The Great Western Roadtrip: June-July '17
Day 2: The Long, Hot, Journey to Yosemite
June 21, 2017 // Crater Lake, OR --> Yosemite, CA // Mileage: 137K
The time is about 4:30am on the morning of June 21st. The evening before, as we were saying goodbye, Shayne excitingly mentioned that Justin and I were in for a treat with sunrise in the morning and that we should prepare ourselves for a pretty magic Golden Hour (FYI: Golden Hour is the period of daytime shortly after sunrise or before sunset and Blue Hour is the opposite). As someone who's always been moved by sunrises and the uniqueness of being one of few to be up at that early to catch it, this news of a perfect sunrise was enough to keep me up that night...Well, that, and the endless wind we were getting hit with (being on top of a ridge and all).
It's crazy, really. I can still feel the light cool breeze of that early morning up on the ridge, greeting me as I unzipped the flap of the tent to the sheer silent immaculate beauty of a panoramic Crater Lake that surrounded us. Upon seeing the lake, and after putting my jaw back in place, I became compelled to record that surreal moment. The result (Right) of this turned into a daily travel journal of sorts on my instagram, with a goal of showing a top view or moment from the day of the adventure.
The conditions made for one of the best sunrises that i've been fortunate to witness and photograph (See gallery below), and as an added bonus made for a great natural wake me up for us (with some crucial coffee later added on) on the long road to Yosemite we had ahead of us that day.
As we made the journey south and further away from Crater Lake, it was crazy how sudden the climate around us changed. A snow-covered ridge soon became anything but a dream for us, as within three hours we were welcomed to Northern California with heat in the 100's. With all the hours of driving we had ahead of us, we planned to follow an old roadtrip tradition instilled into me from my well-traveled father: Take shifts every 3-4 hours. This move allowed for the co-pilot to control tunes, directions, point out any dope scenery around us and catch up on sleep.
While the entire west coast is anything but deprived of natural beauty, one of the most iconic pieces of awe while driving on i5 through Nor Cal is Mt. Shasta. At a whopping 14,180 ft and surrounded by the 35 mile long Lake Shasta (A lake notorious for hosting many memorable [and unmemorable] spring term escapes for college students all along the west coast ), you’d think it'd be enough to have your eyes peeled and gazing at beauty in every direction. Not for Justin, as when I looked over at the lake-about 3 hours into the 14 hour drive-I recognized that my usually energetic friend was out for the count. And yes, I documented it (sorry bud, had to!). Aside from a vital pit stop at In-n-Out Burger (one of many on the trip), the Shasta area was one of the last noteworthy items on day 2’s leg before it was really just us, the green machine, and the open road…a lot of the open road.
It was late by the time we made it to Yosemite. 11 or 11:30pm-ish. We were hungry. We were tired. Also (importantly) we had no idea where we were making camp that night. It was peak-travel season and so the park’s few spots to find a campsite were filled to the brim with tourists. All that said, knowing we had plans to spend a full day and another night in the park, both of us were psyched to be there and whipped right into photography mode. Our first stop was at one of the most iconic view points in all of the park, and perhaps all the US: Tunnel View (pictured right). Since the park’s opening in 1933, Tunnel View has provided visitors expansive views of the awe-inspiring Yosemite Valley, including views of El Capitan (the rock feature made notable as once being the default wallpaper on MacBooks). So even though it was late, we were really not surprised to be accompanied by a handful of other photographers. Justin, as he set up his tripod, wasted no time in starting conversations with a few other photographers around us, including a couple from Montana and another fellow from Nebraska. The dialogue in each conversation was unique, but not at all awkward. In fact, through us all mutually reveling in the beauty in front of us that, I further came to realize how powerful nature and photography serve as a sort of universal language in bringing different people together. Maybe it was through a lack of sleep, but my body was tingling in this moment and I attribute it to inspiration.
Tunnel View captured right after the peak of sunset on June 22nd, 2017 // Noah Wilskey
Two thumbs up for a Glacier Point tailgate! // June 21st, 2018
After some time well spent at Tunnel View, it was decided that we’d ascend up more than 3,000 feet from the valley floor to another iconic spot in Yosemite, Glacier Point, where we’d continue to shoot. Did this new plan provide clarity on where we’d be sleeping that night - no. However, it did provide a sense of direction on where we were could to look for camp…or look for a place to improvise camp, as you’ll soon find out. After driving up a handful of miles of twists & turns up to the tip top of Yosemite Park, we made it to the parking lot. It was more than 10 hours since our In-n-Out meal and I was becoming quite hangry (hungry and angry). So as I parked the Ford, I told Justin that before shooting any more star pics, we gotta whip the stove out and get some food in us. So we did dinner, right then and there in the parking lot, like it was a football tailgate. It was simple - Bread, eggs, and cheese, all held together in a toad-in-a-hole sandwich (made through simply cutting a circular hole in a piece of bread, throwing that bread on the stove, and then cracking an egg right in the hole and letting it cook before putting a little cheese on top), yet, as I look back this was one of the most fulfilling meals I can remember. After packing up the dinnerware, we snagged our camera gear and walked a few hundred yards to the view point of Glacier Point. There, Justin and I had snapped a few shots of the Milky Way before feeling the waves of adrenaline we were fueled by that night, become quickly replaced with exhaustion and decided it was time to make camp.
We both were determined to capture sunrise from the edge of Glacier Point, as it provides an epic panorama view of Yosemite Valley, with the fabled Half Dome Rock smack dab in the middle. So unanimously, we decided the best place to improvise camp and minimize any travel pre-sunrise, would be to sleep on the edge of Glacier Point. I shit you not. We slept on the edge of Glacier Point. This proved a bit tricky at first, as everything was obviously sloping downward, but after a bit of twisting and turning, I was “level” enough to sleep comfortably (sort of). Before falling asleep, I peered out of my bag and saw the towering silhouette of Half-Dome right in front of me. It looked great, but as I closed my eyes for a few hours of rest, I cracked a smile of excitement, knowing daytime was about to bring something even more spectacular…
The Milky Way rises above Glacier Point (pictured bottom left) // Glacier Point, Yosemite Natl. Park, CA // 20sec exposure, f/3.5, ISO 6400, using Nikon D7000 at 18mm