Yosemite Flashback #4: Sentinel Dome, Taft Point, Glacier Point, September 19, 2008:
Yosemite Valley from Glacier Point
On our “rest day” between big hikes, we headed out to Glacier Point Road on the south side of Yosemite Valley to tackle Sentinel Dome and Taft Point, two small hikes starting at the same trailhead just a few miles away from Glacier Point. Since I was feeling kind of lazy and Sentinel Dome sounded like the harder of the two from our books, we did that one first.
First view of Sentinel Dome from the trail
From the trailhead, we followed the Sentinel Dome trail east through a lightly-forested ridge, the trail mostly flat or gently ascending. After about half a mile, we scampered across an exposed granite bank, then up through the pine-covered base as we walked around to the east of the dome.
Peek-a-boo! View fo Half Dome through the pine trees
Already enjoying good views of Half Dome to our right, we walked up to the Dome itself, finding spectacular views and a lot of wind at the summit.
The Sentinel Dome summit "trail"
Me climbing to the top of Sentinel Dome
From the top of Sentinel Dome, you get a 360 degree view of Yosemite and the Sierras; since the day was fairly clear, we got incredible glimpses of high peaks in the distance, and we had fun identifying the, using the circular brass plaque erected on the top of the dome. This was a great hike, probably with the biggest view-vs-effort payoff of any hike we did. We took lots of pictures (with Pandora!) at the top, then headed back down the trail to start on our other hike.
View from Sentinel Dome I
View from Sentinel Dome II
View from Sentinel Dome III
View from Sentinel Dome IV
Me on Sentinel Dome
Pandora points the way to Taft Point
The trail to Taft Point was more forested than the one to Sentinel Dome, and it headed generally downhill until descending more sharply down a ridge to an exposed rocky outcrop.
Trail to Taft Point
Walking along the edge of the outcrop, we came to The Fissures, a set of cracks in the cliff that were large enough to climb (or fall!) into if we had been feeling especially brave or crazy. For all that our book describes them as “five vertical, parallel fractures”, I was somehow expecting them to be far more numerous or grand than they actually were.
View from near the Fissures
Me on an outcropping near Taft Point
We headed out to the little railed overlook (it seemed much scarier looking down, as the rock seemed to fall away underneath), then around to another outcropping just below the point, where we got to screech “Nevermore” at some ravens.
Nevermore!
The view from Taft Point and and thereabout was nice, but compared to the spectacular panorama of Sentinel Dome it didn’t quite generate the same lelvel of excitement. After walking back to the car, we drove over to Glacier Point, stopping along the way for pictures at an overlook with views to the east and south.
Pandora peers to the southeast
Chuck takes in the view
Glacier Point was a Grand Canyon-like viewpoint with a mini-geology center, amphitheater and gift shop. The main destination is a railed-in section of cliff where you can gaze down all the features of the valley below.
View of Yosemite Valley from Glacier Point
View of Clouds Rest from Glacier Point
