Scrambles About Yosemite 



135 



The view up Tenaya Canon was very impressive also, though 

 partly obstructed by the northern spur of the Dome, which 

 throws a point out toward the west. The Dome itself was 

 simply overpowering in its grandeur. We were level with a 

 point about half-way up the great front precipice ; a thousand 

 feet of it rose above and a thousand feet were below, down to 

 the ragged rock slope which drops off still three thousand 

 more to the lake. Off to the east we could look over the domes 

 of the Little Yosemite and toward the head of the Merced, 

 while far below were the Cap of Liberty and Mt. Broderick. 



In returning, we decided to go around the eastern base of 

 the Half Dome, reach the Little Yosemite, and take the Vernal 

 Fall trail back to camp. This seemed easy, but, like the chute 

 at Grizzly Point, disappointed us. A great portion of the 

 slope below the Dome on the southeast is covered with dense 

 chaparral. This would not be so bad if it were not for smooth, 

 impassable portions of the Dome itself, which are formed of 

 thick slabs overlapping like giant shingles and which continu- 

 ally bar the way. After hours of fighting brush, crawling 

 around smooth slopes, and climbing down rock faces, we came 

 last to Lost Lake on the northern side of the Cap of Liberty. 

 jL.xiS lake is a stagnant pool about a quarter of a mile long, 

 covered with pond lilies. As we approached the Cap of 

 Liberty, the narrow gorge between it and Mt. Broderick 

 attracted our attention, so without hesitation we started down 

 it. The upper portion is filled with huge talus, rough but not 

 difficult. Then comes a remarkable meadow, several hundred 

 feet long, filling the entire gorge from wall to wall, here in 

 some places not thirty feet apart. The pure white granite 

 cliffs come vertically down into the meadow grass without as 

 much as a pebble in the corner. Below this the little stream 

 plunges down into a rugged boulder-filled gorge. Some care 

 has to be taken in getting down over the rock faces polished 

 by running water. It ends near the site of the old Snow Hotel, 

 and at 4 130 we reached the bridge over the Diamond Cascade, 

 and were headed for home and a solid dinner. 



These are only two of the many interesting and unusual 

 climbs about Yosemite, but there are many others which we 

 have "staked out," and hope to investigate in the near future. 



