Visiting Sierra Nevada. Half Dome from Olmsted Point near Tenaya Lake.

One of the highlights of our trip through Yosemite National Park.
The summer is a fabulous time to be in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada. Snow is actively thawing under the sun and fills the streams with crystal-clear water that rushes down to the valleys with speed and awe-inspiring power. When we traveled on the other side of the mountains to Mono Lake and Mammoth Lakes, we took highway 120 through Yosemite National Park, made a couple stops and found a cool spot with a spectacular and arguably one of the best views in the park. The parking lot nearby is called Olmsted point and it’s approximately a mile-long drive from Tenaya Lake, if you are traveling towards the Pacific ocean.

People scatter around exploring flat granite boulders and taking pictures of old junipers and whitebark pine trees growing on the rocks in defiance of harsh conditions. Very few visitors venture down the trail because elevation deprives the lungs of oxygen and the relentless sun bombards the skin with ultraviolet radiation.

But the panoramic views are worthy of the effort. The trail leads to a barren slope of the mountain, where the rough surface of the granite is clean and dustless thanks to the constant winds. The only living things are the patches of dark lichen and trunks of ancient trees with scanty green branches on them.

From here you can extend your gaze far away along the gorge and see a famous landmark of the Yosemite called Half Dome that has a side with vertical wall, which is 5000 feet high. This is the place where you really want to fly… It seems like all you need to do is to spread your hands, catch that refreshing uplifting airflow and soar over the mountains with the eagles.

The mountains here were smoothed by the glaciers 20 thousand years ago. These enormous masses of ice crashed all the small things on their way and scraped the mountain slopes like a gigantic sandpaper. The granite is much older than glaciers. It was formed from magma deep underground 80 to 100 million years ago.

The trees are small but they grow slowly here and can easily be several hundred years old. They push their roots into the cracks ready to withstand the abrasive freezing winds of winter storms.

The highway 120, which also called Tioga road, runs passing lush meadows, multiple picturesque lakes full of happy tadpoles and streams with rapids of ice-cold water.

This is how July looks like in Sierra Nevada. What a happy time to absorb the vibes of thriving Nature, fill your soul with its gentle power and collect long-lasting memories.

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