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My husband and I took a trip to Yosemite National Park a few weeks ago.
We took a wonderful drive from Yosemite Valley to the northwest corner of the national park to visit the Hetch Hetchy Valley.
The Hetch Hetchy Valley is a treasure and worth visiting any season.
In the spring, two of North America's tallest waterfalls plummet spectacularly over thousand-foot granite cliffs.
The dramatic domes surrounding these waterfalls add to the grandeur that John Muir compared to the more well-known Yosemite Valley.
In 1870, Muir called Hetch Hetchy Valley "a wonderfully exact counterpart of the great Yosemite."
We walked across the O'Shaughnessy Dam and then through the tunnel to hike along endless trails from this side of the reservoir, which is 8 miles long.
The water extends back and behind "Kolana Rock," on the right, for most of those 8 miles.
We didn't hike a great distance, but far enough to really get a sense of the beauty here.
You have to keep an eye open for these guys this time of year!
They are waking up from their long winter's nap...
We didn't see any.
My brother has a friend who back-packed in this area and finally left because of the bears being such a nuisance.
Preservationists, led by John Muir, wanted the valley to remain untouched.
Today, the 117-billion-gallon reservoir supplies pristine drinking water to 2.4 million Bay Area
(San Francisco) residents and industrial users.
It also supplies hydro-electric power generated by two plants downstream.
Hetch Hetchy is the largest single body of water within the national park.
-downstream hydro-electric plants-
The view from the top of the O'Shaughnessy Dam is incredible from both sides.
I think we should have used a little "fill-flash" here to avoid faces in the shadows...but, we didn't.
This photo means that I was "officially" here!
and...Jerry too!
There is an amazing picture everywhere you turn up here!
We were greeted with this amazing light on Yosemite Valley when we returned from our day-trip to Hetch Hetchy.
From left to right: El Capitan, Half Dome way in the back, Cathedral Rocks and Bridalveil Falls.
