Re: Season Greetings from Patterson...

It wasn't the clearest of days, but it was clear enough.

I took this photo last Wednesday, December 19th around high noon while I was passing through Patterson (just uploaded the photo to my computer tonight). Shot it with my Nikon SLR (DX format) using a 300mm lens and a polarizer filter (to help cut down the glare from the haze). The photo is NOT cropped.



As this photo shows, the Sierra crest and Half Dome can be clearly visible from the west side of the Central Valley when air is (more or less) clear and the visibility is excellent. Unfortunately, those type of days in the Central Valley can be pretty rare at times. But if one knows where to look, one can spot Half Dome pretty easily just using a standard 8x binoculars.

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Interesting. The photo appears to have been taken above the valley floor. Were you on a hill, or....?
Also, it appears there is a grain elevator in the distance. Is that the same one that is in the (in)famous half dome shot ?

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The Other Tom

Interesting. The photo appears to have been taken above the valley floor. Were you on a hill, or....?
Also, it appears there is a grain elevator in the distance. Is that the same one that is in the (in)famous half dome shot ?

It was taken on a small hill between I-5 and the California Aqueduct (shown here in the foreground of a wider-angle shot from the same spot):




I-5 is behind me. The hill is about 40-50' above the aqueduct.

Half Dome is also visible at ground level too as long as there's no buildings blocking the view. One can actually view Half Dome from the Starbucks parking lot in Patterson. So one can enjoy a Starbucks latte and a view of Half Dome at the same time!

(And I don't think that is the same grain elevator, but a different one.)


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Very cool shot! That isn't the 'famous' shot with the grain elevator, that one is to the East of Hwy 99 and considerably closer to Yosemite. I took the same "Grain Elevator" shot a few years ago and I can say that it's very, very strange to be that far from Yosemite, and feel even farther, and still see Halfdome.

Harrumph! And some doubted my word when I said that I saw Half Dome from the second story library building at Cal State Stanislaus in 1971. Friends who grew up in Turlock were accustomed to occasional views of Half Dome - before the air quality diminished.

Okay, laugh if you want to, but here's my photo of Half Dome and the 'Silo' from East of Hwy 99.

It was taken in March of 2010 as we were heading towards Joshua Tree National Park. My wife saw it first and said 'Oh wow! There it is!". She had to point it out, but once she did it was obvious. It was very strange to see it, and it was much larger than I expected. If you're in the area on a clear day I recommend making the side trip to get a look at it.

The photos aren't nearly as good as what I remember seeing in person. I was using a Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ-18, which is a basic "super zoom" camera, with 18X optical zoom.

First photo, with very professional looking highlight so you can find Half Dome.



Second photo, free of the annoying highlights.



Love the forum!

Anyone have any good pictures of the Silo, from the top of Half Dome?

Chick-on has some interesting night pics from (near ?) HD of lights in the Valley.....

Posted these in the past:

(you gave me a hard time about this one)
Turlock from Half Dome

Turlock from Sentinel Rock

Turlock from Sentinel Dome

Been meaning to get back up to El Cap and get that one. Have always camped on the east side for that view...

Half Dome Fun

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Here's my picture from Hwy 99 in Turlock -- the Monte Vista Ave overpass. Taken in 2010. Half Dome is in the center. This picture shows about how it appears to the naked eye.



More pics here: Half Dome from Denair

Is it save to assume that it is very difficult to spot without it's veil of white in winter?

Not really. If one knows in what direction to look (and if one is proficient with a compass and map this shouldn't be hard to figure out) then Half Dome isn't really difficult to spot, even without snow.

But it isn't as pretty either.

The main problem though remains the air quality and the resulting visibility. Too often, especially with no rains to rinse out the dirty air, the view of Half Dome from the Central Valley is obscured by haze, smog, and dirt that's suspended in the air.

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