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Staring 3,000 feet up the face of El Capitan
Nevada Fall from the Mist Trail
4 Base of El Capitan
Trailhead Location: El Capitan Meadow, west end of Yosemite Valley
Trail Use: Hiking
Distance & Configuration: 0.8-mile out-and-back
Elevation Range: 3,970 feet at the start, with 280 feet of ascent/descent
Facilities: No amenities are at the trailhead. The closest toilets are at Bridalveil Falls, and toilets and water are available at Yosemite Lodge.
Highlights: Surreal views of a 3,000-foot granite face
Middle Cathedral Rock from El Capitan Meadow
DESCRIPTION
The unmarked use trail to the base of El Capitan gives you an unusual panorama of the imposing granite face—straight up and up and up. From the base you lack the perspective gained from standing in a nearby meadow, making it difficult to estimate the wall’s height. Combine this walk with a visit to El Capitan Meadow to admire the mountain from a bit farther back.
THE ROUTE
The unmarked, but obvious, trail begins at the far eastern end of El Capitan Meadow, about 300 feet after the two roads entering the meadow merge. Walking along the right-hand edge of an open black oak and ponderosa pine woodland, you reach a large opening through which the Valley Loop Trail passes (0.15 mile from start). Walk north to the back of the opening—in the direction of El Capitan. Here you will find a use trail that zigzags quite steeply up to the monolith’s base. The many climbers heading for the rock have created a well-worn route, allowing you to avoid burrowing into the dense manzanitas and huckleberry oaks that cover the slope. As you exit the scrub at the base of the rock, take a look at where you are—the start of the trail here is a little hidden on the return (0.4 mile).
Now walk up to the base of El Cap and touch the nearly 3,000-foot wall. Without trees for scale, the wall feels dimensionless to me and I’d be hard pressed to decide if it were 100 or 10,000 feet high. Look up, up, up through binoculars if you have them, maybe glimpsing climbers high above you. You are standing just to the right of the most famous route, the Nose, which approximately follows the corner where the eastern and western halves of the face meet. Notice how few newly fallen rocks are at the base of the wall. Like most of Yosemite Valley, it is composed of very solid rock. The vegetated slope you just walked up is composed of rock from much older falls, so rock is indeed shed here as well, but by chance there has not been recent activity.
When you are finished, retrace your steps to the car (0.8 mile). Before you drive away, walk into El Capitan Meadow, just across the road, to gain a second perspective on the peak and to enjoy some of the other walls and pinnacles gracing the western half of Yosemite Valley, including Cathedral Rocks and Cathedral Spires to the south.
TO THE TRAILHEAD
GPS Coordinates: N37° 43.452′ W119° 38.071′
Two roads, Northside Drive and Southside Drive, run the length of Yosemite Valley. For most of their length they are both one-way, with traffic traveling east (toward Half Dome) on Southside Drive and west (out of the valley) on Northside Drive. El Capitan Meadow is accessed from Northside Drive. It lies 2.5 miles west of Yosemite Lodge, just beyond where a crossover road merges with Northside Drive.
5 Bridalveil Falls
Trailhead Location: West end of Yosemite Valley
Trail Use: Hiking
Distance & Configuration: 0.8-mile out-and-back
Elevation Range: 3,970 feet at the start, with 100 feet of ascent/descent
Facilities: Toilets are at the trailhead. Water is available at many locations around Yosemite Village, Yosemite Lodge, and Curry Village.
Highlights: Wonderful late-afternoon lighting, forever-moving stream of water, and year-round water
Bridalveil Falls
DESCRIPTION
The short walk to Bridalveil Falls is a must-do for every Yosemite tourist. The lighting is best in the late afternoon, beautifully illuminating the stream of water and U-shaped hanging valley at the top of the fall.
THE ROUTE
From the parking lot, head east on the wide paved trail. A little beyond the parking area, the track forks (0.15 mile from start). Stay right; the left-hand track takes you to the El Capitan vista point along Southside Drive. Your trail climbs gently alongside one of the four boulder-filled channels that comprise Bridalveil Creek below the waterfall. As you approach the fall, the surrounding vegetation becomes lush, for the waterfall’s year-round spray keeps the plants, including thickets of wild grapes, well watered.
