If you look just above the tree branch, on the right side of the small shadow in the shape of an inverted pyramid and just above it, you will see a tiny dot. That is a climber making his way up the sheer face of El Capitan. We saw nine climbers in all making their way slowly up the granite face. One fell, and swung dramatically in a large arc by a safety cable. Above him my sister April spotted a climber holding a bright red stretcher. A rescue climber was making his way toward him with a rope.

My brother Josh and I on Yosemite Point above Yosemite Falls.

The view is spectacular after climbing for a couple of hours four miles up the trail to Yosemite Falls. At 2,425 feet, is the tallest waterfall in North America, the fifth-tallest in the world. The tallest is Angel Falls in Venezuela, considerably higher at 3,212 feet.

Facing east, half dome appears in the left of this photo. Visible from up here is much more of the snow that feeds the raging waterfalls in Yosemite in May of 2006.

My niece Julea, wearing red, was tickled pink after meeting a new friend camping in Yosemite named Julia.

After a rainy season, Yosemite waterfalls were going full blast. This is Nevada Fall around the back side of Half Dome, upstream from Vernal Fall which you access on the Mist Trail. Bring a raincoat in the spring!