The main intention of this trip was to try to photograph the Lower Yosemite Falls Moonbow. But since, I was going to be in Yosemite, I was able add in a one overnight hike up Snow Creek Trail and exited via the Yosemite Falls Trail.
I was able to a few good photos on the night of 6/8 under mostly cloudy skies. However, at times when the moon popped through the clouds, the moonbow showed itself perfectly.
Upon returning to the Backpacker’s CG (near North Pines) after midnight, we(my Brother in law and I) found that the path to the CG was flooded. So off came the boots and we successfully forded the path to make it to the CG. There were two massive downed trees at the CG and the CG was in need of a little love.
We hiked up past Mirror Lake the next morning and started up the Snow Creek Trail under partly cloudy skies which made viewing Half Dome difficult. We were able to see Hidden Falls from the trail.
Here are few sights from the trail.
We found a great campsite that afternoon alongside of a pretty large falls(elevation 7300 ft) on Porcupine Creek that feeds Snow Creek.
I was able to get a nice portrait of two other buddies that came along and then put them on snow for 30 minutes to chill.
The next morning we hit snow immediately and hiked in it for about one hour under tree cover until we hit the North Dome/Yosemite Falls/Tioga Rd trail junction. There were footprints to follow and route finding was pretty easy.
Log crossing at Indian Canyon Creek was easy and crossed on a large downed tree.
Views of the valley were stunning.
Views up close of the Upper Falls were also stunning.
The hike down the Falls Trail with a 40 lbs. pack was slow going but good training for later summer trips.
I was able to capture a few more moonbow shots that evening under clear skies. It was very difficult to get a clear photo due to the immense amount of mist. It was pretty much like taking a photo in a hurricane with Megadeath playing in your ear at 125 dbs.
We had to go back to the Backpacker’s CG that evening due to more flooding via the trail from the Ahwahnee.
