There are views that will live within me for a lifetime, somehow beyond what the eye can see, affecting my perspective on life as my shoulder and neck muscles tighten in surprise at first glance and then relax into the comfort of my own insignificance. Surrounded by, overcome by and somehow protected by something far greater than myself – far greater than my worries or inhibitions – there is a welcomed overwhelming peacefulness.

Long before I visited Yosemite as an adult, Ansel Adam’s photos of the park captivated me. In particular, I was drawn to a poster size print of his photograph of Yosemite Valley titled “The Range of Light.” It hung in my various houses for years – like a fantasy drawing of a beautiful place on a strange far away planet.

Now, years later, I find myself guiding tours to Yosemite from San Francisco at least once a week. The first stop on many of the tours is a place called “Tunnel View” (an overlook just before you enter a tunnel) and it is from this spot that Ansel Adams took his famous photograph, “The Range of Light.”

As you can imagine, the Yosemite Valley portion of Yosemite National Park is one of the more popular places on earth. Over 4 million people, from around the world, visit here every year and most of them arrive in the summer. This is the classic “good news and bad news” story. The good news is that there are a lot of people that want to come to see Yosemite and I get to take many of them. The bad news is that it can often be crowded and traffic congested in a serenely beautiful place. I am not immune to “pull up the ladder” feelings i.e. “I have found this place and climbed up here, now lets just ‘pull up the ladder’ and keep the crowds away.” However, what helps me keep my perspective is the thought that maybe as high as 90% of the 4+ million visitors will also experience the view (and there are many) that will live within them for a lifetime. I live in anticipation of the moment when I am in Thailand, India, France, Australia, New York, Austin, Boise or where ever and someone asks … “Have you ever seen the view from the little pull over space just before you go into the tunnel at Yosemite?” Oh, what a conversation we will have!

If you follow this web page you will be hearing more about Yosemite and other places of interest in Northern California. Yosemite should be high on your list of places to see – it is worth putting up with the traffic. If you are in San Francisco I highly recommend that you take a Yosemite tour and leave the driving hassle to someone else. There are 1-day trips as well as 2 and 3-day trips available. If you are really pressed for time and have no other choice, then the one-day trip is for you. It is long and tiring but you can get it done in one day. I highly recommend the 2 day trip – which includes a hotel stay in the area and more time for sight-seeing, hiking, rafting, biking, relaxing in the park, etc. For the adventurous and fun loving there is a 3-day camping trip where we can supply the tent, equipment and guide.

There are a number of good Tour Guide companies in San Francisco. The one I work for is Incredible Adventures. They have great guides and are competitively priced. You can visit their web site and learn about the various trips (including Yosemite) and book on line. If you have any questions about tours in the Northern California area just leave me a message and I will get back to you. If you want to book a tour with me just let the Customer Service people know and let me know and I will try to make that happen.