This 1940’s photograph shows El Capitan peak which is part of Yosemite National Park, California. From the vista point along the river on the South Road of the Valley, the impressive height (3,564 feet above the valley floor) of the world’s largest granite monolith is fully revealed in all its grandeur.
El Capitan is composed almost entirely of a pale, coarse-grained granite called El Capitan Granite. Along with most of the other rock formations of Yosemite Valley, El Capitan was carved by the action of glacial periods eroding and carving the rock. Approximately one million years ago, snow and ice accumulated around the area that is now known as Yosemite National Park, causing glaciers to be formed in the higher alpine meadows. Thousands of feet of ice thickness moving from the upper meadows downward caused the sculpting of the mountains, including the unique formation of El Capitan mountain.
El Capitan is opposite Bridalveil Falls and is best seen from the roads in western Yosemite Valley.