I just flew back from Portland, Oregon to San Diego. I sat in the front of the plane, on the right side, with perfect weather. Here are some views of the natural glory of California. As always in my blog, you can click on an image and zoom in. For these pictures, it might be worth it.

First, I caught a good shot of the town of South Lake Tahoe. This is where my son lives. I waved, but I don’t think he saw me.

Then we flew over Yosemite Valley. I was able to see El Capitan, one of the most famous big walls for climbers in the world, and of course, Half Dome. I had fond memories of my climb of Half Dome almost to the day 12 years ago, which I chronicled here.

For those of you that don’t know what you’re looking at, here are some pointers. The red arrow points to El Capitan, and the blue one to the top of Half Dome.

I also took a zoomed shot of El Capitan, one of the most iconic rock formations in the world with more than 3,000 vertical feet of sheer granite.

I have lain on my back in the meadow below and looked up with binoculars. You can always find a few climbing parties on the rock, tinier than ants, on an impossibly tall and vertical wall. It is also made famous by recent rock climbing movies, such as “Dawn Wall” and “Free Solo.”