Street Art | October '14
There's a few cool little pieces of street art / murals that I always pass on my drive home from work, so today I finally stopped by to take a few quick shots of them. Enjoy!
Los Angeles | Hollywood + Ivar
This is just a quick blog post of a walk down Ivar and Hollywood Boulevard, and a giant dog we encountered outside of a restaurant. Enjoy!
PB Point + Calumet Park | San Diego
My last day in San Diego, we took Curtis' dog Penny for a walk. We stopped at a few of our favorite spots - Pacific Beach Point and Calumet Park.
Downtown | San Diego
My first day in San Diego last week we went by Petco Park - where the Padres play - and through the Gaslamp District in downtown San Diego. I had never been to downtown San Diego before, so I couldn't stop taking photos! I especially enjoyed the bridge leading to the baseball stadium and the sculptures we passed by before the bridge.
Later that night, we went by Mt. Soledad and I took a panorama of the gorgeous city lights.
Yosemite | Day 7
We unexpectedly got to spend another night and day in Yosemite, as our plans to go to Lake Tahoe for the weekend were cancelled because of the snow.
We chose to go on the Mist Trail, which goes up to Vernal Fall and then Nevada Fall. It isn't a super long hike, but the elevation gain is absurd. We had all previously hiked part of this trail in our earlier visits to the park.
The first time Katie and I were in Yosemite, it was about 100 degrees out, so we only hiked up to the Vernal Fall footbridge.
This time, the three of us hiked to the top of Vernal Fall, and then I turned back and Katie and Jake went all the way to the top of Nevada Fall.
After passing the footbridge, we scrambled down some rocks to get a better view of Vernal Fall on our way up.
The steps up to Vernal Fall were steep and slippery! It reminded me of photos I've seen of Machu Picchu.
As we neared the top of Vernal Fall, we were hit with a gorgeous view of a rainbow over the base of the fall.
This is the last stretch of the hike up to Vernal Fall, and probably the most precarious.
This is the view from the top of Vernal Fall.
We spent our last night in the park having drinks at Tunnel View while we watched the sunset with our new friend Elise. It was a fantastic way to end a great week in Yosemite!
I became a quick fan of Tioga-Sequoia Brewing Co's Half Dome California Wheat beer, and Jake sampled the Mammoth Brewing Co's Yosemite ales and IPA - this was my collection of Yosemite-themed beer bottles by the end of the week.
Yosemite | Day 6
There was still a good amount of snow in Yosemite on our sixth day there. Before we even got out of Curry Village, we were hit with a few stunning views -
To start out our day, we drove out to Tunnel View. It was really crowded and we didn't stay too long, but the valley with a bit of sunshine shimmering on the snow was lovely.
Katie needed to get some interviews done for her documentary, so we traced back through the end of the Valley Loop we hiked earlier in the week and found a few pretty and quiet spots to film in.
Perks of having a photographer friend around: awesome behind-the-scenes photos of the making of the documentary, quick uploads from vacations, and ample photos to choose from for profile pics.
Cons of having a photographer friend around: The annoyance of having a camera in your face 24/7.
I did really like this image of my dear friend Katie, though! It's always great to spend time with her, especially in Yosemite.
We decided to go for one of the tougher hikes this day, Upper Yosemite Fall. We only hiked up to Columbia Rock instead of going all the way up to the waterfall. It was pretty strenuous, but it was by far the most gorgeous trail I've ever seen.
This was the view when we reached Columbia Rock.
On the way back down from Columbia Rock were some of the most breathtaking views I've ever seen. It was definitely my favorite hike of the week, and the best views we got during the entire trip.
Toward the end of the trail, we ran into a young man helping an elderly man down the trail. We stopped so Jake could assist the young man, Andy, with helping the older gentleman. While Jake and Andy helped get the older man down safely, Katie and I hung out with Andy's wife and their two deer head chihuahuas, Jax and Lola. They were so happy to be in Yosemite and we were so happy to get to play with them!
Yosemite | Day 5
We woke up to snow on our fifth day in Yosemite! I stepped out of our cozy heated tent cabin in Curry Village, and this was my view -
Yosemite in the snow is a total dream of mine, so I was so stoked to be able to experience it. Having the opportunity to photograph Yosemite in a state so much different and more beautiful than it is in the summer was incredible.
Since it was raining pretty hard most of the day, Katie, Jake and I just drove to Valley View and Tunnel View to do some quick shooting instead of going on a hike.
This is probably my favorite panorama from my week in Yosemite. There's something inexplicably gorgeous about El Capitan behind some light clouds and Half Dome covered in fresh snow.
There were wedding photos and videos being taken at Tunnel View while we were there, so I couldn't resist but snap a few shots!
Yosemite | Day 4
To start off our fourth day in Yosemite, we checked out Lower Yosemite Falls. We scrambled a bit up the rocks toward the base of the falls, which was extremely misty and gorgeous.
After Lower Yosemite Falls, we went over to Mirror Lake, which was just a short hike from the road. On our way there, we hung out by the river to take some photos and eat lunch.
It was a really overcast day, but the reflections on Mirror Lake were still gorgeous.
Yosemite | Day 3
On our third day in Yosemite, we went on the Valley Loop, which is a trail that loops around Yosemite Valley. We hiked for almost 10 miles, ending the loop at the chapel. On our way back to Curry Village, we stopped by a few locations to do some filming and shooting.
Yosemite | Day 2
On our first full day in Yosemite, we left Yosemite Valley and drove into Hetch Hetchy.
Hetch Hetchy is a beautiful valley that was turned into a reservoir for San Francisco's water supply following the San Francisco earthquake and fire. We went on a hike there toward the waterfall.
On our way back into Yosemite Valley, we were stoked when we saw a nice Yosemite sign and stopped to take a few photos of it.
Yosemite | Day 1
Another tradition we have when we go to Yosemite is stopping by Moonbow Espresso when we cross through the city of Mariposa. Moonbow Espresso is a cute mom and pop coffee shop with friendly owners and fantastic drinks; Katie swears by their soy chai latte. We chatted with the owner for a bit, watched a hitchhiker get picked up to go to Yosemite, and then decided to check out the shops on the main street of Mariposa before departing.
Next, we started our drive into Yosemite. Our soundtrack for the road was Eddie Vedder's songs for the movie Into the Wild. The hills on the way into the park were covered with gorgeous California Golden Poppies, which I don't see very often. We stopped a bit before entering the park to get some fresh air by the river and start some filming for the documentary Katie and Jake are working on.
We didn't have time for a hike on our first day in the park since we had to wait to check in to Curry Village, but we did have time to stop by Tunnel View before dinner to get a glimpse of the valley.
After checking out Tunnel View, we made our way over to Swinging Bridge to cook dinner. Burrito night is our favorite way to start out camping trips, and the view over dinner was incredible.
Pre-Yosemite | Paul's Place, Merced
Yesterday, I returned from a week-long trip to Yosemite with my friends Katie and Jake. Last summer when we went to Yosemite, we found a restaurant called Paul's Place while we were staying in Merced the night before driving into the park. It was such a fun place with delicious and cheap food, so we had to make it a tradition and return to it this year (twice in a span of 12 hours). My favorite things about Paul Place are the Starving Student Menu - where you can get a huge breakfast for $5.50 - and the beautiful glass etching of Yosemite Valley on the front door of the restaurant.
Mission Beach | San Diego
This is my fifth and final blog post of my San Diego trip. For anyone who's been following - thank you!
This set of images is from Mission Beach in San Diego. As our last outfing before I went back home, we walked barefoot down the jetty to take some photos, and thankfuly we somehow made it back with all my photo gear (and ourselves) in tact.
Mount Soledad | San Diego
San Diego blog post #4!
While in the La Jolla area of San Diego, one of the sights we checked out was Mount Soledad. Not only does this place have an incredible view of La Jolla in one direction and downtown San Diego in the other, but it is also a war memorial.
The giant cross in place at the memorial has caused a lot of controversy lately, but it definitely made for some gorgeous photos alongside the flag flying in the breeze.
La Jolla | San Diego
This is my third of a series of blog posts from my San Diego trip!
These images are from the beautiful La Jolla. In La Jolla, we visited Calumet Park and Windansea Beach. Calumet Park had a perfect ocean view off the cliff, and had a nice grass area for the locals and their dogs to hang out. Windansea Beach had some huge rocks and a bunch of surfers, and was a great place to watch the sunset.
Not only is it absurdly gorgeous there, but I enjoyed a few quirks like the Shack and it's Christmas wreath, the old VW bus, and the sign altering.
Pacific Beach | San Diego
This is the second blog post in a series of posts from my trip to San Diego last weekend.
The neighborhood I was staying in is called Pacific Beach. On my last day in San Diego, we made our way down to the main beach for breakfast at Kono's Cafe, a walk on the pier, and some exploring around the beach town.
Eating breakfast on a sunny pier on a January morning? Nothing better than Southern California.