Yosemite's History of Granite

Friends

I greet you from Yosemite

Chickadee And Rock

I heard the song of the chickadee this afternoon while running on Yosemite's Deer Camp Road trail.  What does he sing?   Cheer up cheer up cheerily.....dee dee dee!!! He did put a smile on my face!!! at the end of my run. But while running... the rocks with the sun shining on them, made me happy.  Well... the rock climbers did just reach the top of El Capitan just a short time earlier in the day...and, after all.... they had just spent all that time on the rock... El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. The photographs are of some local specimens. I found them pretty.  The colorful variety of rocks are amazing, especially as some glittered in the sunlight.

    photo credit – Laura Sefchik

Yosemite Valley is now composed almost entirely of granites, which is of great interest to both the rock climbers and the Park visitors. The granites in Yosemite National Park are named for the famous landmarks they form..... El Capitan granite… Cathedral Peak granite.... etc....

photo credit – Laura Sefchik

The favorite Yosemite rock of choice for rock climbers is the Cathedral Peak granite of the Tuolumne Meadows region of the Park. Yosemite Valley has several kinds of granite on display..... and are popular with the rock climbers, as well... El Cap is made up of mostly El Capitan granite, which is the most strongly resistant to weathering.  However, its summit brow is Taft granite, and the "map of North America" is dark diorite. (not granite). ROCKS form the scenery of Yosemite. Yosemite Valley was carved from a great block of granite. The Yosemite Valley floor is made of granite. The granite floor is 2000' beneath the Valley surface near the Ahwahnee Hotel. The valley's granite domes, granite peaks, and sheer granite cliffs are magnificent.  John Muir wrote, "...trace the rim of the Valley to the grand El Capitan ridge and go down to its brow, where you will gain everlasting impressions of Nature's steadfastness and power combined with ineffable fineness of beauty. " El Capitan is the largest single block of granite in the world..... monolith. Half Dome is Yosemite's most famous granite dome. The varieties of granite depend on..... the different mineral content and on... the speed of cooling. Granites are rocks formed from molten magma within the earth's crust.

photo credit – Laura Sefchik

As the rock minerals cooled....they formed interlocking crystals of... quartz, feldspar, and mica.

Each new magma uprising in Yosemite formed a granite of slightly different composition and appearance. Yosemite granites range from...... speckled white to........mottled gray....... and from fine.....to coarse grained. Other rocks in Yosemite.... Pegmatite, Granodiorite, Diorite, Banded Quartz. The Sierra Nevada, itself, is a tremendous block of granite.....nearly 400 miles long and from 60-80 miles wide.   It is the longest and highest mountain range....rising to more than 14,000'...in the U.S. Visit the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center for an excellent exhibit on rocks....and geology.  

Let Scenic Wonders provide you and your family with cozy cabins as you visit Yosemite this winter.  Ask about our special winter rates.

Another terrific day in Yosemite