Last time in Hiking Yosemite, I joked that if you made it through an entire day in Yosemite without saying “wow,” you might have been looking at your phone a little too much.

The funny thing is…I wasn’t really joking.

Don’t get me wrong—I love taking pictures in Yosemite. If you looked through my camera roll after a hike, you’d probably wonder why I needed six nearly identical pictures of the same waterfall.

The truth is, I probably didn’t.

But I also don’t regret taking them.

Photos help us remember places we love. They let us relive great days on the trail.

And let’s be honest…

They’re a lot of fun to share with family and friends.

I’ve just started doing one thing a little differently.

After I take the picture, I take one more look.

Not through my phone.

Just with my own eyes.

I’ve noticed something over the past year.

The photo helps me remember what Yosemite looked like.

That extra moment helps me remember what it felt like.

There’s a difference.

A picture captures the view.

It doesn’t always capture the cool breeze moving through the pines, the sound of the Merced River echoing through the canyon, or the feeling of standing there after earning the climb.

Those things don’t always fit inside a photograph.

Some of my favorite Yosemite memories aren’t tied to the best pictures I’ve taken.

They’re tied to what happened right after I took them.

Sometimes it’s standing there another minute, watching the clouds drift past Half Dome.

Sometimes it’s listening to a waterfall instead of hurrying toward the next one.

And sometimes it’s simply taking a deep breath beside your adventure buddy and realizing there’s nowhere else you’d rather be.

I’ve even caught myself doing something funny.

I’ll take the picture, slip my phone back into my pocket, smile, and then spend another minute just looking.

Not because I got the perfect shot.

Because I remembered to enjoy what I came to see.

I don’t think there’s a right number of pictures to take in Yosemite. Some people take hundreds. Others hardly take any at all.

Neither one is wrong.

But if I could offer one suggestion, it’d be this.

Take the picture.

Then give yourself one more look.

You might discover that the memory you carry home has less to do with the picture you took…

…and more to do with the moment you almost missed.

Trail Truth

Pictures help us remember what we saw.

Being present helps us remember how we felt.

There’s room for both.

And remember, the trail doesn’t end here.

So until next time, get outside, take the scenic route, and make a few memories. After all, that’s what the best adventures are really about. We’ll see you in the next edition of Hiking Yosemite.