Cathedral Rocks & El Capitan

When you look back to the west from the Four-Mile Trail, you'll see a sort of reverse tunnel view, with Cathedral Rocks on the left and El Capitan on the right. Bridalveil Fall will be missing, and instead of seeing Half Dome and Clouds Rest in the middle, you'll see the Merced River Canyon receding westward en route to El Portal and the Central Valley.

This view is probably especially spectacular around sunrise, when the sun will be behind you, making the clouds and the vast granite peaks glow orange, somewhat like sunset at Glacier Point. However, like the origins of life and the birth of the universe, this issue remains mysterious, because we've never seen a sunrise and are moderately skeptical that they even exist. As far as we know, the world goes directly from darkness to about 11 a.m., and we hope to never have the firsthand experience to find out otherwise.