PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 4, No. 16, SERIAL No. 116
COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
FROM A WATER COLOR PAINTING
EL CAPITAN, YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK
THE YOSEMITE VALLEY
The Summits
THREE
First in impressiveness and second only to the waterfalls in beauty, are the summits of the Yosemite Valley. Of all these summits El Capitan stands preëminent, although it is not the highest; that honor belonging to Cloud’s Rest.
El Capitan, probably the largest mass of single rock in the world, stands on the north wall of the valley. It rises almost vertically 3,600 feet above the plain, and it is nearly rectangular in shape. Its two vast faces measure about 160 acres each in area. You can judge of its size by singling out what appears to be a green bush which took root and is growing in a shallow niche far up on the face of the rock. That green bush is called “The Lone Pine,” and it is 150 feet high. El Capitan stands like a grand old veteran, and it is one of the most imposing monuments that nature has left to show the terrific forces which at one time worked their will with this planet. Its summit may be reached by a long and arduous journey, which is seldom undertaken.