Īlong with most of the other rock formations of Yosemite Valley, El Capitan was carved by glacial action. A separate intrusion of igneous rock, the Taft Granite, forms the uppermost portions of the cliff face.Ī third igneous rock, diorite, is present as dark-veined intrusions through both kinds of granite, especially prominent in the area known as the North America Wall. In addition to El Capitan, this granite forms most of the rock features of the western portions of Yosemite Valley. Main article: Geology of the Yosemite areaĮl Capitan is composed almost entirely of a pale, coarse-grained granite approximately 100 MYA (million years old). There are many named climbing routes, all of them arduous, including Iron Hawk and Sea of Dreams. For climbers, the challenge is to climb up the sheer granite face. The top of El Capitan can be reached by hiking out of Yosemite Valley on the trail next to Yosemite Falls, then proceeding west. San Souci, and in the First People Miwok recounting of the El Cap legend. The “Inchworm Rock” version of the meaning of Tutokanula is also described in the story "Two Bear Cubs: A Miwok Legend from California's Yosemite Valley" by Robert D. All the animals are happy to see that the little inchworm has saved the two bear cubs and the rock is named in the inchworm’s honor. Finally, the lowly little inchworm tries the climb and successfully makes it all the way to the top and rescues the cubs. The fox, the mouse, the mountain lion, and every other animal tries to climb to the top of the giant rock but they each fail. The mother bear is unable to climb the rock to get to her cubs and she becomes afraid and asks for help.
While the cubs sleep, the rock grows and grows, above the trees and into the sky. The mother forages for seeds and berries while the two cubs nap in the sun on a flat rock.
In the story, a mother bear and her two cubs are walking along the river.
Julia_F._Parker, the preeminent Coast Miwok-Kashaya Pomo basket-weaver and Yosemite_Museum cultural ambassador since 1960, explains that the name Tutokanula, or “Inchworm Rock”, originates in the Miwok creation story for the giant rock, a legend in which two bear cubs are improbably rescued by a humble inchworm. In Bunnell's account, however, he notes that this translation may be wrong, stating: “I am not etymologist enough to understand just how the word has been constructed… I am found in error, I shall be most willing to acknowledge it, for few things appear more uncertain, or more difficult to obtain, than a complete understanding of the soul of an Indian language.” Īn alternative etymology is that "Tutokanula" is Miwok for “Inchworm Rock”. Bunnell reports that Ahwahneechee Chief Tenaya explained to him, forty-one years earlier, in 1851, that the massive formation, called Tutokanula, could be translated as "Rock Chief" because the face of the cliff looks like a giant rock Chief. The "Rock Chief" etymology is based on the written account of Mariposa Battalion doctor Lafayette_Bunnell in his 1892 book. El Capitán ("the captain", "the chief") was taken to be a loose Spanish translation of the local Native American name for the cliff, “Tutokanula” or "Rock Chief" (the exact spelling of Tutokanula varies in different accounts as it is a phonetic transcription of the Miwok language). The formation was named "El Capitan" by the Mariposa Battalion when they explored the valley in 1851.
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