Pohono Bridge

Pohono Bridge and Cathedral Rock, Yosemite Valley

No matter how you approach Yosemite, it’s a bit of hike between the entry to the park and finally arriving there. As you descend into the Valley on 120, you’ll catch your first glimpse of Half Dome, go past Cascade Falls, see the signs for Tolumne Meadow and the Merced Grove. But it doesn’t feel quite like you’ve arrived until you reach the bottom of the descent, turn left and eventually take the right toward Southside Drive and cross Pohono  Bridge. It’s a beautiful spot, but parking is scarce. Good thing most people just drive right by in their rush to get to Bridalveil Fall and all the other better-known spots. If you take the time to get down to the Merced on the west side of the bridge, you’ll see this view of Cathedral Rock rising in the distance. And you will start to understand this place. 

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Also from the western end of the valley: heading down Southside Drive from the Pocono Bridge.

Just east along the valley floor: Bridalveil Creek and Falls — Where You're Headed Next

More from the valley floor:  El Capitan and the Merced River at late afternoon

Fine Art Yosemite Photography Print

Provenance: Sony A7CR |Sony FE 24-105mm

Pohono Bridge
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Pohono Bridge

Pohono Bridge crosses the Merced River at the foot of Bridalveil Fall — a stone arch that has carried Yosemite's Valley Loop Road since 1934, the kind of infrastructure that was built to look like it had always been there. When the Merced is calm in early morning before the valley winds rise, the bridge's reflection in the river completes a circle of stone and water in the frame below the arch. This shot was made at first light, the bridge in shadow while the canyon walls above it caught direct sun — a brief condition before the sun drops into the valley and flattens the light. The bridge is named for the Ahwahneechee word for Bridalveil Fall, "Pohono," meaning puffing wind.