Half Dome? Full Tenon!

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Half Dome Mountain in the Early Sun of March, 2007

One of my first posts in this blog was a gushing tribute to Lick Observatory's "HamCam" as perhaps the finest webcam of places I've actually been. I'll still hold by that assessment, based on a combination of image size and dramatic scenery. But if the only criterion were scenery, I'd have to go with any of yosemite.org's webcams, especially the "View from Below Sentinel Dome." This is the current version of "View from Below Sentinel Dome" (or should be):

I like that view primarily because of the grandeur of the vista, of course, but also because it shows famous "Half Dome" mountain for what it really is: a narrow slice, almost as steep on its "back" side as it is on its more photographed side, and a very, very odd-looking mountain, indeed.

Half Dome's more-photographed side: in gathering evening twilight from the Ahwahnee Meadow, August, 2005. (Photo: Sherwood Harrington)

Afternoon March sunlight, captured by the "Below Sentinel Dome" webcam.

The "Below Sentinel Dome" webcam view is very close to my absolutely-favorite view of Half Dome, the one from Washburn Point along the road to Glacier Point:

The "Giant Stairway" of Yosemite as seen from Washburn Point: Nevada Fall (right) and Vernal Fall (lower-center). The great tenon of Half Dome Mountain stands tall at left. (Above three photos by Sherwood Harrington, August, 2005.)

The absolutely most stunning version of the view from Washburn Point that I could find on the web is this one. Be prepared to pick your jaw up off the floor if you click that link.

Sherwood and Diane Harrington and the Merced River, December, 2001 (photo by a passing German tourist.)

Sherwood and Diane love Yosemite... and Yosemite has been very good to us, too! Click here to see our amazing Christmas in Yosemite of 2001 -- thanks to a lottery!