Yosemite IV: Glacier Point

Looking southwest into Tenaya Canyon
with Yosemite Valley in the distance.

I took a quick weekend trip to Yosemite this month. The waterfalls were full; the new foliage on hardwood trees was bursting forth like lime green jewels. There were two new destinations on this trip for me: a hike into Yosemite wilderness on the northwest wall of Tenaya Canyon and a drive to Glacier Point on the southern rim of Yosemite Valley. Both afforded incredible views of Half Dome, Tenaya Canyon, Yosemite falls, and the other gems lying at the heart of the park.

From atop Glacier Point it was easy to see how crowded and developed Yosemite Valley has become. Meadows, forests and the sinuous Merced River still occupy most of the valley floor, but the roads and clusters of cars are in plain view from above. John Muir described the view as follows: “From Glacier Point you look down 3000 feet over the edge of its sheer face into the meadows and groves and innumerable yellow pine spires, with the meandering river sparkling and spangling through the midst of them. Across the Valley a great telling view is presented of the Royal Arches, North Dome, Indian Canyon, Three Brothers and El Capitan, with the dome-paved basin of Yosemite Creek and Mount Hoffman in the background. To the eastward, the Half Dome close beside you looking higher and more wonderful than ever; southeastward the Starr King, girdled with silver firs, and the spacious garden-like basin of the Illilouette and its deeply sculptured fountain peaks, called ‘The Merced Group’; and beyond all, marshaled along the eastern horizon, the icy summits on the axis of the range and broad swaths of forest growing on ancient moraines, while the Nevada, Vernal and Yosemite Falls are not only full in sight but are distinctly heard as if one were standing beside them in their spray.” – The Yosemite, 1912. 

View from Glacier Point. Tenaya Canyon entering Yosemite Valley in the foreground. Half Dome to the right.

Left: Vernal Falls. Right: Yosemite Falls.