Yosemite National Park
37.715628°N 119.676978°W

Yosemite Valley with Half Dome in the center, Bridalveil Falls to the right, and El Capitan to the left. June, 1983

Yosemite National Park
37.753264°N 119.598922°W

Upper Yosemite Falls in Yosemite National Park. June, 1983

Yosemite National Park
37.739878°N 119.564444°W

Royal Arches and Washington column with North Dome at the top. Geologists refer to the way the blocks spall off as exfoliation which is due to the slow expansion of the granitic rock from miles of rock eroded off of it over millions of years. June, 1983

Yosemite National Park
37.748778°N 119.596519°W

Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls in Yosemite National Park. June, 1983

Yosemite National Park
37.746833°N 119.549747°W

Mirror Lake in Yosemite National Park. June, 1983

Yosemite National Park
37.714703°N 119.663911°W

El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. June, 1983

Yosemite National Park
37.752347°N 119.598611°W

Upper Yosemite Falls in the winter with a dear in the picture. December, 1988

Yosemite National Park
37.747078°N 119.550722°W

Half Dome in the winter. December, 1988

Yosemite National Park

Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir at Glacier Point in what is now Yosemite National Park.

Yosemite was established as a national park on October 1, 1890 and protects an area of 761,268 acres (3,081 sq km). The rocks exposed throughout the park are mostly granites that were once a huge magma chamber deep within the earth. The granite has been exposed by the tectonic uplift of the area and subsequent erosion. Glacial erosion is also responsible for many of the features in the park.

The domes such as North and Half Dome and El Capitan are the result of exfoliation which is caused from the spalling off of sheets of granitic rock. As erosion removes miles of rock off of the granite over millions of years, the granite slowly expands forming fractures that form the sheets that break away.

The Ahwahneechee tribe of Native Americans lived in Yosemite Valley prior to the arrival of Europeans. Major Jim Savage chased warriors of the tribe into the valley in 1851 making the his battalion the first Europeans to view Yosemite Valley. Later in the 1870s, John Muir (founder of the Sierra Club) wrote articles emphasizing the splendor of the region and cautioning about damage from logging and overgrazing. He and others lobbied Congress to protect the area and it fell under United States jurisdiction when it was established as a national park.

Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View

Yosemite National Park (pron.: /joʊˈsɛmɨtiː/ yoh-SEM-it-ee) is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in the central eastern portion of California, United States. The park covers an area of 761,268 acres (3,080.74 km)^[2] and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain.^[4] Over 3.7 million people visit Yosemite each year:^[3] most spend their time in the seven square miles (18 km²) of Yosemite Valley.^[5] Designated a World Heritage Site in 1984, Yosemite is internationally recognized for its spectacular granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, Giant Sequoia groves, and biological diversity.^[5] Almost 95% of the park is designated wilderness.^[6] Although not the first designated national park, Yosemite was central to the development of the national park idea, largely owing to the work of people like Galen Clark and John Muir.^[7]

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite National Park
• Hillman 1000 Wonders