Cathedral Rocks and El Capitan

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. Theoretically, anyway. Has anyone who's ever stayed up late enough to actually see a sunrise been in condition to accurately record the event? Like the origins of life and the composition of dark matter, the existence of sunrises remains a mattery of mystery and contention.