All points of scenic interest are indicated in the road and trail
trips, but the following brief discussion of the major features of the
valley may serve to orient the new-comer. In this connection the
aeroplane-view frontispiece will be found exceedingly useful.
First and most impressive are the great rock masses. The square-cut
3200 foot cliff of El Capitan at the Gates of the Valley is regarded
by many as the most awe-inspiring of all great rocks; yet others
affirm that Half Dome, a few miles eastward, is just as mighty and far
more lovable.
The castellated Cathedral Rocks rising half to two-thirds as high as
El Capitan on the opposite side of the valley are dwarfed in
comparison, but are given an individual personality by their
exceptional outline. Just eastward, the marvelously delicate pinnacles
of the Cathedral Spires, each towering over 500 feet from its base,
stand out from the great south wall. Less interesting but very mighty
are the Three Brothers, rising 3800 feet as a great buttress of the
north wall. Opposite them the Sentinel Rock, a huge obelisk-like watch
tower, guards the south ramparts.
At the upper end of the valley the dome formation is dominant. To the
north are the rounded summits of North Dome, Basket Dome and Mount
Watkins. The granite walls below them have fractured in great
concentric arcs, forming the marvelously symmetrical Royal Arches,
at the east end of which is the striking vertical promontory of
Washington Column. At the edge of the perpendicular cliffs of the
south wall is Glacier Point, the finest lookout point in the valley,
and a short distance back from the rim are the symmetrical curves of
Sentinel Dome.
Yosemite Valley is formed by the confluence of two great
canyons--Tenaya Canyon from the northeast and the upper Merced Canyon
from the southeast. Between them originates a great backbone ridge
which extends many miles to the northeast and exhibits many examples
of dome structure and glacial sculpture. Lowest of its promontories is
the roughly hewn Grizzly Peak, which is flanked on the east by the
well rounded summits and smoothly planed sides of Mount Broderick and
Liberty Cap. Then, standing in massive isolation 5000 feet above the
valley and 2000 feet above its immediate base is Half Dome. Further to
the northeast along the ridge are the two Quarter Domes, the Pinnacles
and Clouds Rest, the highest summit in the immediate vicinity of
Yosemite.
Tenaya Canyon, a great glaciated gorge countersunk thousands of feet
into the granite, is practically impassable. The main canyon of the
Merced, however, as it comes from the east, widens to form the Little
Yosemite Valley. With its level meadows and sheer granite walls
flanked by perfectly formed domes, it is marvelously like Yosemite but
smaller. Further eastward is the High Sierra.