The Terra Galleria Blog – QT Luong

Wind Cave National Park, one of the three National Parks (together with Mammoth Cave and Carlsbad Caverns) centered around a cave, was the first cave anywhere in the world to be designated a national park.

Although its 134 miles of mapped galleries make it the fourth longest cave in the world, I had heard of Wind Cave for its unusual formations, specifically boxwork, which is its signature feature. Boxwork is a type of mineral formation that resembles a honeycomb pattern of intersecting thin blades of calcite or other minerals. It is very rare and the result of a combination of geological processes, the specific composition of the minerals involved, and the protective environment of the cave.

In general, I prefer to photograph in caves using the cave lighting, which has been carefully designed to emphasize the cave’s features. By contrast, on-camera flash lighting is too flat, and to do use effective off-camera lighting in caves often requires one or more assistants or light stands. For conservation purposes, cave lighting is kept quite dim, requiring a long exposure. Like in most caves, tripods are not allowed during the tours. However, for once, the bad weather helped me.

Two days before, I had encountered a storm system with winds so severe that I was barely able to pitch my tent. Once I got inside, I felt like I was trying to sleep in a washing machine. Needless to say, this wasn’t too successful. The next day, as I was driving past daytime in the continuing storm, I stopped in an isolated country restaurant seemingly in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by vast plains. There, after engaging me in conversation, and learning that I had no place to stay, a woman offered me a place in their family home. I was immensely grateful to be able to stay out of the weather. I still remember the Dakotas as the first place in America where I had benefited from the hospitality of strangers.

Early this morning, I was the first visitor to drip into the Wind Cave National Park visitor center. Seeing that I had braved the weather to get there, the ranger on duty agreed to give me a private tour without an advance notice.

On such a tour, I was allowed to bring along my tripod, since it would not constitute a tripping hazard for the other participants. The ranger pointed me to the nicest displays of boxwork. the unusual cave formation composed of thin calcite fins resembling honeycombs, for which the cave is known. As formations were lining up the ceiling, the photography with the large format camera required quite a few contortions.

Back on the surface, I felt eager to explore the park’s mixed-grass prairie, but given the weather, this would have to wait for a return trip.

See more images of Wind Cave National Park

Theodore Roosevelt National Park preserves not only a rugged landscape, but also the memory of a man, who has done so much for conservation through his support of the National Parks. It started oddly, though. The impetus for the young Theodore Roosevelt to head to North Dakota was reading in the newspaper that bison were being exterminated. He hoped on a train to be able to kill one himself before they were all gone. However, the badlands taught him respect for nature, while toughening him. He would later say “I would not have been president, had it not for my experience in North Dakota”.

I came to Theodore Roosevelt National Park to collect a different type of trophy. One of the things that fascinated me most about the Parks was not only the extraordinary diversity of the landscapes they featured, but also how those landscapes were inter-related, yet different from each other. Having seen badlands terrain elsewhere made me more curious about how the North Dakota badlands would compare.

I found the two units of the park to have a different character, with the North Unit being more wild and scenic. What struck me the most North was the variety of the erosion formations. Theodore Roosevelt described them as “so fantastically broken in form and so bizarre in color as to seem hardly properly to belong to this earth”. In particular, I discovered numerous cap rocks of different shapes, and even a large, little-known, petrified forest in the South Unit. Getting to some of them required a bit of hiking.

However, the most unique formations I saw were situated next to the road in the North Unit. At the aptly named “Canonball Concretions pullout”, next to the spur road to the campground, I found almost perfect rock spheres of up to five feet diameter, their symmetrical shape contrasting with the chaotic badlands. I was saddened to see that some visitors had traced words in their soft rock, and only hope that this was done in earlier years, when environmental awareness hadn’t reached today’s levels. Yet, after searching around, I concluded that the nicest specimen were the ones that had been defaced, so I resolved to photograph them nevertheless.

As nature photographers, we tend to exclude the hand of man to emphasize the eternal character and the magnificence of the untouched land. However, images showing the impact of man in an otherwise pristine setting are useful, as they could raise awareness that some actions are not to be repeated.

View more images of Theodore Roosevelt National Park

The Front Range of the Rocky Mountains provides one of the most abrupt changes of scenery and elevation anywhere. The western edge of the Great Plains transitions quickly to the mountains that form the Continental Divide, two miles higher. Those Colorado mountains include some of the most accessible high-altitude terrain in North America, including Mount Evans (14,264 ft, 4348 m), reached by a road that has long been the highest paved road in the world.

Further south, Trail Ridge Road, which bisects Rocky Mountain National Park, has the distinction of being the highest continuous motorway in the United States. More than eight miles lie above 11,000 feet, reaching a maximum elevation of 12,183 feet. As expected with such an elevation, the Trail Ridge Road is closed during winter and remains closed until early summer.

Driving the road, I felt I was moving in a short amount of time from a high prairie environment to the Arctic tundra. After a steady uphill section, I emerged above treeline. Starting at Rainbow Curve, I couldn’t decide which panoramic views from the overlooks was the more vertiginous and impressive. However, it’s only when I began to stroll on the tundra that I discovered the richness and variety of the tiny plants that grow there. The tiny sedges, mosses, and alpine flowers, invisible from a distance, formed a rich tapestry revealed by kneeling down. Stones covered with colorful lichens dotted the tundra. I was careful to walk on them in order not to tramp the fragile alpine vegetation. Although I concentrated on the landscape, I noticed pika and marmots.

The legs of my Gitzo tripod could spread almost flat, yet the regular center column was getting in the way of placing the camera low enough. I wished I had remembered to pack the short center column. Instead, I placed the camera directly on flat rocks, doing all sort of contortions in order to be able to focus on the ground glass. The alpine flowers were too tiny for a balanced composition with mountains in the background, but in the course of exploring along the Trail Ridge Road, I eventually found a patch of larger flowers. As the afternoon thunderstorm was moving in, I retreated to the car, wary of the danger of lighting. The rain eventually stopped, leaving me with a dramatic sky as the clouds were clearing.

After photographing the tundra, I looked for some larger features further West. The most interesting I found were the rock formations and summer snow fields at Rock Cut that came alive in the last light before sunset. If instead of going West, I had planned to return towards the East, I would have tried to photograph twisted pines about a mile West of the Rainbow Curve overlook.

View more images of Rocky Mountain National Park

Revised Sept 2020.

With their tremendous diversity of environments and pristine scenery, the National Parks are a great place – although not always the best – to see and photograph fall foliage color. Here is a guide to fall color highlights in nearly each of the National Parks, which lists the best time to be there to catch the color at its peak. For some parks, I have written a more detailed post which is linked. For inspiration, check the links under the names of the national parks, they point to a gallery of photos, part of images of National Parks Fall color foliage.

Eastern Hardwoods

When one thinks about fall colors, the Eastern parks are the first that come to mind. Rightfully so: the variety of deciduous trees there produce extensive displays of color unmatched in their variety. In particular red maples add a bright accent which is not generally found in western forests. It sometimes feels that every tree in the landscape has turned a different color. The colors start in the Mid-West parks in late September and move progressively South, where they peak in November, with elevation changes causing variations of as much as two weeks.

Acadia: This compact park packs a lot of variety. You’ll find in a few other national parks the mix of northern forest evergreens and temperate forest hardwoods, here they grow on steep slopes reflected in ponds and lakes. At higher elevations, patches of berry plants similar to those found on the Alaskan tundra color red the bare top of Cadillac Mountain. Colors start in late September, peaking by the second week of October, a bit later than latitude would suggest because of the overall lower elevation and coastal location.

Shenandoah, Great Smoky Mountains: The Southern Appalachian mountains are home to some of the most varied deciduous forests on the planet, resulting in some of the best foliage displays anywhere. Moreover, the Blue Ridge Mountains offer great ridge-top scenic drives, from the 105 mile-long Skyline Drive in Shenandoah to the Newfound Gap Road in Great Smoky Mountains, with the 469 mile Blue Ridge Parkway in between. The combination of the highest mountains in the Eastern US with spectacular foliage is difficult to beat. From the numerous overlooks, it is easy to capture vast vistas of kaleidoscopic hillsides and ridges. With the proximity of the Eastern urban centers, those drives are very popular during the foliage season, so it is best to visit during weekdays. Colors are at their best on the two last weeks of October but will be present (depending on elevation) from late September to mid-November.

Isle Royale, Voyageurs: Those more northern locations offer a foliage peak in late September, with deciduous trees mixed with northern evergreens. Both parks see very light visitation. The Western end of Isle Royale, near Windigo, has more maples and other deciduous trees than the rest of the island, but like in Voyageurs, there are not too many views outside of the forest. The center and middle of Isle Royale offer to the backpacker extensive views, but they have less color.

Hot Springs, Mammoth Cave: Those more southern and lower-elevation locations offer a foliage peak that occurs later than in the Appalachian mountains, at the beginning of November, lasting through the middle of the month. Despite being known for other sights (bathhouses and cave), there is also a nice woodland landscape amidst the gentle hilly scenery. Check the Green River Bluff Trail in Mammoth Cave, and the Gulpha Gorge in Hot Springs. Crowds are much thinner than in the better-known parks.

Congaree: The park offers the opportunity to explore a swamp forest in the fall through a very long elevated boardwalk. The abundance of water provides for nice reflections. Although there is no variation in elevation, the various tree species in the park peak at a different time, so some color is to be found anytime from late October to November, with the most interesting foliage color occurring later in the month.

Rockies

Unlike the Eastern mountains, the tops of the Rocky mountains are too high and rocky to support deciduous forests, which are rather found in the lower elevation valleys. Those forests do not offer the color variety of the Eastern Hardwoods. However, the groves of aspen shimmer with an incredibly bright yellow color at their peak – which is much more brief than in the Eastern forest, as high winds can cause all the leaves to fall overnight to the ground.

Grand Tetons Spectacular groves of aspen peak in the last two weeks of September, centered in the broad and flat Jackson Hole Valley. Particularly scenic locations include Jenny Lake, and Oxbow bend, where the trees are reflected in blue waters, with towering peaks in the background. It is also a great time to observe Elk and Moose amongst the crimson brush and willows.

Glacier: Fall foliage is found throughout the park, and there is a larger variety of trees than in other Rocky Mountain parks, including Rocky Mountain maple and Western larch. The west side of the park changes color starting in mid-September, with deciduous trees mixed with evergreen, while on the dryer east side, more solid color patches appear towards the end of September. In mid-October, the larch trees growing at higher elevation turn gold. More: Photographing Fall Foliage in Glacier National Park.

Rocky Mountain: Groves of aspen, alternating with vast stretches evergreens, color the flanks of the mountains at lower elevation during the two last weeks of September. Places to look for color include Glacier Basin, the slopes that border the meadows (locally called “parks”), and opposite the Old Fall River Road. More: An Iconic Lake and Nondescript Aspens: Revisiting the Bear Lake Road.

Great Sand Dunes : Cottonwoods grow along the Medano Creek along the dunes. Aspens are found at higher elevations on the Sangre De Cristo Mountains in the National Preserve. They are accessible with a high-clearance 4WD vehicle through the Medano Pass road. Colors peak late September to early October. More: A Most Tricky Scenic Drive: the Medano Pass Road

Theodore Roosevelt: Unlike in the barren South Dakota Badlands, trees grow in the rugged North Dakota Badlands. In particular, the shores of the Little Missouri River, in the North Unit, are lined with aspens that turn yellow by the end of September.

Southwest

The Southwest is a desert, which at first does not sound like such a great place to look for trees. Indeed, many of the parks of this area do not feature any significant color, apart from cottonwood trees in washes, canyon bottoms, or along rivers. However, some narrow canyons create micro-climates that sometimes allow a surprising variety of deciduous trees to thrive. If you add to this the fact that higher elevation plateaus and mountains are often doted with aspens, the icon of the Western fall foliage, some of those parks unexpectedly harbor the most diverse foliage color in the West.

Zion: Thanks to the Virgin River and other streams, Zion is an oasis in the desert. The aspens on the high plateaus turn yellow at the end of September, however the most interesting display occurs later in the deeply shaded canyons. Unlike most of places in the West, red and maple trees grow there, adding a bright touch by late October to early November. The lower water level makes it easier to hike the Narrows, where trees grow on the tiny banks of the Virgin River. The Emerald Pool area is another good place to look for varied colors.

Guadalupe Mountains Within its canyons and oases, in particular, Pine Spring Canyon, McKitterick Canyon, and Smith Springs, a surprisingly large variety of trees with bright red, yellow, and burgundy colors rival the eastern hardwoods. They make an odd juxtaposition with the desert vegetation when the color peaks, at the beginning of November.

Capitol Reef: Although the park is more known for its variety of geological formations revealed by the bare terrain (fall provides the best conditions for exploring backcountry roads), it is also an oasis in the desert with the historic orchard at Fruita and cottonwoods along the Freemont river. Their color, which peaks in early November, harmonizes with the red sandstone cliffs.

Great Basin: During the last week of September, pockets of aspen groves are found on the upper portion of Wheeler Peak drive, as well as in side canyons such as Windy Canyon.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison: Shrubs (such as oak scrub) growing along the rim turn in late September. There are also a few isolated aspen groves along the Oak Flat loop trail and the drive to East Portal. More: Photographing Oak Flat and Warner Point Trails in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

Grand Canyon: While the South Rim vegetation of pines and junipers is not deciduous, the higher North Rim is rimmed with aspens that turn yellow during the second half of September.

Mesa Verde: Certainly not a place you’d think about for fall foliage, especially since due to high elevation, the mesas that are home to the ruins are dominated by conifers. However, the mesas at lower elevation, from the park entrance to Far View, are covered with shrubs that unexpectedly turn the whole landscape crimson towards the end of September. More: Looking for fall colors in unexpected places.

Arches: The desert vegetation around the arches is not deciduous, but there is one canyon experience in the park, at Courthouse Wash. The riparian plant communities along the stream include cottonwoods that peak from late October to early November. You can photograph them from the bridge, but for a much more rewarding experience, follow the wash downstream using a social trail that you are likely to have all to yourself.

Canyonlands : The desert vegetation on the plateaus is not deciduous. However, the Green and Colorado River are lined up with riparian plant communities that peak in late October. It is a tough hike or 4WD drive to get to the river, but it is easily accessed by jetboat from Moab. Canyon bottoms such as Horseshoe Canyon and the Maze contain stands of cottonwood trees as well.

Bryce Canyon: Due to high elevation, the park is dominated by conifers, however, with a lot of hiking, a few pockets of deciduous trees can be found, mostly along the creeks below the rim.

Pacific Coast and Mountains

The western mountain forests are generally dominated by conifers. In the Sierras, large aspen groves tend to grow in the dry Eastern flanks, outside of the National Parks, while the same can be said of Western Larch trees in the Cascade Mountains. Tree colors are mostly confined to small pockets. However, at more northern latitudes of Washington, the berry plants can turn the whole ground red at sub-alpine elevations, while at lower elevations vine maples provide orange touches not found in California. Lower elevation forests comprise deciduous trees that provide brilliant but localized, pockets of color.

Mount Rainier: Alpine meadows such as Paradise are full of berry plants that peak on the last week of September, rivaling in color the wildflower displays of the summer. Vine maple can be found at lower elevations, for instance along Stevens Canyon. More: Mount Rainier National Park new images: fall foliage, Autumn in the Rain, Mount Rainier NP.

North Cascades: Berry plants at higher elevations, and maple at lower elevations peak on the last week of September. During the month of October, the needles of the Western Larch, a deciduous conifer with a narrow geographic range, found on the eastern side of the park, turn a bright yellow. More: North Cascades National Park New Images- Fall Foliage, An Autumn Visit to Stehekin, North Cascades Alpine larch at night.

Olympic: The subalpine meadows are thick with bluberries, whose leaves turn a deep scarlet at the beginning of October. In mid/late October, maples (both bigleaf and vine) add a powerful color accent to the dark west side rain forests. Sol Duc has also beautiful color that can peak a bit later. More: Photographing Fall foliage in Olympic National Park.

Yosemite: Besides a couple of often-photographed non-native trees, colors in the Valley are mostly provided by yellow maples, red dogwoods (peaking early October), and the oak trees (peaking early November) that line up some meadows, my favorite being El Capitan Meadows. Except for sparse maples and dogwoods, and the berry plants in places such as Siesta Lake, there isn’t much foliage color in the high country.

Kings Canyon: The Cedar Grove area of Kings Canyon is somewhat similar to Yosemite Valley, with generally less fall color. Pockets of maples and dogwoods add a color accent to the forests in October.

Sequoia: The lower elevation foothills are covered with many blue oak trees that peak in November. In late October, dogwoods add a color accent to the groves, while ferns color the meadows within Giant Forest. More: Photographing Fall Foliage in Sequoia National Park

Pinnacles: The park has no large deciduous forests, however good places to look for pockets of colors include Chalone Creek in Bear Valley (cottonwoods) and Bear Gulch between the nature center and Bear Valley (sycamores).

Alaska

At the Arctic circle, spring, summer, and autumn last about one month each, with the rest of the year being winter. Fall arrives earlier than elsewhere on the continent, as early as mid-August at higher elevations in Gates of the Arctic National Park. What distinguishes the Alaska autumn is the vast expense of tundra. While at more meridional locations, the color is mostly on tree leaves, in Alaska, the entire ground can turn shades of yellow and red.

Denali: Autumn comes between the last week of August and the first week of September with particularly spectacular tundra colors, in particular towards the end of the paved road, and past Elieson Visitor center up to Wonder Lake. Look at the tundra to see how the size of the plants diminishes as the elevation increases. The Riley Creek drainage near the entrance of the park has many aspens mixed with evergreens.

Lake Clark: The eastern part of the park features extensive tundra terrain that turns burgundy in the first week of September, followed by birch trees at lower elevations. However, the weather on the Alaska Peninsula can be quite wet in the fall. More: Lake Clark National Park on the Go

Gates of the Arctic, Kobuk Valley, By mid-August, the tundra turns red at higher elevations, lower elevations (such as the Kobuk River Valley), which also include aspen, peak at the end of the month, which coincides with the fall caribou migration, one of the great wildlife happenings in Alaska. More: A Backpacking trip into the Arrigetch Peaks, Gates of the Arctic National Park.

Wrangell-St.Elias: Numerous aspens can be found along the last section of the McCarthy Road, either on mountainsides or in the valley. They turn yellow at the beginning of September.

Katmai: Although the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes is barren, the area around Brooks Camp is riparian with plenty of deciduous vegetation that peak in the middle of September – a good time to see the bears without the crowds. The trail to Dumpling Mountain provides easy access to the tundra that turns at the same time. More: More Than Bears at Brooks Camp: the Dumpling Mountain Trail, Katmai National Park.

Kenai Fjords: Exit Glacier is one of the most accessible spots in all of Alaska’s national parks, and aspens on the floodplain and at its base turn in early September.

See pictures of National Parks Fall color foliage.

Any favorites that I missed? Please comment!

updated Aug 18, 2003

A few weeks ago, we ventured into the northernmost of the Florida Keys, Elliott Key in Biscayne National Park. Today, we visit the Key situated at the opposite end of the chain. Dry Tortugas National Park, 70 miles of Key West, Florida, like Biscayne is mostly an underwater park. The land area consists of seven diminutive islets, totaling only 40 acres of sand.

Few people visit Dry Tortugas, because of its remote location, however it is a unique place with one unexpected sight. There are two ways to visit Dry Tortugas National Park: by ferry, or by seaplane.

For my first visit to Dry Tortugas, in December 1997, I wanted to see the islets from the air, since this would provide an interesting perspective on this very flat terrain. At that time I was still so fond of large format photography that I tried to shoot everything with my 5×7 camera, including aerials. I have to confess that lacking the experience and technique of a Brad Washburn or William Garnet, none of those images turned out to be even competent. This helped teach me “horses for courses”, using the right camera for each situation.

The big downside was that while a trip by ferry would have let me spend five hours on the main island, Garden Key, or even camp overnight, the trip by plane gave me only a little over two hours there (note: as of 2010, full day plane trips are available, but they cost twice as much). The island is so small that if I was just sightseeing, I could easily see every nook and cranny of it in that time, however photographing it was another matter. Since the park has two components, nature and history, I tried to capture both. I first focused on the Caribbean atmosphere on the sandy beaches, then rushed inside Fort Jefferson, the massive brick structure (largest in the Western Hemisphere) that takes up much of the surface area of Garden Key, and milled around the courtyard and galleries, looking without much success for a defining image of the place.

The fort is so large that two-thirds of it drops directly into the water, just protected from the ocean by a low seawall, the spot that I had missed, because of its unusual position. With less than ten minutes left before the departure time, as I took a quick look there, I saw instantly the image that captured what I felt to be the essence of the location: the geometric meeting of the luminous sky, turquoise waters and the brick walls, at the same time so incongruous, but so integrated into this environment, with the slight curve of the seawall leading the eye into the image. As there was not enough time left for a large format photograph, I settled for a quick shot with my 35mm camera, already planning to come back by ferry.

Since this blitz trip I’ve returned three times to the tiny Dry Tortugas. This particular spot has become my favorite in the park, almost a “signature image”. The seawall may look symmetric, but I prefer that particular corner (situated NW) of the fort for shooting mid-day, or the previous one (situated W) for shooting at sunset, because of the open views over water, and the angle under which the sun strikes the wall. Others just don’t work as well for me. The West corner has the advantage of being un-interupted, while the North-West corner has an opening which allows the water to flow between the moat and the ocean, which can be distracting while shooting with a very wide angle lens. At sunrise on the East side of the fort, because of the orientation of the walls, it is not possible to get good cross-lighting. This leaves mid-day to sunset as the best time to photograph on the West and North-West side.

Despite photographing there on each of my subsequent trips, I have not been able to duplicate the mid-day “quick shot” taken on my first sight of the moat. Not that nature hasn’t been generous in her variety: I’ve witnessed overcast days, stormy days with gale-force winds, sunny days with clouds. However, only an almost cloudless day (that some declare to be uninteresting) with a mid-winter sun made it possible to create the stark and minimal composition with the pointed shadow that initially caught my eye. As the year progresses, the higher position of the sun produces a shadow that becomes less and less interesting. It is still acceptable in late winter, but in summer is just too flat.

On my third trip to the island, an unexpected storm moved in. As waves washed over the seawall, I had no choice but to create a monochromatic composition with a long exposure, at dusk. Because of the cloudy sky, sunset and night photographs would have to wait for a fourth trip, which I made in the summer of 2013.

Which one is your favorite ?

View more images of Dry Tortugas National Park

(More pictures of Lost Lake and the Diving Board)

The Diving Board is the prominent rock in front of the face of Half-Dome. The location offers one of the most impressive views in Yosemite. On the West, you see the whole Valley, below you is a 30 feet overhang and a 1500 feet vertical face almost straight above Mirror Lake, and on the East, you are treated to the most glorious view of the face of Half-Dome. I find the view much more interesting than the one you get from the Half-Dome summit itself, from which you do not see the face.

Like the previous entry, Fern Ledge, the Diving Board is the site of a well-known photograph by Ansel Adams. This photograph, “Monolith”, has always been considered by Adams himself to be one of his most important, because it was first time he was able to pre-visualize the final print, while shooting the last of the twelve glass plates he carried that day. It is the first image included in his book Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs (by the way, one of the must-read books for any serious photographer). As an homage to Adams, there was no way I was going to leave my 5×7 large format camera in the car. Adams made the outing a day hike, but as I was going to photograph in color, I planned to stay overnight to catch the last rays of sun. I made sure to take plenty of film in order not to find myself in Adams situation !

Before getting to the description of the route, I must tell you about an eerie coincidence. Just two days before I hiked to the Diving Board, I attended a lecture about Ansel Adams by the great black and white landscape photographer John Sexton, who was one of his assistants. John happened to show footage of the Adams group on the Diving Board in 1927, shot on a movie camera brought by Virginia, who during this outing was his fiancee. As it was April, they were crawling on snowy slopes in decidedly unoutdoorsy-looking gear, holding on to a rope by hand (not harness) on the final slabs. I was surprised by Adams diminutive build, especially for someone who was lugging so much gear. The footage was set to a recording of Ansel playing the Prelude No. 1 in C major from Johann Sebastian Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier (digitized by Charles Cramer, himself a pianist and a extraordinary photographer). Being myself a former violonist, the Prelude is the only piano piece I can play at this moment.

After branching off from the Half-Dome trail, my brother-in-law and I did not see anybody until noon the day after, when we ran into veteran rock climber Clint Cummins and his friend near Lost Lake. It had been more than a decade since I last saw him, so this was a surprise to meet him in the middle of nowhere. They were going to climb up the Snake Dike route on the West face of Half-Dome, then rappel down a steeper route to replace old climbing anchors, part of an on-going project from the American Safe Climbing Association. His friend is camping close to the Diving Board (variation B below) to work on the project all summer. Talk about dedication !

I made my photographs of the face of Half-Dome with a 110mm on my 5×7 camera, about the equivalent of 24mm on full-frame digital. Since I had brought zooms covering all the focal lengths from 17mm to 300mm for my two Canon 5D mark2 cameras, I could choose any focal length in digital, yet I also gravitated towards 24mm. When I came home, I was a bit surprised to see that Adams apparently chose to frame the face tighter than I did. However, a re-reading of Examples showed that Adams regrets that the 1/4 top of his negative was lost due to a fire damage.

Download KMZ file (Update 2018: KMZ/KML format appears to have changed in the while, please let me know if you are able to convert it to current format
Update 2023: the file works in Gaia GPS. )

The hike does not require technical skills, nor is it exposed (that is, until you arrive at the Diving Board, where the sheer drops impressed my brother-in-law, even though he is a accomplished rock-climber). However, some scrambling, bushwacking, loose and steep terrain, and difficult trail-finding make it quite more difficult than the distance (about 6 mi) or elevation gain (3500 feet) would suggest. Allow about 6 hours up, 4 hours down. There are good bivy spots right on the Diving Board. Personally, I have hiked the Half-Dome trail only down, not up, so I could not compare it, but my brother-in-law who had done it both ways rates the Diving Board as a harder hike than Half-Dome.

There are a few places on the internet where directions can be found, however, after reading them, I felt slightly confused. I subsequently understood that this was because they do not describe the same route. For the sake of clarity, I will therefore describe the most simple route first, and then mention the two main variations, which are more technical shortcuts.

1. From the Happy Isles Trailhead (altitude 4000 ft), follow the Half-Dome trail past Nevada Falls (JMT 4mi or Mist 3mi). About 0.6 mi from the new restroom, watch for a metal sign pointing to Merced Lake and Little Yosemite.

2. 100 yards after that sign, leave the main trail for an unofficial trail marked by a cairn, ascending a small ridge on the left (N). From the top of that ridge, you’ll see a view of the rounded face of Half-Dome before descending in the forest.

3. Follow an easy trail for 0.4mi, heading WNW, then step over a small creek to your right (Latitude:37.734380 Longitude:-119.528297). If instead of crossing the creek you continue straight, you’ll meet the gully between Broderick and Liberty Cap (see variation A).

4. After 0.1mi, skirt the south shore of Lost Lake, then continue for 0.4mi until you reach a rock bench forming a saddle between Broderick and Half-Dome. Continue straight (W) towards the end of this bench for 0.1 mi (Latitude: 37.735775 Longitude -119.538625 altitude 6232.0 ft).

5. The trail becomes more difficult to follow, although it is still marked with cairns. Cross a gully dropping down 150 feet, heading W, then after 0.2 mi, follow the line of steepest ascent in the forest, heading NNW on loose slopes with heavy underbrush, staying on the left. This is a steep section, as you gain almost 1500 ft in less than 0.5mi.

6. The forest becomes less dense, thanks to burn zones, but there is still a lot of manzanita to trash through. Before reaching a less steep slope, in early summer you may see a wet area with a small spring, where you may have to straddle a burned tree while walking accross a fallen tree. You eventually reach a plateau covered by a forest with almost no undergrowth. The Diving Board (latitude 37.742358 longitude -119.541180 altitude 7513.8 ft) is within sight, on the left of Half-Dome, directly directly NNE. You can also follow the ridge on the left instead of hiking up sandy slopes.

Water sources

• Merced River after Nevada Falls (1)
• Creek at route junction before Lost Lake (3)
• Lost Lake, swampy, but large enough (4)
• Spring on manzanita slopes below Diving Board, probably seasonal (6)

Shortcuts:

A. instead of circling around Liberty Cap, follow the gully between Broderick and Liberty Cap (class 3, difficult option that only experienced climbers/scramblers should attempt).

B. From the Broderick/Half Dome saddle rock bench, instead of heading W and dropping down, follow up the base of slabs towards the right (NE), then traverse left (W) on exposed ledges above those slabs below the base of Half-Dome until you turn the corner and then wade through manzanita.

Part 3 of 6: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

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You may have noticed the new theme. This change was on the occasion of the first anniversary of this blog. In that first year, I’ve posted exactly 99 articles, the majority of which has been about specific locations, although I have written about a range of topics. To continue, I need your input. Please tell me what you’d like to see on this blog for the next year !

If you do not see the questions above, click here.

If you look carefully at the Upper Yosemite Falls wall, you will notice a tiny horizontal ledge protruding all the way to the waterfall, around 1/8 of its height. This is Fern Ledge. I had read about it before, but my curiosity was rekindled when I saw an episode of The National Parks, America’s Best Idea where it was mentioned that John Muir crawled behind Upper Yosemite Falls on Fern Ledge to see the moon through the waterfall. The position clearly offers a tremendously close view of Upper Yosemite Fall, but I was a bit worried about safety, until my friends Tom Lambert and Theresa Ho assured me that this was one of their favorite hikes, one where they often take friends. John Muir narrowly escaping death crawling on the ledge, but you do not have to try to get behind the fall. You can just stop at a safe distance and still enjoy the proximity of the vertiginous waterfall.

I will first of all refer you to Tom’s excellent description of Fern Ledge. While you are there, be sure to check the site for other places to explore in Yosemite. I had no difficulty finding the route using Tom’s notes, but since sometimes having an alternative viewpoint can be useful, I’ll add a few comments, as well as two pictures of the route. I am also providing an unedited KMZ file (Update 2018: KMZ format appears to have changed in the while, please let me know if you are able to convert it to current format). It is missing the Fern Ledge proper (the Trackstick GPS chip easily looses the signal), but there are still some useful waypoints.

View of the route from the NPS stables

The most challenging part for us was getting lost … in the “concrete jungle” of Yosemite Village. The volunteer lady sitting in front of the visitor center had no idea of where the NPS stables are, nor had she ever heard of Fern Ledge. However, once we asked a ranger, she promptly pointed us to the NPS stables. From the visitor center, continue past the Museum, then make a right at the first main road. You will arrive at an area with lots of maintenance buildings, and few trees. From the stables, which are at the edge of the forest, the starting talus slope will be obvious.

The easiest way to find the talus slope is to start at the NPS stables, however, as can be seen in the image below, there is only one such slope in the area, so you can also get there and find it by hiking the trail between Yosemite Falls and Yosemite village, which will cross the base of that talus slope.

View of the route from Glacier Point

At the top of the talus slope, after turning a tight corner where you have to use your hands, you will be on the forested terrace above Sunnyside Bench, a long cliff East of lower Yosemite fall. Follow a user trail which is almost level. Although easy, the first part of this trail is the most dangerous portion of the route, as it traverses steep dirt slopes right above the cliff. Be sure to read the warnings on Tom’s page where one hiker reports that his son would have died if not roped. Please stay on the user trail to minimize meadow damage and do not knock rocks down, as the Sunnyside Bench below is used for rock climbing. Close to the end of the terrace (about a 1/3 of a mile from the tight corner), a short scramble over steep but easy rocks leads you the final slopes, a mix of sandy trail and low-angle slabs.

On that trip, I went with a friend from college who was visiting Yosemite for the first time, but wanted to avoid the crowds. Since I was mostly interested in a back-lit photograph of Upper Yosemite Falls, we started at about 12.30 after a brunch at the Yosemite Lodge. We reached Fern Ledge around 3.00, which was a good timing for that image. However, in retrospect, I think it would have been interesting to start earlier to have more time to linger at the lush suspended meadows above Sunnyside Bench, and arrive in the morning to also see the rainbow in the mist.

Part 2 of 6: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Check out my book: Spectacular Yosemite !

Canon makes two wide-angle zooms for full-frame cameras. Both are L-lenses, reasonably well-built, with fast USM autofocusing, a non-rotating front element, and an environmental rubber seal. The 17-40/f4L was introduced in 2003. The 16-35/f2.8 L II, released in 2007, replaced the 16-35/f2.8L of 2001, which itself replaced the 17-35/f2.8L of 1996. I have not used the 2001 lens, but I can say that both current lenses are a significant improvement over the 1996 lens.

The 16-35/f2.8 is twice the price as the 17-40/f4, and the weight difference, although small, is noticeable on a body such as the Canon 5D. The 16-25/f2.8 also requires uncommon 82mm filters, while the 77mm filters for the 17-40/f4 can be shared with the 24-105, 24-70, 100-400, 70-200/f2.8, amongst others. Is there any benefit, besides the faster maximum aperture, and what is it useful for ?

Based on Imatest testing on a full-frame 5D mk2 (one of the most reliable methods to measure lens performance, see this post for details) both lenses yield comparable image quality, with no lens besting the other consistently across the focal range. Contrarily to what has been reported by others (whom I suspect got sub-par copies of the 17-40) I did not find any definitive advantage for the 16-35. Please note that I have tested 3 different samples of the 16-35, finding the sample-to-sample variation to be, for once, quite small. Full results for focals 17mm, 20mm, 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm are below. Click on any graph to enlarge.

The 16-35 has a slight advantage at short focal lengths, mostly in terms of edge sharpness, while at the longer focal lengths, the 17-40 has a slight advantage. I do not consider those differences to be that significant. Both those lenses yield good center sharpness, but are not so good near the edges, in particular when used at f2.8-f4.

Because in the past I have almost always used the lens stopped down to at least f8 for depth of field and better sharpness, the f2.8 aperture wasn’t that useful for me. Even if what you are after is out-of-focus blur, not much is generated by the additional f-stop, since the focals are so wide. Therefore, I think that for the majority of photographers and situations, the 17-40/f4 will do just as fine.

One specialized situation has came up recently, as I got more interested in night photography with star fields. In photographing stars, one is almost always using the highest acceptable ISO, as stars are faint light sources. Shutter speeds are limited by the movement of the earth. A shutter speed longer than 30s will cause stars to be renders as streaks rather than points. This leaves no choice but using the widest aperture available, and one f-stops makes a big difference here. If point stars are not involved, the 17-40/f4 might otherwise be the better choice for night photography, because its simpler construction make it more resistant to flare.

The results at f2.8 are sufficiently poor to warrant using a fixed focal length instead. I have tested, amongst others, the Canon 24/f1.4 II and the famed Zeiss Distagon 21/f2.8, which are both better at wide apertures, but this will be the subject for a different post. If one is carrying such a lens, the f2.8 aperture of the zoom becomes kind of useless, and therefore the 17-40/f4 would be a better choice.

There are situations (such as backpacking or light travel), where one would not wish to carry a separate lens just for a few night shots. Some photographers also do not want to own several wide-angle lenses. In my opinion, the 16-35/f2.8 is mostly useful for those situations when a single fast and versatile lens is required. In other words, get the 16-35/f2.8 if you plan to shoot wide-open, and it will be your only wide-angle lens, otherwise get the 17-40/f4.

Summary:

	16-35mm f/2.8 II	17-40mm f4
Maximum aperture	f2.8 extra stop mostly useful for night astro photography, brighter view, easier to focus in live view, faster AF	f4.0 adequate for most applications, since lens is likely to be used stopped down for DOF and optical performance
Focal range	16mm slightly, but noticeably shorter than 17mm	35mm-40mm likely covered by other lenses
Close Focus	0.9 ft./0.28m, 0.22x magnification	0.9 ft./0.28m, 0.24x magnification
Sharpness	Slight edge < 24mm, see graphs	Slight edge > 28mm , see graphs
Distortion	16mm: 3% (barrel) 20mm: 0.5% (barrel) 24mm: 0.6% (pincushion) 28mm: 1.2% (pincushion) 35mm: 1.4% (pincushion)	16mm: 2.8% (barrel) 20mm: 1.5% (barrel) 24mm: 0.3% (pincushion) 28mm: 0.5% (pincushion) 35mm: 1.1% (pincushion)
Chromatic Aberation	comparable (0.06/0.05/0.06/0.04/0.02)	comparable (0.06/0.05/0.04/0.03/0.02)
Other		More resistant to flare
Lens construction	16 elements, 12 groups	12 elements, 9 groups
Filter size	82mm	77mm
Size DxL	3.5 x 4.4 in/88 x 111mm	3.3 x 3.8 in/83 x 96mm
Weight	1.4 lb / 635g	1 lb / 475g
Price (08/2010)	$1520 @ BH $1518 @ amazon	$750 @ BH $730 @ amazon

I have been spending quite a bit of time in Yosemite, and posting quite a few images for a project I’ll talk about later. To celebrate its completion, for the rest of the summer, I will be describing a few Yosemite locations that I visited recently. Their common characteristic is that they are out of the beaten path, yet each of them offers truly unique sights. I’ll start with a trilogy of “wilderness hikes” in Yosemite Valley, and then highlight a few high country locations.

Plunging from a cliff west of El Capitan for 1,612 feet (491m), Ribbon Fall is the tallest single-drop waterfall in North America. Yosemite Falls is considered higher (2,425 feet), but it consists of three sections, whereas Ribbon Fall is a continuous waterfall.

Another reason why Ribbon Fall is unique in Yosemite is that it flows into a high amphitheater of vertical cliffs to which you can hike, so that you would be standing right at the base of the fall, looking up directly at the amazing drop, surrounded by rock walls. The depth of the cirque cannot be appreciated from the road.

Hiking there feels almost like a wilderness experience, something so rare in the Valley. For the whole afternoon, I didn’t see anybody there. The rangers told me that there is no trail to the base of Ribbon Fall, so I didn’t look for one, heading straight up the slope on the right bank of Ribbon Creek. As the forest undergrowth is relatively sparse, I didn’t really need to do any bushwhacking, taking maybe two hours to reach the fall. The terrain was quite steep, but not exposed, being located entirely in the forest, with no cliffs. However, on the way down, I found a relatively nice user trail, well marked with cairns. To catch it, park on a pull out off the main loop road, a short distance West of El Capitan Meadow, then walk to the very end of the left (W) branch of the forestry road, and you’ll see a cairn marking the beginning of the trail.

Although it was quite warm in the Valley, I packed a sweatshirt and a light rain jacket, in case of a drop in temperature at the base. This drop was way more than what I expected. It got so cold, wet, and windy that I almost became hypothermic as I was waiting for the wind to blow in a different direction. The constant spray made it difficult to get a sharp image. When the wind would ease a bit, I’d point quickly the camera for a single shot, after which the lens would be soaked. I held as long as I could, more than one hour, then decided to leave the amphitheater when I began to shiver in an uncontrolled way.

If I was to come back, I’d start earlier in the day (the fall is best lit at noon), and pack a mountaineering-grade shell and a fleece jacket. Note that Ribbon Fall is seasonal, like Yosemite Fall, so you’ll probably have to wait until next spring to try this hike.

Part 1 of 6: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Check out my book: Spectacular Yosemite !

More images of Ribbon Fall