National Park – ooh, pretty

Hetch Hetchy Valley & O’Shaughnessy Dam

I spent most of Saturday driving around Yosemite, and unlike my last visit, this time, I was able to visit Hetch Hetchy. This beautiful valley, the twin to Yosemite Valley, was John Muir’s favorite part of this National Park. Its unnecessary destruction for sake of water storage and power generation is, fortunately, now recognized as folly and there’s growing interest in removing San Francisco’s intrusion into what should’ve been a protected area.

Hetch Hetchy Reservervoir and the back of the O'Shaughnessy Dam

The incessant noise created by releasing enough water to keep the Tuolumne River flowing was quite shocking. In what would otherwise be a very peaceful area, there’s this disruptive din.

Ponderosa Canyon overlook, Bryce Canyon National Park

As Chris and I continue our trip home from Automattic’s annual gathering, we stopped at Bryce Canyon National Park. It had been cloudy and raining most of the day, but a brief break in the weather worked in our favor.

Skyline Drive 2009, Revisited

In 2009, I drove Skyline Drive for the second time, in much better weather than I encountered during my first attempt. In my excitement, I captured more than 600 photos, and the ones below are some of my favorites from the excursion.