Little Yosemite Valley is, as the name implies, a smaller glacial valley upstream in the Merced River drainage from the Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park. The Merced River meanders through the 3.5 mi (5.6 km) long flat valley, draining out over Nevada Fall and Vernal Fall before emptying into the main Yosemite Valley. It can be reached by a day hike from the main valley, and is the most popular area in the Yosemite Wilderness. The Valley provides access to nearby destinations such as the back side of Half Dome, Clouds Rest and the High Sierra Camp at Merced Lake.
Little Yosemite Valley is a tread on the glacial stairway of the Merced River that runs from Yosemite Valley up to Mount Lyell, gaining some 7,600 ft (2,316 m) of vertical elevation over 21 mi (34 km) and is situated some 2,000 ft (610 m) in elevation above Yosemite Valley proper.
Read more about Little Yosemite Valley: Geology
Famous quotes containing the word valley:
“Ah! I have penetrated to those meadows on the morning of many a first spring day, jumping from hummock to hummock, from willow root to willow root, when the wild river valley and the woods were bathed in so pure and bright a light as would have waked the dead, if they had been slumbering in their graves, as some suppose. There needs no stronger proof of immortality. All things must live in such a light. O Death, where was thy sting? O Grave, where was thy victory, then?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)