And hence onto the final photo, which is my perfect memory of my visit.
Several opinions have been given recently that people do not belong in landscapes, but I disagree. I think this picture finishes the portfolio… it demonstrates the scale of people and the landscape… cliffs, river and the light…
It shows the appreciation of people still visiting Yosemite and John Muir’s vision to save this amazing landscape for our appreciation both now and for the future.
I leave the last words to John Muir - “Never before had I seen so glorious a landscape”
If you leave the valley, and drive around on the glacier Point Road, you gain the height of the surrounding cliffs. This gives a counterpoint view into the valley with the Cathedral Rocks and El Cap straddling the Merced river.
What this view doesn’t tell you is that I spent an hour previous to the shot, when the wind was gusting and I was too scared to go near the edge… 59 minutes contemplating travelling half way round the world and not being able to take a photo of the view… luckily the wind died down…
I like the juxtaposition of the modern road, with bright yellow lines, leading to the grandeur of El Cap, which has survived millions of years of erosion.
The edge that you can see between shadow and light is called the nose, and is one of the most famous rock climbs in the world. The average time to climb this route is 5 days, but it has been free climbed in under 3 hours.
Whilst staying in the valley, I read books about the two men most closely associated with Yosemite- John Muir and Ansel Adams. I guess you already know about Ansel Adams and his iconic photos… but John Muir highlighted the need for preservation of places like the Yosemite and his creation of the Sierra Club and his ability to influence important politicians saved the Yosemite and other important National Parks.
“…El Capitan Rock, regarded by many as the most sublime feature of the Valley, is seen through the pine groves, standing forward beyond the general line of the wall in most imposing grandeur, a type of permanence… unrivaled in height and breadth and flawless strength”
Moving round to the right and at an earlier time of the day shows El Cap’s true place in the valley. El Cap rises 3,593 ft above the Merced River and is thought to be the largest block of exposed granite in the world. I’ve chosen to crop the photo to fit the panoramic view.
Different views and interpretations of El Capitan
In the summer of 2009 I had the opportunity to go to California.
The first time I heard about the Yosemite National Park was when a friend showed me photos of his visit. The photo I remembered best was of a large granite cliff, called ‘El Capitan’.
I have built this portfolio based on my three day visit to Yosemite. There are different views of El Cap to show how my understanding grew of its place in the valley, its history, and its relationship with the people who live and visit the valley.
01 Valley View
We entered the park, standing for the first time at Valley View.
El Capitan guards the left hand side of the valley, but from the valley view it is slightly obscured and the evening light favours the other side of the valley, highlighting Cathedral Rocks and Bridalveil falls.
