Postcards From the West: Yosemite National Park

Half Dome, seen from Glacier Point, glows at sunset.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A 30-second time exposure view of Yosemite Valley taken at Glacier Point at 10 p.m.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Visitors take in Half Dome from Glacier Point.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Katie Larsen, left, and Derrick Strang enjoy a hot skillet of eggs, potatoes and veggies at Washburn Point with a front row seat of Half Dome.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Park Ranger Bob Roney walks across the entrance of the Wawona Tunnel, framing the famous Tunnel View.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Roney, seen here speaking with a visitor, has been a ranger at Yosemite for almost 46 years. His first visit to the park stole his heart, he said, and ever since then, his whole life has been centered on Yosemite.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Matthew Voznick and Tessa Duarte came to Yosemite for wedding photographs. The Pomona residents won’t be married until July, but wanted the national park as the backdrop for their photos.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Moments after being married at Tunnel View, Cyrenea and Josh Piper, from College Station, Texas, talk with the Rev. Autrey Nassar, who conducted their ceremony. Nassar does 80 to 100 weddings a year in the park, often at the Yosemite Chapel (the oldest structure in the valley) or the Ahwahnee Hotel.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Visitors take a break at Tunnel View.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A tourist poses for a photograph.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Busloads of tourists arrive at Tunnel View to take in the scenery.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Half Dome at sunset, as seen from Olmsted Point near Tioga Road.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A photographer at Olmsted Point casts her shadow against a boulder shortly before sunset.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Shooting stars bloom near a pond off Tioga Road.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Bridalveil Fall lives up to its name as mist from the falls forms a veil.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Deer graze near Bridalveil Fall.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Cow parsnip in Cook’s Meadow frames Half Dome.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

An ant climbs across the blooms of a cow parsnip growing in Cook’s Meadow.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A pair of plein-air artists sketch and paint the beauty in Yosemite Valley from Cook’s Meadow.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Spider webs entangle tall grasses in Cook’s Meadow.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Half Dome is reflected in a pool of water at Mirror Lake.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Keira Dwinell, 6 and on vacation with her family, dances on the frigid waters of Mirror Lake. Half Dome rises in the background.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Tourists partake in the Yosemite Valley Floor tour, a two-hour excursion that takes visitors through Yosemite’s top attractions.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Diners have lunch at the Ahwahnee Dining Room at the Ahwahnee Hotel. The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The Pizza Deck at Camp Curry offers an alternative to the buffet line and traditional camp food in Yosemite.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

If you’re traveling with a big family, or a couple of families, do check out the Redwoods in Yosemite, which includes dozens of cabins in a wooded area near the Wawona Hotel. They range from one to six bedrooms.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A pair of visitors in an inflatable raft float down the Merced River.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The colors of sunset burst across the western skies above the Yosemite Valley.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)