A Different Mountain: El Capitan

Our last day in Yosemite Valley. The road home passes at the base of this climbers' mecca, and we stopped for an hour to walk in the field and see what we could see. The sheer granite face rises 3,000 feet from the valley floor, and there are always rock climbers working their way up the arduous routes, visible to watchers on the ground as tiny dots that are barely moving. In fact, I counted eight people who were on the mountain as we watched.

We spoke to a spectator who hopes to climb El Cap himself someday, and he filled us in on some of the details. For instance, it usually takes three days to make it to the top, so people have special gear to camp on the wall. I seriously doubt you can see these structures, even at the largest magnification, but look carefully: there is a large dark stain almost in the middle of the mountain; to the right of this is an orangey area; in almost the exact middle of this orange area there are two tiny dots, which are hanging tents, or Porta-ledges, where climbers enjoy a restful night's sleep. These aluminum frames are suspended from bolts that have been secured into the rock face. Our informant says it is much more comfortable than a tent, and there are no bears! Nighty-nite!