Yosemite Valley was filled with smoke from a nearby wildfire so we headed up to Tuolumne Meadows to see if we could catch some of the lightning we had seen pass over the High Sierra the day before. The thunderstorms arrived and for a moment we thought we had it then the rain started in a torrent down upon the meadows. Within minutes previous dry cliff faces had turned in to rushing waterfalls that poured down from every side. The lighting was well above the clouds and we were trapped under it. I headed back towards the smoke filled valley thinking I had just been skunked when we rounded a turn somewhere along Highway 120 and saw a deep magenta sun peaking through the clouds. Every car on the road pulled over and then it disappeared behind the clouds. Everyone left but knew not to give up too soon. Within a few minutes the sun dropped below the clouds and illuminated the sky. I had to pull up the light in the trees but what you see here is pretty much how it looked. The sky exploded with color assisted by the nearby fires and heavy smoke. No matter which direction you looked there was intense color so I took a number of handheld shots. This is the result. An epic Sierra sunset… as if there is any other kind.

While I didn’t get a lot of shots, these made up for the trip.