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El
Capitan From Valley View, Winter.
When frosted with ice and snow, and
wreathed in streamers of fog, El Capitan appears unclimbable. Yet, in 1958
it was first scaled by a three man team. It took the trio 45 days, spread
over a period of eighteen months to complete the climb. Today El Capitan is
literally covered with climbing routes, attracting climbers from around the
globe to attempt what is now, on average, a four day climb.
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El Capitan, Winter.
El Capitan, or "the chief",
is composed of the oldest and hardest rock in Yosemite Valley. It was
originally formed some 140 Million years ago and is the tallest
"unbroken" cliff in the world, rising some 3,000 feet above the
meadows at its base.
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Clearing Storm, Tuolumne Meadows.
Tuolumne Meadows, at an elevation of
8,600 feet, is the largest subalpine meadow in the Sierra Nevada. These
lush meadows were the result of a 'little ice age' about 2,500 years ago,
which raised the water table and killed the forest that existed at the
time. Meandering through the meadows is the Tuolumne River, whose
headwaters originated on the 13,000-foot peaks forming the eastern boundary
of the Park.
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Half Dome From Olmsted Point.
Located along the Tioga Road (Highway
120 East), Olmsted Point offers a wonderful vista down glacially carved
Tenaya Canyon toward Yosemite Valley. Down this creek, large amounts of
silt and sand are carried to Yosemite Valley each year. It is deposited in,
what used to be, Mirror Lake, hastening the process of succession. Mirror
Meadow is now rapidly replacing the broad, shallow pool which used to
reflect Half Dome and Mt. Watkins.
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Fresh Snow, El Capitan Meadow.
Meadows slumber beneath a fresh blanket
of Winter snow against the backdrop of "the Acorn", a side
formation to Cathedral Rock. Snow, so familiar in small scale, can become
an overpowering, earth-shaping force when amassed in glacial form. Once
filling the valley from rim to rim, successive waves of glaciations have
scoured the valley many times in the past million years.
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Yosemite Valley From Tunnel View.
Rapidly shifting light is the most
visible change visitors see from 'New Inspiration Point', located at the
east end of the Wawona Tunnel. Geographically speaking, Yosemite Valley
appears to be ageless and unchanging yet time and its agents are still at
work reshaping the Park. Water, wind and ice are the prominent elements in
precipitating these changes.
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Dogwoods and Merced River.
A favorite of photographers, the
Dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) is a harbinger of Spring in the Valley. The
"flowers" are actually bracts with the true blossoms being in the
center. Small orange-red berries (drupes) will form by early Autumn. The
fruit stage is soon followed by Autumn color ranging from gold to maroon.
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Cathedral Lake and Peak.
When time permits but one day-hike from
the Tuolumne Meadows area, the destination should be Cathedral Lake. It is
a relatively easy eight mile, round trip, hike which includes a modest
elevation gain of approximately 1,000 feet. During the height of the
glacial epoch Cathedral Lake stood just 200 feet above the ice. While there
glance around imagine what this area must have looked like under a massive
sea of ice.
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Vernal Fall.
Late afternoon sun and churning mist create a rainbow easily seen from the Mist Trail to Vernal Fall. A steep, but rewarding, 1.5 mile hike through the mist leads to the top of this broad and beautiful waterfall. The ambitious will want to continue an additional 1.9 miles to the top of Nevada Fall. The view back down the Granite Stairway is worth every step!
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Deer Feeding In El Capitan Meadow.
Seen here against the backdrop of
Cathederal Rock, mule deer are one of the largest and most delightful of
the mammals found in the Park. Yosemite offers an abundant supply of tasty
browse on which to feed as well as protected sanctuary. Here they need only
fear old age, weather and natural predators.
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Spring Storm, Bridalveil Fall
Illuminated by the low rays of the
setting sun, Bridalveil Fall tumbles 620 feet to the Valley floor. It was
created when the bed of the Merced River, into which it flows, was lowered
by erosion and glaciation. This left Bridalveil Creek suspended above,
creating a classic example of a "hanging valley".
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Half Dome, Winter.
Half Dome "is a crest of granite
rising to the height of 4,737 feet above the Valley, perfectly inaccessible,
being probably the one of all the prominent points about the Yosemite which
never has been and never will be trodden by human foot." That bold
statement by Josiah Whitney in 1870 held true for only five years, for
after weeks of preparatory hole-drilling George Anderson reached the summit
on October 12, 1875.
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Half Dome, Twilight.
Rising nearly 5,000 feet above the
floor of Yosemite Valley, Half Dome is probably the best know
"rock" in America. This glacially carved dome lies between the
pathways of two ancient ice flows. Tenaya Canyon (left) and Merced Canyon
(right) were carved by two separate glaciers. They joined beneath the dome and
together helped form Yosemite Valley.
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