[Explored] - The Golden Captain and His Three Brothers

El Capitan (The Captain in Spanish) is a famous rock formation in Yosemite National Park that is flanked to the east by 3 rock peaks called the Three Brothers. With a vertical rock face at 3000 feet (900m) high, El Capitan was once considered unclimbable, but today is one of the most popular climbing destinations in the world.

 

This photo was from a location that I absolutely stumbled upon an hour before I had to leave Yosemite. I had seen a painting of the Three Brothers in my hotel room and had set out the day before in search of it. However, with no Internet connectivity it proved to be more difficult than I imagined, especially as I initially mistook Cathedral Rocks for the Three Brothers. With tall trees it was also difficult to see the mountains clearly from the road.

 

So driving around and time running out I finally decided to stop at a small parking lot and wander down a random path to the Merced River only to see this beautiful view. This being late summer both Bridalveil and Yosemite Falls were completely dry. But one benefit of this was the mirror-like reflections on the river due to the low flow rate. After waiting a few minutes for 2 beavers to stop splashing around in the water I finally had my shots! Due to how wide this scene was in real life this is actually a stitch of 5 vertical shots to fit everything in. Maybe I need to get a 10mm lens :)

Done