Yosemite is magical in winter — usatoday.com

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK -- Morning has come to the valley floor. Mists dissolve in the sun's warming rays, revealing a dusting of snow on mile-high Half Dome. With the exception of a small herd of deer nibbling on leaves, all is silent. Men have their cathedrals. Nature has Yosemite. "It is always a privilege to visit," says documentarian Ken Burns, who fell in love with this swatch of protected California land roughly the size of Rhode Island while making 2009's The National Parks: America's Best Idea. "In the end, it's nothing less than a great testament to the American dream."

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