El Cap

This is a somewhat different view of El Capitan, taken from the southern valley road along the Merced River. This road is normally one way eastbound into the valley, but the northern, normally westbound road is closed for repairs so the southern road is two way. The road between this point and the park boundary is also being rebuilt; it was just reconstructed a decade ago after the 1997 flood but apparently it washed out again last winter. Summer travelers beware...there are already delays and congestion due to the construction and it's only early May. But the beauty and grandeur of the valley remain.

This is highway 140 about 10 miles west of the park entrance. Uh, actually the road is under the rock in the picture...way under! The highway has been detoured across the Merced River onto the old railroad bed on the north side of the stream to bypass the slide, which has been active for the past two years. The delay for this blockage was shorter than the delay within the park. I recommend taking highway 41 from the south into Yosemite for the time being; as far as I know there are no construction delays on that route.