Europe's most active volcano is sliding into the sea - 1
Published 14 Oct 2018, 22:33 BST
Half Dome, here in 1931, has long been an iconic feature of Yosemite, which was established as a national park in 1890 thanks largely to efforts by explorer and naturalist John Muir. "No temple made with human hands can compare with Yosemite," wrote Muir.
Photograph by US National Park Service, National GeographicGiant chunks of rock have been falling from Half Dome. Here, in 1919, a group stands on a rocky outcropping off of the feature.
Photograph by US National Park Service, National GeographicHalf Dome as seen from the Glacier Point Hotel in 1933. The hotel, finished in 1917, stood 1,000 metres (3000 feet) above Yosemite Valley. After closing because of snow damage in the winter of 1968, the hotel burned down in an electrical fire in July, 1969.
Photograph by Yosemite Park & Curry Co, National GeographicSnow envelops Half Dome in this 1922 photo. It was declared “perfectly inaccessible” in an 1865 report, but 10 years later, hiker George Anderson reached the summit.
Photograph by Pillsbury Picture Co., National GeographicThe nearly 750 thousand acre Yosemite National Park drew over 4 million visitors in 2014. Here, in a 1965 photo, tourists snap pictures of the stunning granite peaks.
Photograph by B. Anthony Stewart, National GeographicRockfalls have changed the face of Half Dome, and climbers are adjusting to altered routes. This photo shows an ascent in 1974.
Photograph by Dean Conger, Nat Geo Image CollectionThis 2010 photo shows Half Dome poking through the clouds. Hikers should not to attempt the climb if storm clouds are in the area. In 1985, lightning struck the peak, killing two hikers and injuring two more.
Photograph by Michael Melford, Nat Geo Image CollectionHalf Dome juts over 1,650 metres (5,000 feet) above ground, almost 3,000 metres (9,000 feet) above sea level, attracting climbers who BASE jump from Half Dome.
Photograph by Jimmy Chin and Lynsey Dyer, Nat Geo Image CollectionDean Potter, who died in a wingsuit accident in 2015, climbs Half Dome in 2012. After the 2015 rockfalls, a climber said it felt like Half Dome was mourning Potter.
Photograph by Jimmy Chin, Nat Geo Image CollectionTourists sometimes wear gloves to clutch at the cables as they climb Half Dome’s final ascent, ditching them on the way back down. When hikers don’t pack out their gloves, "hundreds of pounds of rotting gloves...accumulate."
Photograph by Jimmy Chin, Nat Geo Image CollectionRock climber, Alex Honnold, famous for his climbs without ropes or harnesses, walks a 13-metre (40-foot)-long sliver of granite on Half Dome named the Thank God Ledge.
Photograph by Jimmy Chin, Nat Geo Image CollectionThe climber first to climb Half Dome without a rope is taking the rockfalls in stride. “It’s always a little sad to see a classic route change, [but] it’s kind of the nature of rock to change over time,” Alex Honnald says.
Photograph by Mikey Schaefer, National Geographic