Yosemite National Park, 2022

Date: November 2022

We had such an unforgettable time in Yosemite the year before, it only made sense to go back. This time, Timmy, Cole, and I returned with anticipation already in our bones. We booked the same cabin in Sugar Pine, just outside the south entrance—a place that already felt like tradition after one visit.

The first three days greeted us with snow. Thick, quiet, beautiful snow. We stayed close to the fire, bundled in flannels and beanies, cooking simple meals and watching the storm roll through the forest outside our window. There’s something about being snowed in with your best friends that makes time stretch out in the best way—long talks, deep laughter, shared silence.

Once the roads cleared, we made our way into the park. Driving through the forest, the anticipation was building, and then suddenly, we emerged at Tunnel View. That moment—seeing the full sweep of the valley for the first time that trip—was mesmerizing. The granite faces dusted in white, El Capitan standing tall and still, and a moody mist from controlled burns weaving through the pines on the valley floor. It was like Yosemite had dressed in another form just for us.

I pulled out my camera and started shooting—shot after shot—trying to bottle the feeling as much as the image. The combination of fresh snow, mist curling through the trees, and that familiar sacred hush made it feel like we’d stepped into a living painting. This was the Yosemite few get to see—somber, slowed down, stripped bare, and all the more beautiful for it.

We hiked among the Sequoias, breathed in that crisp mountain air, and let the stillness settle into us. Being surrounded by those ancient giants, feeling so small and so alive at the same time—that’s the kind of clarity you don’t forget.

This trip wasn’t just a return. It was a reminder. That certain places don’t just exist in the world, they exist within you, and returning to them is a way of returning to yourself.