View from the Clouds Rest summit ridge over Half Dome and Yosemite Valley under summer clouds.

The Detour

Clouds Rest, Yosemite National Park, California

We left the JMT on our longest day to go over the top of Clouds Rest, because finishing 238 miles without the best view in Yosemite felt like a technicality. From the summit ridge Half Dome sits below you — an angle that quietly rearranges your sense of the park — and the Valley is a trench full of light. At 24mm, with actual clouds for once, three weeks of walking laid out to the horizon.

Nikon Z 7_2 · 17-35mm f/2.8D · 24mm · f/5 · 1/1000 · ISO 80

July 19, 2025

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More from Clouds Rest, Yosemite National Park, California

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