So it's a valley.....

It's funny how expectations and reality sometimes veer widely away leaving you with a new perspective.

For many years I've read about Yosemite however, I had a pre-conceived notion that quickly evaporated as we entered the park in the late afternoon.

I had always visualized Yosemite as a park where you go in and you look up and see El Capitan, Half Dome and maybe a few other spectacular peaks. Maybe they were all clustered together. In my eye there were just a few of these icons and the rest was forest area.

It was a revelation to find that Yosemite is a valley surrounded on both sides for miles and miles by this towering granite mountains. El Capitan and Half Dome are just a few of the many massive mountains that surround you.

Here is a model of the park in the Yosemite Museum that shows how the route through the valley.