I thought our visit this week might be a little late for fall color in the valley, but it's spectacular right now, so head on over quickly if you want a colorful treat for your eyes.
Cook's meadow, the Mirror Lake walk, Happy Isles, the walk to the Ahwahnee from Northside drive, El Cap meadow, the Fern Spring area and nearby along the river, and plenty of other areas have the yellow maples, red/pink Dogwoods, yellow/orange Oaks all showing off, so get up there if you like to see this great display.
I know that "fall color" gourmets say the valley really isn't all that spectacular for color, but when you're already in a place like Yosemite Valley, and you add fall color, it's pretty hard to beat.
The days are short so for the best display, you have to work with the sun. Mirror lake, Happy Isles, and the walk over the bridges to the Ahwahnee work well for mid-morning walks, then the Fern Spring area if you can time it right (very short sunlight hours this time of year) For afternoon, Cook's meadow, then down to El Cap meadow; Valley View is good but loses the sun early afternoon. Even the area behind the lodge, both near the river and between the lodge and Cook's meadow are nice, and can work from late morning into the late afternoon.
I haven't had time to process any photos, as we just got back and are leaving for another trip, but the couple of photos posted are from near Yosemite Lodge, heading toward Cook's.
The bright sunny days are great for this, so don't put it off...things change quickly.
Gary
Yosemite Photo Galleries: http://www.pbase.com/roberthouse/yo
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/08/2014 09:34PM by Sierrafan.