illuminated in the late afternoon sunshine. Upper Yosemite Falls can be seen in shadow above and to the right of El Capitan (click to enlarge).


El Capitan stands out in the foreground. To its lower right, and clearly visible during one of the rare times when it's actually illuminated in direct sunshine is Bridal Veil Fall. Half Dome towers over the upper-right corner of the image; below and to its right, in shadow, can be seen Nevada Falls and Vernal Falls. Even Upper Yosemite Falls can be seen (barely visible in shadow) in this shot, up and to the left of El Capitan.
(Click to enlarge)


Wide shot of Yosemite; El Capitan in lower-left quadrant and Half Dome in upper right. The telltale vertical white line of Upper Yosemite Falls can be clearly seen to the upper right of El Capitan. Mono Lake appears in the upper-right corner of the image.


Close shot of El Capitan.
Optical distortion visible at the bottom of the image is caused by the aircraft window.


Yosemite in the summer heat.


Upper Yosemite Falls can just barely be discerned just left of the center of this image.
(click to enlarge)






El Capitan and a good portion of the valley are visible in this view.


Same shot, different day...
Shadows of the late afternoon obscure much of the valley.


Half Dome casts its late afternoon shadow over the trees beyond.


January 2009, El Capitan.


A closer crop of El Capitan.


January 2009, Half Dome.


And a closer crop of Half Dome.


Snow-capped El Capitan peeking out from beneath the clouds.


May 2009, stitched from 4 images. The falls are all in sunlight.


May 2009, more falls in sunlight.

Hetch Hetchy Reservoir Behind O'Shaughnessy Dam

Hetch Hetchy Reservoir Behind O'Shaughnessy Dam, another angle

Wildfires

From time to time, while flying up and down the west coast, I chance upon a view of a large wildfire. Here is a collection of some of the more spectacular such views.

Aspen Fire

Huge smoke plume from Chips Fire.
The dark spec in the center of the frame is a commercial airliner at cruise altitude.

Tre (Topaz Ranch Estates) Fire
Picture Taken May 22, 2012 at 6:45PM

Tre Fire, another view, 5 minutes later

Rooster Rock Fire and South Sister viewed from 37,000'
Picture taken August 3, 2010

Rooster Rock Fire - A closer view

Moonlight Fire
Picture Taken September 4, 2007

Zaca Canyon Fire
Picture taken August 7, 2007

Rainier

Sunset begins

Mt. Rainier shrouded in a cloud scarf and bathed in the early evening glow

Mt. Rainier with a wispy cloud cap

A Summertime Mt. Rainier protruding from the cloud deck

Mt. Rainier Sandwich at Sunset

Mt. Rainier July 2013

Also check out Mt. Rainier in the Setting Sun and Mt. Rainier in the Sunset Light