The aptly named Half Dome was sliced in two by glacial action millennia ago. Its remaining half reaches 8,842 feet above sea-level and casts a distinctive presence over the western end of Yosemite Valley – especially so when the rays of the setting sun give its face a vivid orange glow.

Half Dome was first successfully climbed the hard way in 1956, an ascent that took five days. With the aid of steel cables sunk into rock, the summit is much more accessible from the rear, though even this route entails a strenuous 12-hour trek and is not to be undertaken on a whim.