Nature
Half Dome, Yosemite National Park’s best-known granite summit, rises above Yosemite Valley with a distinctive sheer face and rounded sides shaped by geology, erosion, and major rock joints. Known to Native people as Tis-sa-ack, it long seemed unreachable until George Anderson climbed it in 1875 by placing iron eye bolts and later ropes on the east side. It soon became a destination for hikers and climbers, with cables first installed in 1919 and a permit system added in 2010 because of heavy use. Half Dome also became a landmark in American climbing history, photography, and popular imagery, symbolizing Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada.
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