Pohono Bridge, Merced River, Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, CA, 1/27/2010
While hiking near the beautiful stone Pohono Bridge at the west end of Yosemite Valley this winter morning, I was struck by how colorful the Merced River appeared as seen here from the bridge. At this time, the river was illuminated mostly by sunlight reflected off the mountains to the north of the valley. This created a wonderful mix of cool colors in the shadows and from beneath the water, and warm colors reflected on the water surface and snow. The scene also enjoyed a pleasing mix of textures from the mirror-shiny still water to the turbulent rapids. Upstream, the Merced River basin encompasses about 321 square miles. Historic discharge in the river measured right here at the Pohono Bridge gauging station, has ranged from a low of less than 10 cubic feet per second to a high of about 25,000 cubic feet per second!
