As part of its annual trip series, Adventure Recreation took a nine-day backpacking trip Aug. 11-20 to Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park and portions of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. See some photos from their trip in the slider below, and pick your next adventure at uab.edu/adventurerecreation.
-
The team hiked up Snow Creek Falls Trail to exit Yosemite Valley.
-
The team encountered various types of flora on the trip, including a manzanita shrub (arctostaphylos manzanita), seen here overlooking Yosemite Valley.
-
On the first night in Yosemite National Park’s backcountry, the team stopped at Snow Creek Falls.
-
Two crew members posed during a sunset over the valley on top of Snow Creek Falls.
-
The whole team paused for a picture while watching the sunrise on top of Snow Creek Falls the next morning.
-
Sunrise over Yosemite Valley gave the team a great view of its Ponderosa Pine population (Pinus ponderosa).
-
As part of their trip, the team hiked to Yosemite Point, a 6,939-foot mountain cliff that provides great views of some of Yosemite Valley’s best features, including Half Dome (pictured here) and Lost Arrow Spire.
-
A trip member took a break on a large rock atop Yosemite Point, which overlooks the Valley.
-
On their second night in the backcountry, the crew got a glimpse at the top of the Upper Yosemite Falls.
-
On the team’s last night in Yosemite backcountry, they watched a beautiful sunset over Yosemite Falls.
-
The team drove California’s State Route 120, which offers stunning views, to access the east side of Yosemite.
-
The Adventure Recreation team also encountered Mono Lake, which nearly perfectly reflects the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the background.
-
Elizabeth Lake, one of the Adventure Recreation team’s stops, is shaped like a jigsaw piece and is named after a geologist’s niece.
-
Sequoia National Park’s General Sherman Tree is the world’s largest tree in the world measured by volume. It stands 275 feet tall and is more than 36 feet in diameter at its base and is estimated to be more than 2,000 years old.
-
The team hiked the Congress Trail in Sequoia National Park and played on a giant fallen sequoia tree near the General Sherman Tree.
-
The group also toured Redwood Canyon in Kings Canyon National Park, located north of Sequoia National Park.
-
On their last day, the crew visited the Santa Cruz Wharf in Santa Cruz, California, to see the sea lions (Zalophus californianus).
-
Also on the Santa Cruz Wharf were western gulls (Larus occidentalis).
