We came in through the east entrance of the park from Mono Lake, by chance, that put us at Tuolumne Pass for dawn. What an incredible experience that was, the morning mist hung low in the air, a silence hovered above the water, and the sense of calmness was shared in this beautiful place. We were alone and could stop right in the middle of the road and take pictures without the worry of anyone coming by. Eventually moving on, we found ourselves in a rather unfortunate situation, smoke from forest fires hung thick in the morning air in the valley. While this did provide a unique experience of Yosemite, it ended up hiding from us many of the iconic views. 

Yosemite is an incredibly beautiful park, but it's insanely crowded. Leaving for our hike as early as we could, we got out ahead of the masses, but on the way back we saw how famous the park is. Though we wanted to stay longer, we had to push on. With quite the distance to cover we raced the setting sun to the Bristlecone forest. There on top of the mountains, 5,400 years old, lived the oldest living things in the world.