Exploration! What could be more fun? 
Delve behind the scenes of my photographic adventures... 
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"Half Dome at Dawn"

About "Half Dome at Dawn"...
My two nature writing buddies (Jo S. Kittinger and Heather L. Montgomery see photo below) and I, got up before dawn, flew from the east coast to the west coast, and met at the Los Angeles airport. Yep...when the three of us get together, it's time for an adventure! We headed for Yosemite National Park, changing our route due to closed roads--a fire ignited the day before, by someone target practicing in the woods, had grown out of control. Our "six" hour drive kept getting longer and loooonger. By 1:30 AM we were exhausted and punch happy--laughing at everything. It seemed like (we could have been delusional by now) every 10 miles (for a 500 mile stretch...at least!) we’d pass another sign that said our destination was just 10 more miles. Traveling through a dark thick forest, lit only by our headlights, we wondered if we were driving in circles. But at 3:00 AM, we finally arrived at our campsite in Yosemite Valley. The power to the whole valley had been knocked out by the fire so we could only see as far as our flashlights. We carried our luggage to the tents, locked our food and anything else with a scent (including toothpaste, and hand lotion!) in the bear proof lockers, and collapsed in the beds surrounded by peaceful darkness.  

When we awoke, we crawled out of our canvas cabins rubbing our tired eyes. Then we looked up. And up. And up! Our jaws dropped as we gasped at the surreal scene. We turned all the way around in disbelief; surrounded by the most beautiful setting imaginable! Our camp was nestled between three huge granite mountains: Half Dome, El Capitan, and North Dome. Having arrived under the cover of darkness, dawn unwrapped one of the most magnificent gifts of our lives! That moment, is one I'll treasure forever. This photo shows a portion of the incredible scene that greeted us that morning.

El Capitan (probable translation of the Native American name for “The Chief”) is a 3,000 foot, vertical, granite mountain that was shaped by glaciers.

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"Take nothing but pictures.     Leave nothing but footprints.     Kill nothing but time."