Here's what i did to make the most of my trip.
1. Rented a couple of lenses from http://www.borrowLenses.com
Nikon 12-24mm f/4G AF-S DX IF-ED
Nikon 50mm f/1.4G AF-S
I also posses a Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX
Out of these two lenses, I thought the the 50mm was fantastic. The pictures taken from that were crystal clear. It's also a very fun lens to have. I'm definitely going to purchase one for myself soon.
I liked the idea of borrowing the lenses. It gives you a chance to play with the lens and see if this works for you before you spend good money and buy one. There's another lens rental place (http://www.lensrentals.com/), however, since borrowlenses had an office in San Mateo this was a no brainer.
2. I decided on the trip pretty late, and so was unable to find decent accommodation within the park. The best place i could find was YosemiteBug.
This place turned out to be perfect for what i wanted. True, it was not the most luxurious. But it definitely was rustic and completed my camping experience. Finding it was a little tough but when i did it was well worth it.
However, the next time i do visit Yosemite I am definitely going to be staying at Curry Village. Its right inside the park and it has some excellent reviews.
3. Equip myself with the necessary camping/hiking stuff which i picked up from REI.
Well no biggie. The stuff i got was the bug spray (which i didnt need) and a first aid kit. The other stuff was the usual -> tons of water for all the hikes, gatorade, home made sandwiches to take on the hike (although you can buy them at Degnan's Deli in Yosemite valley).
4. Plan out my hikes and things i want to check out.
I did a few excellent hikes. Here are the places i visited:
- Foot of Yosemite Falls
- El Capitan - This 3000 foot granite rock is a favorite amongst rock climbers. It takes some climbers 2 days to climb this and its fascinating to see little lights scattered around the rock in the night where climbers have taken shelter in some ledge.
- Sentinel Rock
- Mirror Lake (around a 4 mile hike)
- Glacier Point (this was quite a strenuous hike: albeit it was just 4.25 miles each way) - The views from this 7000 odd feet above sea level (3200 feet above curry village and the valley) was spectacular. It provides some stunning views of Yosemite Falls, Half dome and Nevada falls. My timing here was perfect as i got there close to sunset. One of the rangers provided us with an informative and entertaining talk about its history. Even though it was a tough hike - it was well worth it.
- Then drove to Bridalveil Falls ( a really fun waterfall - i was completely drenched trying to get close to the foot of it ). Btw - i just loved all the waterfalls.
- Hetch Hetchy - this glacial valley is completely flooded by the O'Shaughnessy Dam. This area is very picturesque and not that popular among the tourists. So it was a perfect place to try out all my camera settings.
Photograph links to follow soon....
Overall a really good experience and i'm def going back again. Next time i'm going to conquer Half Dome!
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