A couple of hundred feet of the granite face of El Capitan, as seen from the bottom of Yosemite Valley, near the base of Cathedral Rocks. El Cap's summit is at 7,573 ft (2,308 m) , while the valley floor is at just under 4,000 feet – with most of this distance being composed of a vertical cliff measuring about 3,000 feet (914 m) from base to summit along its tallest face. It is, understandably, a world-famous objective for rock climbers – most recently showcased in the film *Free Solo*.
"El Capitan is composed almost entirely of a pale, coarse-grained granite emplaced approximately 100 MYA (million years ago). In addition to El Capitan, this granite forms most of the rock features of the western portions of Yosemite Valley. A separate intrusion of igneous rock, the Taft Granite, forms the uppermost portions of the cliff face. A third igneous rock, diorite, is present as dark-veined intrusions through both kinds of granite, especially prominent in the area known as the North America Wall. Along with most of the other rock formations of Yosemite Valley, El Capitan was carved by glacial action. Several periods of glaciation have occurred in the Sierra Nevada, but the Sherwin Glaciation, which lasted from approximately 1.3 MYA to 1 MYA, is considered to be responsible for the majority of the sculpting. The El Capitan Granite is relatively free of joints, and as a result the glacial ice did not erode the rock face as much as other, more jointed, rocks nearby. Nonetheless, as with most of the rock forming Yosemite's features, El Capitan's granite is under enormous internal tension brought on by the compression experienced prior to the erosion that brought it to the surface." [Wikipedia]
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The warm sandstone of Cape Kiwanda lit up in low morning light, reflecting on the wet sand in Pacific City, Oregon.
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Unicorn Peak rises up over Unicorn Creek, just below Elizabeth Lake, at about 9,500 feet of elevation in Yosemite National Park.
Thanks very much for stopping by, and for your continued kind comments and favorites while I have been traveling. They are greatly appreciated.
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A street performer singing and playing guitar to a big crowd on the Ponte Vecchio – Florence's famous medieval bridge over the river Arno – right at sunset.
Thanks very much for stopping by and for your continued kind comments and favorites. I'm in the midst of some extensive traveling (and shooting!), but I'll be sure to catch up with you all once I'm home and back online regularly. In the meantime, I hope you're having a wonderful summer.
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Fields of lupine in bloom beneath of the slopes of Echo Peaks, on the edge of the meadow at the top of Cathedral Pass, along the John Muir Trail in the high country of Yosemite National Park.
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