Yosemite Valley

"I came at length to the brow of that massive cliff that stands between Indian Cañon and Yosemite Falls, and here the far-famed valley came suddenly into view throughout almost its whole extent.

"The level bottom seemed to be dressed like a garden, sunny meadows here and there, and groves of pine and oak..."

"The great Tissiack, or Half-Dome, rising at the upper end of the valley to a height of nearly a mile, is nobly proportioned and life-like, the most impressive of all the rocks, holding the eye in devout admiration, calling it back again and again from falls or meadows, or even the mountains beyond."

"Marvelous cliffs, marvelous in sheer dizzy depth and sculpture. Thousands of years have they stood in the sky exposed to rain, snow, frost, earthquake and avalanche, yet they still wear the bloom of youth."
Source: My First Summer in the Sierra, Chapter 5.