78 



YOSEMITE NATURE NOTES 



wind which creates the s p r a v that 

 caused the white man to name the fall 

 Bridalveil. For closer views of the fall, 

 enter the parking area ahead and follow 

 the footpath to the base. 



LEANING TOWER — To the right of 

 Bridalveil Fall is a towering pinnacle of 

 granite rising about 1800 feel above the 

 valley which, from this angle, appears 

 to be leaning outward from the cliff 

 below. 



RIBBON FALL — Across the valley 

 and to the left of El Capitan is Ribbon 

 Fall, 1612 feet high. It flows only in 

 spring and is the highest single drop in 

 Yosemite though not leaping free of 

 the cliff surface. 



y ORIGINAL WAWONA ROAD. 

 -_ The old road leaving the highway 

 *' uphill from the left, with a chain 

 across it is part of the old Wawona 

 Road and is used today as a fire road. 

 (Read description under W-10, 

 page 81.) 



V TUNNEL VIEW. From the P ark- 

 ~o ing area at the east end of the Wa- 

 wona Tunnel is the most pictures- 

 que and most photographed general view 

 of Yosemite Valley. This point is con- 

 fused frequently with the historical In- 

 spiration Point which is on the old Wa- 

 wona Road some 900 feet above you. 

 Evidences of the geological forces which 

 formed the valley — stream erosion 

 and glacial ice — can be seen from 

 this point: the sheer glacial-plucked 

 cliffs, the stream-cut valley of Bridalveil 

 Creek left hanging by glacial action, 

 and the flat floor of the valley. William 

 Abrams in 1849 was probably the first 

 white man to see Yosemite Valley- In 

 1851 the Mariposa Battalion, while 

 chasing the Yosemite Indians along the 

 cliffs above you, entered the valley and 

 became the first "effective" discoverers. 

 The barely discernible line part way up 

 and crossing the broken rock slope on 

 the other side of the valley is a part of 

 the Old Big Oak Flat Road described 

 under C-l, page 92. 



Yosemite Valley from Wawona Tunnel Overlook 



