I think we are so lucky to live only 5 hours away from Yosemite. This has to be one of the most beatiful places we have ever seen.

Julio hiking in Summit Meadow. The previous evening we got 12-14 inches of fresh snow.

We had just arrived to Yosemite valley in time for a perfect sunset view of El Capitan. I mounted the N80 on a tripod, used fill-in flash mode and captured the moment.

We rented cross country skis at Badger Pass and then ventured out on our own. Glacier point road has well groomed tracks and its is not as crowded as other places in the Sierras.

We stayed at the Yosemite West Condo and drove to either Yosemite valley (~1 hr with snow on the ground) or Badger Pass Ski area (~30 minutes). The condo had a fully equiped kitchen and we brought our own meals. The closest eatery is in the valley one hour away! One day we had the Puertorican style pork chops that my mother prepared for us for our trip. We also drank lots of wine purchased at Red Rock winery (route 140 near Merced). In this picture Renee is enjoying reading one of the Harry Potter books while we wait for the snowstorm to subside.

I was surprised as to how much snow we had on the ground. Some people did not even have snow chains which caused some problems as we were driving back to our condo.

The Yosemite chapel sits in a corner of the valley and it offers additional photo opportunities.

We stumbled upon this coyote as he was making his rounds at the Yosemite Village area.

We visited Summit Meadow after the snowstorm and enjoyed a beatiful sunny day. As the temperature rose some of the snow on the trees melted producing icicles.