My day of adventure at Yosemite began with the departure from my hotel in San Jose at about 5:30 am. The first part of the trip was on the highways between San Jose and Stockton, California, where I was continuously amazed at the endless miles of heavy traffic heading towards the Bay Area at such an early hour, even almost 50 miles from San Francisco. As the dawn broke and the sky lightened, I waited for the sun to peek out over the distant Sierra Nevada. When it did, it bathed the land in a wash of gold, and I had to find something interesting around to capture the light. These interesting foothills fit the bill.