Yosemite ("Das ist verboten")

Liberty Cap and Nevada Falls at sunset from Glacier Point

Last week Marc and I made a long awaited trip to Yosemite National Park. It is one of the most beautiful places in the world. One is filled with wonder and reverence by the magnificent landscapes throughout the park. Shortly after we arrived on Thursday evening we drove to Glacier Point with hopes the clouds would clear and we would see a great sunset. Glacier Point is only open a few months of the year because of snow covered roads. It was not open when I was there with Steve two years ago so this was my first time there. It was the setting of the famous and historic evening Teddy Roosevelt spent with John Muir in 1903. If you look on the back of the California quarter you see the view from Glacier Point as well.

Famous photograph of President Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir at Glacier Point. It is hard to tell if they are standing on the overhanging rock but that looks to be the case.

As we arrived at the Point we were overwhelmed with the beauty and setting. It is high above the valley and looks down on everything but Half Dome, which is directly across the valley. Unfortunately, Half Dome's top was covered that evening with clouds. But even so the view was unbelievable.

At the very point there is a rock formation that juts out and is called overhanging rock. I had seen a number of old photos with people out on that point and was disappointed when it was fenced off and "Danger Do Not Enter" signage was prominently posted.

Marc contemplating hopping the fence and going into the "Danger Do Not Enter" area where the overhanging rock can be seen in the foreground.

Marc on overhanging rock with Yosemite Falls -- the highest in the US -- in the background.

In this century old photograph a woman strikes a pose on the overhanging rock at Glacier Point.

Here is another old photograph of someone on the overhanging rock from taken from a different angle so Half Dome is prominently featured.

We looked around and while there were a lot of people (75-100) we couldn't see any National Park rangers. Marc said, “I’ll go out there" and quickly hopped the fence and made his way to overhanging rock. Knowing we only had a minute or so I took a number of quick pictures of him with the valley and Yosemite Falls in the background. As I was taking the pictures a group of Germans wandered over and immediately began saying, “Das ist verboten” (That is forbidden). At the same time they were anxious to get some good pictures of Marc on the rock. After a few minutes Marc made his way back to "safe" territory behind the fence.

Not more than a minute later, Ranger Dave showed up in his National Park Uniform. We thought he might be after Marc but that was not the case. I went up to him and asked a couple of questions ("When will Four Mile trail be open, what is the weather forecast…") and then asked him if I could get a picture of him with Marc.

Ranger Dave with Marc. Note the fence and overhanging rock in the lower left portion of the picture.

Marc's timing for the photos on overhanging rock was impeccable. Unbeknown to Ranger Dave we had once again created a memory that will last a lifetime.