Snow-Dusted Peaks, Yosemite National Park, California, 1985

A quiet pond reflects snow-dusted trees and granite outcrops of the Sierra Nevada in California's Yosemite National Park. Solitude in Yosemite may seem like romantic nostalgia to its 3.5 million annual tourists. But opportunities to experience true wilderness are as plentiful and as varied as the park's natural treasures.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Yosemite—Forever?," January 1985, National Geographic magazine)

Buy a print of this photo.