Scenery at Yosemite

We have been to Yosemite. I think October is not the time to go.  Our belief that the crowds would have died down by this point in the year turned out to be wrong.  So wrong.  The shuttle stops up by the camp grounds were over run with people, many of whom were European.  Europeans love our national parks.
Here is the entrance gate we used to enter the park.  I love the boulders.

The always lovely El Capitan.

After our aborted attempt to walk up to Mirror Lake (too many people, too much wood smoke), we decided to make the drive up to Glacier Point.  If you only have time to do one thing in Yosemite, I think this would be it.  It's a long drive, but when you come around the corner and see this, it's worth it.
In this frame we have Half Dome on the right.  From where we were standing, we could not see the cables, or the people climbing up the rock.

Now Half Dome is on the left and you can see more of the ranges off to the right.

There is a short walk out to the end of Glacier Point, which should not be missed.  You see more of the area from that view point. 

See the dark section in the middle of the photo?  That's where Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls should be.  Unfortunately, there is no water, they've dried up.  We would have to return earlier in the year to see water running. 

One can see down into the valley.  One could see better if the air wasn't so hazy from all of the fires.

This was taken at the Tunnel Viewpoint - it's at the mouth of the Wawona Tunnel, which is a one mile long tunnel through the rock.  El Capitan is on the left, and Half Dome is on the right farther back in the distance.

I can't remember from which over look this was taken.  The valley views are also spectacular.

The Merced River.  Notice the size of the boulder in the water.  Some of them are as big as school buses.

It's a stunning part of the world.  I'm glad we were able to drive up to Glacier Point, it closes for the winter and the amount of snow they receive determines when the road reopens.