For my money, the very best parts of Yosemite exist outside the over-populated and much-photographed valley. Take just a few hours to cross the Sierra Nevada via Tioga Road (Highway 120), and you'll discover an entirely different face of the Queen of National Parks.
The photos here were taken at or near Olmstead Point, which is very close to the halfway point of the journey. From here you can see up-close-and-personal the centuries of glacial action.
Glacial erratics (boulders picked up as if they were handheld stones) lie where they were left as the glacier retreated. Try picking one up . . . you'll discover the massive efforts required.
From Olmstead point you also get the "other" view of Half Dome--the backside. Bring your binoculars, and you just might see the line of hikers pulling themselves hand-over-hand up the cables to the 13-acre top of the rock.
Travel a bit farther on the highway, and you'll get your first view of Tenaya Lake, set in the bowl of the surrounding peaks.
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