Aside from the grueling, high-altitude treks that push your legs to the absolute limit, there is a distinct kind of magic found simply in slowing down and wandering around Yosemite near the valley floor. When you step off the main trails and let yourself drift through the open meadows and quiet pine forests, the park…
There is a distinct moment when you drop down from the mountain switchbacks onto the Yosemite Valley floor and the sheer scale of the granite walls hits you. Standing on the flat valley floor, looking up at the monumental faces of El Capitan and Half Dome, it is easy to see why this area is…
If you have never fallen in love with trees or ever wondered why JRR Tolkien created Treebeard and the Ents, then you have never been to Muir Woods. “It is not wizardry, but a power far older. A power that walked the earth, ere elf sang or hammer rang.“ — Gandalf to Théoden in The Two Towers, “The Road to…