El Capitan

I made my first and only (so far) visit to Yosemite just last month. I was not disappointed. The grandeur of the high granite cliffs of El Cap and Half Dome contrasted so vividly with the deep pine greens and beginning colors of autumn. I was stunned. We had the good fortune to meet some climbers who had just come off El Cap the day before. It took them four days to scale its face. Did they feel like they had conquered the wall? On the contrary. They all sat on a bridge a day later, staring up at the sheer face feeling more awed than they had before their climb.