Yosemite Panoramic Monday 

By John P. DeGrazio 

Yesterday was one of my best days in a long time. I often get to share special times in Yosemite with families from across the globe for which I am very grateful. What made yesterday even more special? I was able to spend a full day on the trails with my own family. We loaded up the car and took a trip to our National Park that is only one hour from our home.

On our way over to the JMT trailhead parking, we saw a few people pointing to a moving object in an area by the Pines campgrounds. We were very pleased to witness a bobcat traipsing along a pathway searching for lunch. With packs full of water, food, cameras, and a three year old, we headed up the John Muir Trail toward Vernal and Nevada Fall. This would be my eight year old’s first training hike of the spring. She has big ambitions. As we passed the sign for Mt. Whitney in 211 miles, I explained to her that it is my goal for us to hike that together when she turns fifteen.

We arrived at Vernal Fall in great time and captured hundreds of images along the way. Here are a few panoramas from the trip. I could not have been more pleased about how well both my daughters enjoyed the day, and it completely reaffirmed why I moved my family out to this beautiful area almost nine years ago. To see their eyes light up after seeing these majestic waterfalls was worth the price of our park pass many times over. On the way down the trail, we passed the JMT sign showing Mt. Whitney once again, and my older daughter leaned over to me and shared that she still wants to hike there. Now she wants to do it when she turns twelve.