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El Capitan Moonset

El Capitan Moonset in Yosemite National Parkis a grand sight to see.

El Capitan is a 3,000 foot vertical rock formation on the Northern side of Yosemite Valley. It is famous as a rock climbing destination for rock climbers from all over the world and of course a tremendous landscape photography subject for photographers.

The most famous photograph of El Capitan would be Ansel Adams “Clearing Winter Storm” taken in 1944.

Like many rock formations in Yosemite Valley El Capitan was formed by glacial erosion. El Capitan is composed of mainly El Capitan Granite.

El Capitan was once considered impossible to climb. It was first climbed in 1958 by a team lead by Warren Harding who climbed the root known as “The Nose”. It took them 47 days to do the ascent. The Nose route is exactly as the name describes, it is the prow of the rock and can clearly be seen in this photograph. The first solo climb of “The Nose” was done by Tom Bauman in 1969. The first ascent of the Nose in one day was accomplished in 1975 by John Long, Jim Bridwell and Billy Wesbay.

El Capitan is now the standard for what is called “Big Face Climbing”. It typically takes climbers about 4-5 days to ascend this large granite rock.

There are many places in Yosemite to view El Capitan. From the Valley floor you can look straight up in several locations to the granite face. Glacier Point provides a unique perspective of looking across the valley to El Capitan. This photograph I have named El Capitan Moonset was taken in the Tunnel View area, on the trail to Inspiration Point. The Inspiration Point trail is an excellent place to photograph the entire Valley. It is a good place to hike and get away from the crowds that will descend upon the Tunnel View parking lot for picture taking.

An El Capitan Moonset in Yosemite National Park is a grand sight to see.