Most of Yosemite's Black Oak leaves have fallen for winter but the few remaining provide color in the late afternoon sun.

Tourists and El Capitan. Late fall is a great time to avoid the usual crowds

An Acorn Woodpecker takes a peek outside it's home in an old rotten oak tree.

The Chronicle sent me to Yosemite for 3 fun days. (Sometimes I just hate my job) Outdoors writer Paul McHugh and I were planning a hike and climb up Eichorn Peak but an early snowfall made that trek impossible so we improvised, instead doing a story on Yosemite's first snowfall.

The Valley floor received a foot of snow a week before I arrived. The snow melted in wave-like patterns in this meadow near the Sentinel Bridge.

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